Showing posts with label sauce. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sauce. Show all posts

Monday, November 14, 2011

Mushroom marsala sauce


My Husband's birthday was last week so of course I had to make him something delicious for dinner. Between the two of us, we couldn't decide on what he wanted. One thing was for sure: he wanted beef. And mushrooms. And wine. The first thing he suggested was beef burgundy, delicious indeed, but we'd recently had beef stew, which is very similar and I didn't want those flavors again. Yes, it's his birthday, but I'm in charge of the food! Beef Stroganoff was suggested, we haven't had it in a while, but I've made that plenty of times before. Steak, sure, but what can we do to make it more special for his birthday??

That's when my good friend Phyllis and I got chatting. She told me about a recipe she'd concocted using shallot & mushrooms, a bit of marsala wine, sour cream and Parmigiana done up gratin style. The timing of our conversation couldn't have been better!! Here was something different that would pair perfectly with the beef the Witchy Husband had requested. And it has wine, a flavor he'd been thinking about. And mushrooms! And sour cream!! I couldn't wait to get working on this delightful birthday treat!

Phyllis' original dish was done in a casserole and baked to melt and brown the cheese. I decided to morph her idea into a sauce that could blanket the steaks. I cooked the beef using the grilled steak technique I've written about before, except I seared them on my stove top in a cast iron skillet. The skillet was then deglazed after the steaks cooked so that lovely browned beefy flavor could become one with my sauce. The sauce was done in a seperate sautee pan, starting with the butter, shallots and mushrooms. Once the 'shrooms were deeply browned the pan was deglazed with marsala wine. After reduction the Witch added the deglaze liquid from the steaks pan, a touch of water and sour cream. The resulting sauce was rich, velvety, lusciously and deeply flavored. It was the PERFECT companion to the medium rare cooked sirloins. Birthday dinner perfection!! Happy Birthday Hon, I love you!


Mushroom Marsala sauce
makes 2 servings
Inspired by Phyllis Davis
8 large white mushrooms, sliced
1 medium shallot, fine diced
3T butter, unsalted
1/2 c marsala wine, dry
1/2 c sour cream
1/2 t thyme crushed
1 c water, divided
parmesean cheese, fresh grated, about 4T
2 steaks, pan seared using reverse sear technique
kosher salt and pepper


In a sautee pan melt butter over medium high heat. Once it stops foaming add the finely diced shallot and sautee until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the mushrooms and toss to coat in butter evenly. The mushrooms will absorb the butter, this is ok, just let them cook. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring every few minutes, until mushrooms are deeply browned.

Deglaze pan with marsala wine. Allow to reduce by half. Remove from heat and add sour cream, slowly stirring it into the sauce. Add 1/2 c water to the sauce and stir well.

Deglaze pan that steaks seared in with remaining water. Scrape up any browned bits from the pan and add this to the sauce. Add the parmesean cheese to the sauce, stir well, taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed. Serve over rested steaks.

*~*Kitchen Witch TIP: If you're cooking the steaks outside on the grill simply substitute the steak deglazing liquid with about 1/2 cup of beef broth.~*~
Nutrition Facts

User Entered Recipe

2 Servings

Amount Per Serving
Calories325.6
Total Fat29.4 g
Saturated Fat18.3 g
Polyunsaturated Fat1.1 g
Monounsaturated Fat8.5 g
Cholesterol71.9 mg
Sodium37.6 mg
Potassium224.4 mg
Total Carbohydrate6.2 g
Dietary Fiber0.1 g
Sugars0.2 g
Protein2.8 g

Monday, July 18, 2011

Sweet and spicy barbecue sauce

The Witch has shared a few barbecue sauce recipes on this blog before. And honestly I've not made either of them again because they weren't just right. Let's get a few things straight first: The Witch is very paticular on what kind of BBQ sauce she likes. It can't have any HFCS. It must be sweet, spicy and tangy. Not mustardy. So when a good friend and awesome cook suggested I try her BBQ sauce I said why not??

Boy oh boy that was the best "Why not" decision I've made in a LONG time!! This sauce is GOOD people. Really really good. And easy, too!! The list of ingredients is long - please don't let that intimidate you. Almost all of the ingredients are things that you should have in your pantry. The liquid smoke is one that you might not have, but its readily available at the grocery store in the ketchup/steak sauce section. It comes in 2 flavors, hickory and mesquite. I like the hickory for sauces but please use which ever smoke flavor you like the most.

The sauce is sweet from honey, brown sugar and a kiss of molasses. Its tangy from tomato paste, vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. The spice come to you courtesy of chili powder, a mere 1/2 teaspoon, yet it flavors the sauce greatly. The Witch ground ancho chilies specifically for this sauce, they're my favorite chilies, sweetish and spicy but not HOLY HELL THIS IS HOT spicy. To grind your own chilies into chili powder couldn't be easier: get about 6 dried chilies of your choice, break them into smaller pieces discarding the stems and some of the seeds. Place them into a grinder (I have a dedicated coffee grinder that's for spices only) and grind until they are powdered. That's it! Homeground ancho powder!

After mixing up the sauce and allowing it to simmer for an hour or more your house will smell amazing. Try not to eat all the sauce before slathering it onto your favorite foods. I simply grilled some thick cut pork chops and glazed them with this sauce. It was amazing!! Everyone in the Witch household agreed that this is our new barbecue sauce. Thanks again Jenni for the awesome sauce recipe!!

Sweet and spicy barbecue sauce
Source: Jenni
makes about 2 cups of sauce, 8 generous servings
2 1/4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup minced onion
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup tomato paste
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 1/4 teaspoons liquid smoke flavoring
2 teaspoons whiskey
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 tablespoon dark molasses
1/2 tablespoon ground red chile powder (I used ground ancho peppers)

In a sauce pan heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes until slightly softened and the edges start to brown.

Add the remaining ingredients to the pan. Whisk well to incorporate. Bring up to a boil then reduce to a low simmer and allow to simmer uncovered for 1.5 hours or until sauce has thickened. Stir every 15 min or so and scrape down the sides to avoid burning and hot spots.

Serve with your favorite grilled meats. Enjoy!



Nutrition Facts provided by SparkPeople recipe calculator
Amount Per Serving
Calories 149.8
Total Fat 4.5 g
Saturated Fat 0.3 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1.3 g
Monounsaturated Fat 2.6 g
Cholesterol 0.0 mg
Sodium 674.2 mg
Potassium 288.9 mg
Total Carbohydrate 31.5 g
Dietary Fiber 1.0 g
Sugars 28.5 g
Protein 0.9 g
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