Mushroom Stroganoff
I can't believe it's not beef!
This is one of our meatiest, most satisfying dishes that we make at Scratch Made and it includes not one bit of meat. Who would have thought?
I think that the key to this dish is the stock and getting a nice sear on the mushrooms (I’ll explain the method for both below). When I worked at Bouchon, one of the dishes we likely sold the most of was French Onion soup. It was a lengthy process that needed to be repeated multiple times a week. Beef bones got roasted until just beyond golden brown, then simmered in water with onion, peppercorns, and bay leaves. Many pounds of onions were sliced until tears were flowing, and then caramelized low and slow until sweet and melt-y.
But, what a lot of people didn’t know was that there was a vegetarian version, as well. That’s where I learned how to make a truly satisfying mushroom stock—something that I now use all the time for our vegetarian dishes at Scratch Made. We started by halving onions, the stems and skin could stay. It’s all getting strained anyways. Then we would sear them on the flat top cut-side down until they were completely charred black. Those would get loaded up into deep hotels along with lots of mushroom stems, thyme, peppercorns, and bay leaf, tightly covered and simmered until a dark savory stock was revealed.
That’s the secret to this dish. I find that often times vegetarian dishes are geared towards vegetarians. Duh. But, what I mean by that is that often times a vegetarian will post a recipe for something meant to imitate a dish that traditionally includes meat and it’s clear that they haven’t tasted the real stuff in awhile. Like their radar is slightly off. Not here, partner. This is a dish that will satisfy the meat eaters in your life, as well.
Fine mesh sieve for straining the stock. I think this trio is so useful.
A large pot for boiling the noodles. Everyone needs a big pot like this.
A flat wooden spoon. I’m loyal to this one.
A silicon, heat proof spatula. This is the only one you need.
