RECIPE: Braised Fall Vegetables with Shallots and Red Wine Sauce and Mushroom Gravy

Well, I forgot to post the recipes from my Thanksgiving Day menu. So we'll start with the Braised Vegetables and Mushroom Gravy...

Braised Fall Vegetables with Shallots and Red Wine Sauce
Adapted from MyRecipes.com

Ingredients

• 2  tablespoons  butter
• 1  tablespoon  olive oil
• 20  large shallots, peeled and separated (about 2 pounds)
• 6  carrots, cut into 2-inch-thick pieces (about 3/4 pound)
• 2 1/2  cups  quartered mushrooms (about 1/3 pound)
• 4  large parsnips, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch pieces
• Red Wine Sauce, divided
• 1 1/2  teaspoons  minced fresh or 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/8  teaspoon  black pepper
• 2  bay leaves
• 2  thyme sprigs
• 3  tablespoons  chopped fresh parsley
• 1  garlic clove, minced

Preparation

Heat butter and oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add shallots and carrots; sauté for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add mushrooms and parsnips; sauté 10 minutes. Now the red wine sauce recipe they had was too much work for me, given everything else I had to do that day. So I don't remember exactly what I did in its place, but I think that I just poured in some red wine and maybe some broth and butter, rosemary, and next 4 ingredients (rosemary through thyme); bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes. Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs.

Combine parsley and garlic in a small bowl; sprinkle over each serving.

Vegetarian Mushroom Gravy
Adapted from NPR recipe for Vegetarian Gravy

The gravy thickens up quite a bit, so keep some warm water or vegetable broth on hand to thin it out before serving, and for leftovers. Makes 2 cups.

Ingredients

1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup chopped onion or shallots
5 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz package of sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preparation

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Saute onion, garlic and mushrooms until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour and soy sauce to form a smooth paste. Gradually whisk in the broth.

Season with sage, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring constantly, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until thickened.

The braised veggies weren't bad, but I discovered that I do NOT like parsnips! So next time I will skip them! Also the size of the chopped veggies as they suggested were too big to cook thoroughly. So next time I would also cut the veggies smaller.

The gravy (as seen here on the stuffing) was AWESOME! I absolutely loved it! I plan to make this plenty in the future. However it really does thicken up, so I would suggest doing as they say and keeping some broth on hand to thin it out when reheating for leftovers and such.

Braised veggies-- Not bad. Would probably be quite good if carrots and mushrooms and maybe potatoes minus the parsnips, and smaller pieces that cook well. Also could easily use onion instead of shallots. Much simpler.

Vegetarian Mushroom Gravy-- Absolutely delicious! This is a definite keeper!