I often order a side of mushrooms in a nice steak restaurant and always wondered how they got them to taste so good and have that certain texture and deep color that they have. After playing around with roasting recipes, and sautéing recipes, I finally discovered that slow braising mushrooms on top of the stove in liquid created that texture and deep flavor I was looking for. Mushrooms are durable and can stand up to a long braise without getting mushy. The flavor profile differs depending on the liquids and alcohol you choose, but my favorite is Marsala. These are great as a stand alone side dish, but also are great on top of steak, pork chops or along side roast chicken.
TIPS: Try to keep the mushrooms fairly uniform in size. Use a large enough pan so they are mostly in one layer in the pan. You can easily halve the recipe and make for two people. They shrink a lot in cooking so they make less than you originally think. You can play around with the type of alcohol, altering the final flavor, including using red wine, dark beer, or even switching out the beef broth for chicken if you want a lighter flavor.
Braised Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 16 oz fresh button or cremini mushrooms
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1 C marsala wine or dry sherry
- 1 C beef broth (low sodium)
- 1 sprig fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp dry thyme
- 1 large (1-2") piece dried porcini mushroom
- 1 whole garlic clove smashed
- kosher salt and pepper
Instructions
- Clean mushrooms, leaving stems but cutting off any hard stem ends. If mushrooms are larger than 1 inch or so, cut them in half, through the stem (lengthwise).
- Melt butter in large saute pan over medium heat. Add mushrooms and sauté about 4-5 minutes, until they start to brown a bit and butter is mostly absorbed into mushrooms. Add the thyme and whole garlic clove and sauté for a minute. Add the marsala, cooking for 1 minute to release alcohol. Add beef broth and dry porcini mushroom, as well as a pinch of salt and pepper. Turn down heat and simmer gently, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for at least 30 minutes, until liquid is reduced by half.
- At this point you can remove from heat, set them aside, and let sit in their juices for up to 2 hours.
- When getting ready to serve, return to low heat and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms absorb most of the liquid and the liquid is reduced to about 1/2 C (just a thin layer of liquid under the mushrooms, but not totally dry). This may be 15-20 minutes. Remove garlic clove, thyme sprig (if using) and the porcini mushroom.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste. (Be sure to taste it as it may need more salt than you think). Serve with their juices on top of steak or as a side dish.
- Enjoy!