Our test kitchen chef Josh Cohen's recipe for Mushrooms with Caramelized Shallots and Fresh Thyme is serious business.
The long cook time on the shallots means that any sharpness you normally associate with this allium is mellowed into something exceedingly caramel and tender, while the high-heat treatment on the mushrooms coaxes out their earthy flavor and heartiness. By the time your mushrooms and shallots are through cooking, you'll end up with a kitchen full of homey smells and a good dish to keep around for the week.
If you can manage to not eat all the mushrooms at once, you can maximize the mushrooms you just spent nearly an hour cooking and have a meal plan set for the whole week.
Here's what you should be making over the weekend to make the most of your mushrooms through the week:
- Heaps on heaps on heaps of mushrooms and caramelized shallots
- A pot of chickpeas or white beans
- A pot of farro, or grain of your choice
- A batch of unsweetened tart or pie dough
And make sure to stock up on some items for the rest of the week:
- Eggs
- Greek yogurt, creme fraiche, or cream
- Linguine (or the pasta shape of your choice, really)
- A loaf of good, crusty bread
- Pancetta, if you're into that
- A hunk of hard cheese, maybe Parmesan or Pecorino
- Spinach and/or arugula
- Dried fruit and nuts
- Canned tomatoes
- Potatoes
Here's how to make the mushrooms work for you all week:
- Pile mushrooms on thick slices of crisp toast that's been spread with creme fraiche or yogurt. Top with an egg if you prefer (honestly, you really should) and serve with a light green salad.
- Toss with cooked grains, cheese, greens, dried fruit, and nuts to make an addicting grain salad (sort of like this).
- Combine the mushrooms and shallots with Greek yogurt or cream and use them as a base for a hearty frittata.
- Stir into cooked pasta and top with grated cheese. Celebrate at how easy that was.
- Simmer with your prepped beans, canned tomatoes, and any vegetables you're looking to clean out and make a filling, meat-free chili or ragu.
- Use as a filling in twice-baked potatoes (or sweet potatoes!).
- Sauté some pancetta to mix with your mushrooms and shallots. Roll out that pastry dough you made, and cover with your mushroom mixture. Fold the edges of the dough over just to hold in the filling and you've practically got a savory galette in the oven.
This recipe calls for a variety of mushrooms. What's your favorite type? Let us know in the comments!
A New Way to Dinner, co-authored by Food52's founders Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, is an indispensable playbook for stress-free meal-planning (hint: cook foundational dishes on the weekend and mix and match ‘em through the week).
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Written by: Sarah E Daniels
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8 Comments
That will tell you exactly how to cook them
Josh (the recipe's author) suggests a combo of combination of crimini, royal trumpet, mattock, and oyster mushrooms. I usually opt for whatever I can find and/or what is on sale. The mushroom selection is your preference!
Hope thus helps!
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