Mushroom Gravy Recipe
NOTES:
You can use whole wheat flour if that’s your jam, I have a kiddo who was diagnosed intolerant to it (through we learned that was just microbiome revolt from all the antibiotics/dairy he’d been downing) but we still have a lot of tapioca on-hand so it’s stuck. :-)
This makes a double batch of gravy (enough to use for your meal and have for lots of leftovers), so cut in half if you don’t need a lot.
We like things saucy over here, so if you’re a gravy fan we salute you and recognize you as one of our own. For many years I made gravy out of the drippings of an animal, but then I fully absorbed the compassionate lack in that decision, the health harms, and the environmental impacts and we pivoted away from the cruel stuff and started making mushroom gravy.
This is SUCH an easy transition: it’s tastier, it’s kinder, it’s healthier, and it’s sustainable. It’s a win-win-win-win all around.
The traditional gravy made of rendered carcass is harmful to your microbiome, but mushrooms have a bounty of benefits:
They are a great source of of Vitamin D
They have potassium which “can help regulate blood pressure, and this may decrease the risk of hypertension and cardiovascular disease.”
They’re packed with beneficial/essential fiber
And they are full of glutathione (<—powerful antioxidant that reduces oxidative stress, “Reduces cell damage in alcoholic and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease”, improves insulin resistance, increases mobility for people with periphery artery disease, reduces symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, and the list goes on!
And Boy Howdy are they delicious… and sustainable…and kind. I’ll say it again and again like a broken klaxon record. :-)
Live Kindly, Feast Kindly, and Enjoy. :-)
Everything you need to make mushroom gravy.
We used to buy them bulk at the grocery but have been too wary of that, and the wrapped fresh ones have too much packaging, so we’ve settled on frozen as our answer for now… if you’re getting ‘em fresh, you’re ahead of the game and won’t have to wait til they release all their water. :-)
When cooking this many mushrooms it helps to do half first (until browned), put them in a bowl, brown the remaining half, and then add them all to the pan and continue on with the recipe.
Balsamic and Aminos (or Soy Sauce if that is what you have) may sound odd, but I’ve been adding that to gravies for years. When you combine the two in a sauce you taste neither (ie not “Oh man, this tastes like gravy with balsamic! Gross!), they fall into the background but give it a deeper richer, more savory umami flavor that brings it to a whole other level.
Add in your water, puree, add your bay leaf, and let it bubble away until it has thickened a little more.
Throw onto some lentil loaf and mashed potatoes, and you have yourself one delicious, kind, sustainable dinner. <3
