#maybevegetarian

I had a really strange mushroom craving this week. All I wanted was a giant bowl of earthy, savory, cooked mushrooms. Hell, I'd even go for a scoop of cream of mushroom soup. Woah. WTF. What is my body missing??

Manfriend has a food crush on beef stroganoff. I just can't bring myself to make it. Or go out to eat it. I just can't. I know it's delicious, but I just cringe at the thought of all the cream and butter that must go into it. <shudder>

This was my compromise. I figured making a mushroom ragout at home, with a beef stock, would satisfy my mushroom craving and (sort of) touch on Manfriend's stroganoff thing. Ok, maybe it leaned more toward my side. Another perk of making the dish at home - I control how healthy or unhealthy the dish is. Muahahahaaaa.

For whatever reason, the store I went to only had egg pappardelle. Do yourself a favor and grab a bag of No Yolks. Or you know, any regular, no frills egg noodles you find in the grocery store. It's a much better shape than the pappardelle.

Mushroom Ragout with Egg Noodles 2-3 c cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced 1 c shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced 1-2 oz dried porcini mushrooms, rehydrated and sliced 1 large shallot, minced 1 clove garlic, minced 2 tbsp dry sherry 1 tbsp butter 1 tbsp olive oil 1/2 tbsp flour 1/2 c beef broth (you could sub in chicken or vegetable broth too. or, water) 2-3 sprigs thyme salt & freshly ground pepper to taste egg noodles, cooked according to package directions

In a large pan, heat olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add shallot and garlic and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add mushrooms to pan and reduce heat to medium low. Cook for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms start to sweat and soften.

Once mushrooms are soft (and take up much less room in the pan) bring heat back up to medium and whisk in flour. Cook for 1 minute, making sure flour is completely incorporated. Whisk in sherry and cook for another minute before adding the broth and leaves from 2 sprigs of thyme.

This is an incredibly fast and easy stir fry to whip up when you're lazy. You could add baby corn, shiitake mushrooms, tofu, shrimp, chicken...whatever you want. The version I list here was served as a side dish for a veggie-less entree.

Black Bean & Garlic Veggies 2 bunches baby bok choy, chopped 1/2 eggplant, diced 2 tsp black bean garlic paste 1 tsp oyster sauce 2 tbsp broth (I had beef broth on hand so I used that) 1/3 c water

Dry fry eggplant in a large skillet until they start to brown (about 3 minutes). Add broth and bok choy and cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently.