ISO Vegetarian Mushroom Gravy Recipe

[TerriL]

Anyone have one to recommend? I was planning on sautéing buttons/shiitakes/portobellos/creminellis with shallots/onions, adding mushroom/vegetable stock, a little fresh sage, then thickening with a little flour/butter, and a squirt of lemon or another acid. Thanks!

[lowereastrittenhouse]

I tend to make the same thing in a slightly different way: starting with an oil and flour roux, getting it to a fairly dark stage, then add minced mushrooms, then stock and seasoning. A little soy sauce does add that umami flavor, too.

[will47]

I think your method sounds pretty sound. I am not sure if this is the ideal way to build it, but this is the method I used a couple years ago.

frozen porcini, fresh chanterelles, fresh cremini mushrooms - stems, little bits, whatever [these are what I had around, but using just creminis will probably work fine]
1 onion, chopped finely (or use a couple of shallots)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced (optional)
1-2 Tbsp margarine and some olive oil
~ 2 Tbsp flour
soy sauce
veg stock
nutritional yeast
salt and pepper to taste

Brown mushrooms in pan in batches, removing each batch after browning. deglaze pan with white wine after all batches are done, and reserve the wine. to the wine, add a little soy sauce and veg stock or water.
sauté onions in medium heat with a liberal amount of oil and / or margarine, until translucent / limp. add mushrooms and garlic (if using) and increase heat. add salt and fresh black pepper to taste.
push onions to the side, add more oil and / or margarine, and add flour to create a roux. (I think this is an odd order to do things in, but it seemed to work quite well)
add liquid and whisk with a roux whisk, adding more water or stock as necessary. add more black pepper and some nutritional yeast.

You might also watch Michael Ruhlman's recent video on building a roux for regular gravy - I think the roux portion should be very similar.
http://ruhlman.com/2011/11/turkey-gra...

[Roxanne Webber]

Last year the CHOW test kitchen developed this recipe for mushroom gravy to go with a DIY tofurkey http://www.chow.com/recipes/29032-veg.... Give it a shot and let us know what you think--it's very close to what you are describing!

[eclecticsynergy]

Never met a gravy that didn't benefit from a dash of Maggi seasoning.

[wyogal]

maybe some thyme...

[Sarah]

A splash of dry vermouth really brightens it up...

[greenstate]

I add some Madiera wine to mine.

[ipsedixit]

Whatever you end up doing and/or using, make sure to incorporate a bit of Porcini powder.

[JungMann]

Agreed. Porcini pack a wallop of "meatiness" that makes for a very flavorful sauce.

[ipsedixit]

Porcini powder would make MSG blush.

[todao]

"Creminelli" is a brand of Italian salami. Is this truly a vegetarian dish?

[TerriL]

Ha -- typo! Cremini mushrooms! Though a Creminelli product would probably work well in a non-veg. version.

[todao]

Frankly, Terri, I think you already have a very good idea. I might toss in a clove of garlic but, other than that, I'd say go with what you have in mind.