Chef Wendell: Groovy Mushroom Gravy

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Recipe developed by Chef Wendell Fowler
www.chefwendellfowler.blogspot.com

This Holiday Season, let’s all lighten up a bit.
As a result of its animal-based components, our beloved gravy is an artery-clogging grease festival. This mouth-watering gravy recipe, however, has the ‘good’ fat and tastes on just about anything, especially smashed potatoes. Forget, however, about using a flour and butter roux.
The versatile mushroom soy sauce is the same as Gravy Master; that brown liquid everyone has used for years to darken sauces. It has, however, a deeper flavor. If you wish to use turkey stock, then make the stock the day in advance; leave it all night in a cool area.  In the morning, skim off the fat and you’ll remove about 75% of the heart attack-provoking gravy. Simply boil the bones, skin,
One portion of everything at the typical Thanksgiving meal totals a whopping 2000 calories. Burp! Could that be the beginning of the dreaded Holiday 15 pound gain? Yep!

Ingredients:

• 6 cups of vegetable or turkey stock
• 4 tbs. olive oil
• 2 cups washed and thinly sliced mushrooms. Use the stems too.
• 1 finely chopped onion
• 1 carrot, grated
• 1 stalk of celery, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• ¼ cup mushroom soy sauce (found in all Asian groceries.)
• 1 cup dry, not sweet red wine
• 1-can tomato concentrate
• Cornstarch

Directions:

1. In a non-corrosive stockpot add the oil and turn the fire to medium high. Add the onion, carrot, celery, bay leaf and mushrooms. Sauté for three minutes.
2. Add the vegetable stock, tomato concentrate, mushroom soy, and red wine. Let the liquid boil for five minutes.
3. During that time prepare cornstarch slurry:  equal parts water to cornstarch mixed well. Put the water and cornstarch in a lidded jar and shake to mix if you don’t want to get messy fingers.
4. Bring the mixture to a boil then slowly pour in the slurry at little at a time to stock to thicken.
5. Whisk constantly at first then use a wooden spoon to reach the corners of the pot.
6. Cool, cover, and refrigerate.

Special Note:

• Ground up flax seeds make an excellent thickening agent for soups, sauces, breading, and coatings.
• Use your coffee grinder to pulverize the omega three rich flax seeds.
• Arrowroot makes a lousy gravy-thickening agent. Some people find the texture offensive. Try cornstarch instead of flour roux.