Creamy baby bella sauce
Makes: about 1 ½ cups
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ pound fresh baby bella or button mushrooms, thinly sliced ¼ cup dry white wine or vermouth
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
4 or 6 fresh (or reconstituted dried) small morel mushrooms, halved, optional
1 tablespoon drained capers
½ teaspoon dried porcini powder, optional
½ teaspoon minced fresh rosemary or ¼ teaspoon dried Salt, freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup mascarpone or heavy (whipping) cream, plus more as needed
1 or 2 skinny green onions, trimmed, thinly sliced
1. Heat a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons butter and ½ pound sliced mushrooms. Saute until nicely golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Add ¼ cup dry white wine and simmer until the liquid is reduced by half.
2. Add 2 thinly sliced garlic cloves and cook 1 minute. Add 4 to 6 halved morel mushrooms if desired, 1 tablespoon drained capers, ½ teaspoon dried porcini powder and ½ teaspoon minced fresh rosemary (or ¼ teaspoon dried). Season with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon fresh black pepper.
3. Swirl in ¼ cup mascarpone or heavy cream until heated through. Add green onions.
4. Cover and refrigerate up to several days. Reheat to serve, adding a little water (or more cream) to loosen the sauce as desired.
Notes: Baby bella mushrooms, aka cremini mushrooms, are simply small-sized portabella mushrooms. Their darker color and deeper flavor taste great here, but button mushrooms work, too. If you have access to morels, fresh or reconstituted dry, they add a superb flavor and texture as well.
Cherry balsamic gastrique
Makes: about 2 cups 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 medium red onion, halved, thinly sliced in wedges
cup dry red wine
1 clove garlic, finely chopped 1 teaspoon minced fresh jalapeno or ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional
1 ½ to 2 cups (about 8 ounces) frozen pitted sweet or tart red cherries (or a combination), thawed 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, plus more to taste ½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper or grains of paradise
1. In a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon each butter and oil and swirl until butter is melted. Add 1 medium red onion, halved and sliced. Saute until soft and golden, about 5 minutes.
2. Stir in ¾ cup red wine and boil hard to reduce wine by half, about 2 minutes. Stir in 1 clove chopped garlic and 1 teaspoon minced jalapeno if using; cook 1 minute.
3. Stir in 2 cups of pitted cherries and simmer until cherries are soft, 5 minutes. Stir in 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar and heat to a simmer. Season with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Taste and adjust with a little more vinegar if desired. Remove from heat.
4. Mixture can be covered and refrigerated up to 4 days. Serve warm.
Notes: Look for frozen pitted cherries in the freezer case. Dried cherries softened in warm water can be substituted, as can fresh cherries in season.