mushroom bourguignon

I have only been married for a short time, but it seems I have already been bitten with the dish bug every other woman in my family has fallen prey to. I innocently peruse Crate and Barrel and find not one, no not even two, but three beautiful sets of dishes that I want. Despite the fact that I just received a beautiful new set — that I registered for — for my wedding, I try to keep my finds (because this did not stop just at Crate and Barrel — have you checked William Sonoma or Anthropologie recently?) to myself, only with a few occasions of “Honey, look at these pretty things!” as I tilt my laptop toward his face.

My husband, however, has not heard my oohs and ahhs over the cutest set of dishes I have ever seen for almost a month now, because I have been distracted with super shiny, silver All-Clad pots and pans. I thought I was too cynical to be a dream boat about kitchen things — I mean really, porcelain plates, copper-bottom pans, what’s the big deal? But people, they are beautiful (shhh, don’t remind me that I just got bright red non stick pots and pans less than a two years ago that, again, I registered for…)

I have been looking at these pots and pans for several weeks now, picking the ones I like, making lists, comparisons, and finally I have chosen 4 (four!!!) new All-Clad pans that my gracious, doting husband has bought me — isn’t he the greatest? And the part that has me tickled all over — they are not non-stick! Meaning I can do all sorts of things my faithful red pans couldn’t do — like fonds! Like crusty caramelized brown-ness over meat! Like making meaty mushroom dishes such as bourguignon that make me sit my husband down to a nice candle lit dinner after a long day at work shove a bowl of bourguignon and a fork into his hands as soon as he steps through the door because oh my gawd this is good!

Mushroom Bourguignon
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

If you want to make this completely vegetarian, use vegetable broth instead of beef broth.

Serves 4

2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons butter, softened
2 pounds portobello mushrooms, in 1/4-inch slices (cremini work as well)
5 carrots, finely sliced
1 small yellow onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup full-bodied red wine
2 cups beef broth
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (1/2 teaspoon dried)
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup pearl onions, peeled  and thawed
Egg noodles, for serving
Sour cream and chopped parsley, for garnish (optional)

Heat one tablespoon of olive oil and one tablespoon of butter in a medium Dutch oven or heavy stock pot over high heat. Saute the mushrooms until they begin to darken, but not yet release any liquid — about three or four minutes. Remove them from the pan.

Lower the heat to medium and add the second tablespoon of olive oil. Add the carrots, onions, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper into the pan and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for just one more minute.

Add the wine to the onions and carrots, scraping any stuck bits off the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Turn the heat up to high and reduce the wine by half. Stir in the tomato paste and the broth. Stir until the tomato paste is evenly combined, and not clumpy. Add back the mushrooms with any juices that have collected and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the temperature and simmer for 20 minutes, or until mushrooms are very tender. Add the pearl onions and simmer for five more minutes.

In the meantime, prepare egg noodles.

Then combine the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and the flour with a fork until combined; stir the butter mixture into the stew. Simmer for 10 more minutes. If you feel like the sauce is too thin, boil it down and reduce to the right consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over a bowl of egg noodles, dolloped with sour cream (optional) and sprinkled with parsley (optional).

Note: This is a freezer-friendly meal, though I doubt you will have enough left over to freeze – it is that good.