This is one of my favorite inventions. It’s like icing to cake. It makes whatever it’s served on truly a delight to eat. Sauces and gravies are for me, what makes eating healthy easy, and it definitely helps me convert others to eat healthy, especially the kids and the men around the house. This gravy is a little involved but well worth the effort and you can use it throughout the week on just about anything. My personal favorite is on cauliflower mashers. I make whole bulbs of roasted garlic ahead of time to use for the week. I just wrap the whole head in foil and cook in the oven or toaster oven at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Don’t worry if you don’t have any on hand it is still delicious without it. ~ Linda Lloyd, Cambiati Guest Chef
Prep Time: 40 minutes (allow for extra soaking time for dried porcini)
Yields: Approx. 4 cups
Serving Size: Up to 1/3 cup
Ingredients:
1 Tbs olive oil or grape seed oil
1 large portabella mushroom
6 small crimini mushrooms
1-2 oz dried porcini mushrooms (soaked)
1 cup hot filtered or bottled water
1 ½ cup vegetable stock
2 TBSP Bragg’s Liquid Aminos
1 tsp cornstarch
¼ cup cold water
2-3 roasted garlic cloves (optional)
Sea salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:
Soak porcini mushrooms in hot water for 20-30 minutes to rehydrate.
Meanwhile, brush clean and remove stem from portabella mushroom, discarding stem. Chop portabella mushrooms into small pieces and sauté mushroom pieces in oil until brown and softened, stirring occasionally on medium heat 5-10 minutes. Add porcini mushrooms along with soaking liquid and vegetable stock. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Mix cornstarch and cold water. Slowly stir in cornstarch mixture to mushroom mixture in sauté pan (no heat). Allow mixture to cool briefly. Put mixture in blender along with roasted garlic cloves and blend till smooth (1-2 minutes). Pour mixture back in sauté pan and add thinly sliced crimini mushrooms, Bragg’s, sea salt and pepper to taste and simmer for additional 10 mins. This step is to add the look of mushrooms swimming in the gravy. Serve immediately or store and reheat as needed. Gravy will keep up to one week refrigerated.
Note: If you prefer smooth gravy, add crimini mushrooms in with the portabella in the first step and cook all together simmering for 20 minutes instead of for 10 minutes in the first step.