Mushrooms Berkeley

[metawidget]

This recipe is sort of a mushrooms Bourguignon, fairly easy to make and good comfort food. The original is double the size and considerably sweeter; I cut out the brown sugar and added a little flour to thicken the sauce. It's about an hour from start to finish, but 45 minutes of that is letting it simmer down.

Mushrooms Berkeley

Adapted from Anna Thomas' The Vegetarian Epicure

1/2 lb

Crimini mushrooms

1

Bell pepper

1

Onion

1/4 cup

Salted butter

2 Tbsp

Flour

Sauce

1 Tbsp

Dijon mustard

1 Tbsp

Worcestershire sauce (I used Tom's vegetarian version)

1/2 cup

Red wine (fairly dry)

lots of

Black pepper, freshly ground

Start by melting the butter and chopping the vegetables: onions coarsely, mushrooms halved, peppers into chunks about as big as the halved mushrooms. When the butter is melted, put in the onion and flour. Cook over medium heat until the onions are starting to get translucent. Meanwhile, mix the mustard and Worcestershire sauce well in a bowl, then add the wine, mix well, and grind copious amount of black pepper on top (so that it almost forms a crust on the sauce).

When the onions are starting to become translucent, add the mushrooms and peppers, stir and let cook a few minutes until they start to darken a little. Then pour the sauce over it all, and cook over medium heat for about 45 minutes, until sauce thickens and everything softens.

Anna Thomas says the resulting dish will be "dark and evil looking," but I prefer to think of it as hearty and rich.

Cross-posted to my journal

Comments

[cougars_catnip]

mmm, I bet this would be good with a mix of mushrooms. I would have to leave out the bell pepper since I am allergic. Any suggestions for a substitute for the peppers?

CC

[metawidget]

I've tried it with some Chinese dried mushrooms rehydrated, chopped and thrown in for extra texture and muhroominess; they worked nicely.

As for bell pepper substitutions, I think the nice thing is the toothiness and slight tang of peppers... maybe asparagus thrown in mid-cook? I haven't tried anything and peppers sort of feel like their own category, but asparagus has the good qualities of peppers I notice most in this dish.

[cougars_catnip]

Thank you. I will have to try that.

CC

[cheyinka]

(About) how many servings is it in this version? (If I'm feeding two usually-hungry-at-dinnertime adults, should I double everything?)

[metawidget]

That would be useful information :)

As part of a meal (with another vegetable and potatoes or pasta) this feeds two hungry adults and leaves some leftovers for work lunch.

[nigeltde]

this looks great! Looking forward to trying it, thanks :-)

[mschaos]

oooh, this looks tasty - I also think some marjoram would be a great addition (shrooms and marjoram go very well together)