Portabello Stroganoff

I will humbly admit that I have, for as long as I can remember, turned my nose up at any and all mushrooms. "Too slimy," I'd say, or "I've got texture issues with that." So imagine my surprise to find myself really enjoying the past few Portabello attempts. I guess it's all in the preparation, and the French Dip is a good example of that.

So again on James' suggestion, I attempted a Portabello Stroganoff. Traditionally, this is composed of beef cubes, mushrooms and sour cream to create a creamy meat-filled gravy served over pasta.

So I know gravy - I saute what ever veggies I have, then remove them, toss in some vegan butter (about 2-3 tbsp), let it melt and brown up a bit, then add an equal amount of flour. I stir this, let this roux brown just a bit (browning adds flavor, even in the veggie world) then take it off the heat and slowly start stirring in soy milk. This clumps up so I use a whisk. I add soy until it's thick, then add just a little more until it's too thin again, then back on the heat - stirring until it thickens. Then I toss the veggies back in.

This is exactly what I did with these tasty portabellos, and for a finishing touch of authenticity, I stirred in a couple of tablespoons of Tofutti sour cream. All this is served over a bed of ribbon noodles with side of plain steamed veggies.

The survey says: Well, I had planned on making enough for leftovers the next day, but instead we ate it all. I think we'll be seeing this one again!