Learning the ins and outs of the bean

By now most of us have made or are in the middle of making Christmas menu plans. I can remember one year my neighbor saying that she always has to prepare a green bean casserole because it is her daughter Laura’s favorite.

I thought: Green bean casserole? What is that all about?

I knew it had to have green beans, but what else? I remember eating it, but had never tried to find the recipe.

The other day I almost bumped into a sizable display of packages or pouches of French’s French Fried Onion Rings at the supermarket. It had a sign saying “for your holiday feast.” French’s Fried Onion Rings rang a bell from my past.

A little research revealed that French’s French Fried Onion Rings have been around for a long time. These onion rings first were produced by French’s in 1933 and were put up in cans. The company at that time was well known for its yellow mustard.

Taking country by storm

It took another 20 years, until 1955, for French’s French Fried Onion Rings to gain notoriety as “the” ingredient in the popular green bean casserole, which had taken the country by storm at that time.

In 2002 French’s added a Cheddar flavor to some of its French Fried Onion Rings. This was followed by a garlic-flavored variety. Today French’s French Fried Onion Rings are produced with onions grown in New York State and made at a plant in Wolcott, N.Y.

I remembered that, at the time, the green bean casserole was taboo to cook with canned soups, so I proceeded to forget green bean casserole. However, when I started cooking seriously, everyone cooked with canned soups. But then green bean casserole was out of favor.

Fashion trend

Now it is fashionable again because it is a time-saver and economical.

There are numerous TV commercials featuring main courses made with canned soup. On the Internet one can find myriad recipes from Campbell’s and Swanson soups.

This year, as in years past, the ever popular green bean casserole will grace more than 40 million holiday dinner tables. (Recipe follows.)

Beans, even green beans, have been around on the American continent for a long time. Christopher Columbus was the first to encounter the American green bean in Cuba in the late 1400s. He sent some back to Spain, but they made no impression. The Spanish thought of the bean plant as ornamental and relished its blossoms. Bean plants glorified Spanish gardens for more than half a century.

In 1519 the Spanish conquistadors found this American bean in Mexico and were told that is was called “haricot,” derived from the Aztec “ayacotl.”

American green beans also were found in Florida 10 years later and shortly thereafter by Jacques Cartier at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River.

According to archeologists the American green bean dates back to 7000 B.C. and already was being cultivated at that time. When the first settlers came to America the bean plant had developed a number of varieties that were capable of flourishing in different climates. For example, beans, primarily dried beans, were an important food of the American Indians in the cold, damp Northeast and also of the Pueblo Indians in the dry, hot Southwest.

Although it took several centuries, the American green bean eventually became more popular in Europe than the fava bean. The first reported use of the American green bean was in Spain, when a cook accidentally put a bunch of green beans into a soup pot. It was too late to throw the soup out and start over, so she served it anyway to great acclaim.

Some New World green beans were sent to Pope Clement VII in 1528. His gardener grew them, and after the pope tasted the new beans he approved. Some of the bean plants were sent to Alesandro di Medici, who also liked them. He gave some bean plants to his daughter, Catherine, to take to France when she left to marry Henry II in 1533.

However, it took two centuries before green beans were accepted in French cuisine. Today small, slender green beans are an integral ingredient French cooking.

Most of the recipes for green bean casserole I have seen specify Campbell’s soup. Also, some call for frozen green beans, others for canned green beans or cooked fresh green beans. The original recipe of the 1950s used canned green beans. Some of the recipes also call for one teaspoon of soy sauce.

Green Bean Casserole

1 (10¾ ounce) can Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup

¾ cup milk

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

2 (9-ounce) packages thawed frozen cut green beans, or 2 (14-ounce cans cut green beans, drained) or 4 cups fresh cooked cut green beans

1 1/3 cups French’s French Fried Onion Rings

Mix the soup, milk and pepper in a 1½-quart baking dish. Stir in the beans and 2/3 cup of onion rings. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F. oven for 30 minutes. Stir and then top with the remaining 2/3 cup onion rings. Bake another 5 minutes until the onions are golden.

Serves 6.