The Daily Grind, Chop and Fry

Really good vegetarian gravy is possible, but after numerous trials I’ve learned that if it is going to be good, you can’t cut corners. You can still make a passable gravy by doing things like using commercial stock, but it won’t be as good as if you did it all from scratch. Browning the roux makes a nice, brown gravy with a deep flavor.

The directions for this are long, but most of them are describing technique. This is one recipe where lots of years of watching professional chefs paid off. None of the steps are hard, and most of the time involved is in letting things brown and reduce, during which you can do other things. (Other things in the kitchen, not in the garden.)

1 small yellow onion, sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup sliced brown mushrooms
1/2 oz dried mushrooms
approx. 1.5 cups hot water
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp flour
4 cups home made stock
1/2 tsp sage
pinch thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Put dried mushrooms in small bowl or cup and cover with hot water to soak for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat stock in medium sauce pan on high heat. Add sage and thyme. When mushrooms are done soaking, drain mushrooms and squeeze out excess moisture and set aside, keeping warm. Strain soaking liquid through a coffee filter and add to the hot stock. Reduce stock to approx. 3 cups.

In small sauté pan, heat oil to med. high and arrange onions to cover bottom. Lower temperature until onions are cooking but not quite browning, and leave them there to slowly cook, stirring frequently. Do not allow onions to burn – if they start to stick, add a teaspoon of water. What you want them to do is caramelize, which takes time, about 20 minutes. When they are brown, remove from the pan and set aside with reconstituted mushrooms.

Make the roux: Have small bowl or custard dish handy. In another sauté pan, melt butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour one tbsp at a time and cook flour and butter while stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan. Watch for the butter to start to brown – allow it to turn golden and even a little nut-colored, but do not allow it to burn. Make sure to scrape all of the pan to keep things from burning. As soon as the butter is a nice golden brown, transfer it to the cool dish, scraping the sides and bottom of the sauté pan. (If you do not do this last step, it will continue to cook in the pan and it will burn.) Wipe down pan while it is still hot and return to stove on med-high heat.

Without adding any more oil to the pan, add the mushroom slices and spread evenly on the bottom of the pan. They will hiss and pop some – all you are doing is browning and pulling the moisture out of them. Stir them occasionally to keep them from burning. When they are all brown and drier, add to other mushrooms and onions. Rough-chop the onions and mushrooms into small bits and return everything to saute pan. Put the pan on very low heat, just to keep things warm.

Keeping the stock hot, slowly add about 1/2 of the roux to the stock, whisking constantly. Cook for 1 minute, checking for consistency, adding just a little roux every 30 seconds until the gravy is thick enough. (You may have extra roux left over. That’s OK, it’s better than having to make more at the last second.) It shouldn’t be too thick – your gravy will end up being too greasy. Check for taste, adding salt & pepper if needed, and stir in the vegetables. Serve as soon as possible.

Shopping List

1 small yellow onion, sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup sliced brown mushrooms
1/2 oz dried mushrooms
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp flour
4 cups home made stock
1/2 tsp sage
pinch thyme