Braised Portobellos

Braised Portobellos pictured with
Garlic Mashed Potatoes & Garlic Wilted Spinach

Serves 6

• 12 large portobello mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced small (omit if using shallots)
• 3 large or 4 small shallots, diced small
• 4 to 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 cup red wine, mirin, sherry, or reduce wine and add balsamic vinegar (2 parts wine and 1 part vinegar)
• 1 1/2 vegetable bouillon cube
• 2 teaspoons thyme
• 2 teaspoons chives, optional
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons cool water
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• To taste salt
• Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Boiled Red Potatoes, cooked noodles or rice, for serving 

Choose a skillet having a lid that will accommodate all portobellos. A deep 12-inch skillet will hold 12 large caps arranged pinwheel-style around one cap in the center.

Wipe mushrooms clean. If desired, remove and discard gills. Trim away and discard ends of stems, then detach stems from caps, dice stems small, and set aside.

Preheat skillet, add oil and heat to shimmering. Add onion/shallots and diced mushroom stems and sauté until softened, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and sauté until aromatic, 1 minute. Add wine and cook 2 minutes, stirring and scraping up browned bits from bottom of pan.

Add water, vinegar if using, bouillon, thyme, chives if using, basil and pepper. Bring to a simmer and stir to dissolve bouillon. Add mushrooms gill-side up, cover and simmer 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in a cup whisk together water and cornstarch; set aside.

Gently flip mushrooms and simmer 5 minutes longer.

Transfer mushrooms to a dish, leaving as much liquid as possible in the skillet. Bring sauce to a simmer and, stirring constantly, slowly add cornstarch mixture until sauce has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Taste and add salt if needed. Turn off heat and return mushrooms to skillet.

Serve 2 mushrooms alongside potatoes, noodles or rice topped with sauce.