Pre-heat oven to 400F. Rinse and dry your haricot verts and place in a bowl. Toss 3tbsp. of your olive oil along with a liberal pinch of salt and pepper, toss everything to coat well.
Place the seasoned mixture on a roasting pan and roast/bake for about 20-25min or until the beans start to look caramelized and crispy. Remove from oven and spread evenly into an oven safe casserole dish (9x13 is big enough). Leave beans to rest while you make the mushroom sauce.
In a sauté pan add the remaining 2tbsp. of olive oil and throw in your sliced mushrooms and cook until just browned about 8-10min. Add in the sherry vinegar to deglaze your pan, cook for 1-2min then add in the garlic, thyme, heavy cream salt and pepper to taste. Cook until the cream mixture is reduced by almost half or until it is thick like a sauce. Pour the cream mixture over the roasted green beans, toss to combine and top with crispy onions. Place the dish back into the oven and bake until the onions are just fragrant and mixture is bubbly. (8-10min) serve immediately.
Chef's note: You can place the mushroom/cream mixture into a blender and puree before pouring into the green beans for a smoother sauce texture.
Vanilla Bean Mousse
Prep time- 20 minutes
Cook time- 0 minutes
Ingredients-
1 cup Crème Fraiche
1 cup Heavy Whipping cream
4 ea. Egg whites (from large eggs)
1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp- Sugar
1 ea. Vanilla bean, seeds scraped and pods discarded.
1 pinch Sea salt
1/2 tsp Unflavored gelatin
1/2 tsp Cream of tarter
Directions-
In a large bowl, combine the sugar, crème fraiche, gelatin, vanilla beans and heavy whipping cream. Whip until medium peaks or it become whipped cream. (Set bowl in freezer for 5 min to get cold)
While your bowl is in the freezer, take a separate bowl and whip the egg whites, cream of tartar and the pinch of salt together in a bowl. Whip until stiff peaks form, or until the egg whites can hold their shape on the end of a whisk.
Remove the whipped cream mixture from the freezer, and gently fold the whipped egg whites into the cream mixture. Make sure you don't whip you just want to fold the ingredients together to incorporate.
Place or pipe into glass cups or bowls with a pastry bag and refrigerate overnight.
