Weeknight fancy: mushroom bourguinonne

I love when cleaning out the fridge turns into a gourmet meal. I had some mushrooms that were on their way out, some leftover red wine from a recent party, and some fresh rosemary I wanted to finish up. I immediately thought of making mushroom bourguinonne. This is a recipe that I learned at a cooking class that I took a few years back. It really is a simple recipe, made with simple ingredients, that moonlights as gourmet french food.

So even though I may have had this gorgeous meal in front of me, I made it will still sweaty from the gym, and ate it cross-legged on the couch while catching up on this past season of Bones.

Let's get back to the mushrooms for a second though. Why would you make beef bourguinonne, when you can make mushroom bourguinonne? As the beef stews, it is breaking down into all sorts of carcinogenic compounds (heterocyclic amines) that are going to go into your body and wreak havoc. Particularly in your colon. Mushrooms are going to do the exact opposite. Recently, a study conducted in China concluded that woman who included mushrooms regularly in their diet had a 64% reduced risk of developing breast cancer. And those that also drank green tea? A 90% reduction! Both mushroom polysaccharides and green tea polyphenols act as scavengers to go through your body, soaking up any harmful compounds that may be in there. The key here is that these naturally bioavailable compounds can go in, do their thing, and then are automatically excreted from the body, taking with them the bad guys.

In addition to mushrooms being good for you, there are currently some great varieties of mushrooms in season! Please head over to Delectable Musings for some other great seasonal eats :-)!

Pretty cool, huh? So put on a tea pot of green tea, and get to chopping those mushrooms!

Mushroom Bourguinonne

Adapted from Holly Ann Pierce 

Materials:

• olive oil
• 2 yellow onions, chopped
• 2 lbs mixed mushrooms, quartered
• 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1/4 all purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups dry red wine
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• salt
• pepper
• parsley to serve
• quinoa pasta

Methods:

1. Heat up a oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Saute the onions until just translucent, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook until the mushrooms begin to release their juice, about 5 more minutes.
4. Sprinkle with the flour and cook for 1-2 minutes.
5. Pour the red wine in and stir well.
6. Add the soy sauce, rosemary, honey, and vinegar and stir.
7. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until the sauce has reduced and thickened, about 15 minutes.
8. Salt and pepper to taste.
9. In the meantime, cook your pasta accordingly.
10. Serve mushrooms over pasta, garnish with parsley.
11. Enjoy!
• Sit back, relax, and let the mushrooms do the work now!