Creamy Morel Mushroom Sauce

Total Time: 35 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 2 ounces morels (dehydrated mushrooms)
• 1 cup red wine
• 2 shallots, finely minced
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 -2 tablespoon beef base (i use better-than-bouillon beef base, but you can use any condensed beef paste of your choosing)
• black pepper, to taste

Recipe

• 1 soak the dried morel mushrooms in the red wine just long enough to rehydrate them, about 20-30 minutes is usually sufficient. (i use a plastic container with a lid for this step. that way, i can tilt the container occasionally or shake it around a bit, to be sure all the mushrooms are adequately rehydrating.).
• 2 after the mushrooms are rehydrated, place them in a colander and rinse with cool water to remove any grit from the mushrooms. leave the colander in the sink to allow the excess water to drain from the colander.
• 3 finely mince the rehydrated mushrooms; set aside.
• 4 in a large skillet, saute the minced shallots in butter just until they are clear, about 3-4 minutes. add the minced mushrooms and beef base, and stir well. while stirring, add the cream and pepper, continuing to stir constantly until the sauce is thickened.
• 5 spoon the sauce over grilled steaks (especially new york or sirloin), veal, lamb, grilled chicken breasts, or pasta.
• 6 note: for the wine, it doesn't really matter what kind of red wine you use. the wine is just to rehydrate the mushrooms, not to really flavor the sauce. so feel free to use whatever red wine you have on hand. i have used a lot of different red wines for this sauce, and they all seem to work just fine. but i probably use merlot and cabernet the most. but if a different variety of red wine is your favorite, then by all means use it. that way, if you use a wine you actually enjoy drinking, then it's more likely you'll enjoy using it in this recipe.