Week 47 - Mushrooms

We love mushrooms and eat them often, so for the Week 47 challenge focused on mushrooms, I went looking for mushrooms made in a style that we hadn't tried before. I found a quick mushroom recipe on The Kitchn for buttered balsamic mushrooms, and that sounded like a good addition to our Thanksgiving-style dinner.

The ingredients were:

- about 1 tbsp olive oil ($0.10)

- 2 shallots ($0.98)

- 2 tbsp butter ($0.18)

- 2 boxes of cremini mushrooms ($4.58)

- salt & pepper ($0.02)

- dried rosemary ($0.08)

- dried thyme ($0.08)

- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar ($0.18)

- heaping tbsp of brown sugar ($0.08)

- 1 tbsp soy sauce ($0.10)

- 1 large spoonful of garlic ($0.05)

The cost for the mushrooms was about $6.43, with the bulk of the cost from the mushrooms and the shallots. We ate them with some green beans ($0.95), cathead biscuits ($3.34), and the Trader Joe's breaded turkey-less stuffed roast with gravy ($12.99). The entire dinner cost about $23.71, more than our usual challenge meals (or dinners generally), but it was our pre-Thanksgiving feast (since we ordered a catered one for actual Thanksgiving day). We had leftovers for lunch the next day (roast and biscuits), and then some more roast for dinner, so the cost was spread out a little bit more.

The steps for making the mushrooms were:

1. Prep - wash and slice mushrooms; chop shallots.

2. Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add shallots, and cook until starting to soften.

3. Add the butter and melt.

4. Add the mushrooms, and cook until they start releasing juice, stirring often. Add salt, pepper, and about 1/2-1 tsp (didn't measure) of rosemary and thyme, rubbing the dried herbs in your hands before adding. [The seasonings were supposed to be added with the mushrooms, but I forgot until a few minutes later. It was fine. Also, had never heard the tip about rubbing the herbs before, but it makes sense.]

5. Once the mushrooms have started releasing juice, lower heat to medium low, and add the balsamic, brown sugar, soy sauce, and garlic.

6. Cook until the mushrooms are soft and the sauce has reduced.

The mushrooms were delicious, with lots of flavor from the garlic and herbs. The rosemary and thyme were much stronger than I was expecting, but maybe I should have been rubbing the spices in my hand all along before adding them to dishes! These mushrooms were a perfect accompaniment for this Thanksgiving feast, and I would gladly make these again as a vegetable side dish.