tylik

Thanksgiving was great, even if my back tweaked about twenty minutes before dinner, rendering me even more out of it than I've been recently. I sat at the end of table and blinked a lot, and everyone else got the rest of dinner onto the table. And there was a lot of food, and

who_is_she rubbed my shoulders and neck until I could mostly think again, and

dianthus (and

craigp?) cleaned, making it by far the best morning after Thanksgiving, and darn, just in case I didn't happen to be feeling thankful to begin with...

Anyhow, a recipe:

Evil Mushroom Sauce
(warning, the reading of the recipe has been implicated in weight gain and GI distress in sensitive individuals)

Soak one smallish handful of dried porcini in 1.5 c warm water, chop when softened, reserve water
Mince about half a cups of shallots
Partially carmelize shallots in a little olive oil
Add chopped porcini, saute until shallots well carmelized, and everything begins to stick to the pan
Deglaze pan with cream sherry.
Add the water the mushrooms were previously soaked in, and simmer until it is reduced by half in volume. Set aside to cool until not too hot to touch.
Separate the yolks of three eggs. Whisk them thoroughly into the (now only warm) mushroom and shallot mixture.
Return the pan to the flame, over low heat, stirring constantly. (Alternately, use a double boiler.) It will begin to thicken and needs to be stirred to keep it smooth.
When the mixture is nicely thick, slowly add and quickly whisk in about a quarter cup of olive oil. (Or perhaps a little more. The resulting sauce should be about as thick as mayonaise.)
Whisk in a little salt and perhaps some cream sherry, as desired.

I believe this is essentially a variation on a bernaise. I don't often have an excuse to cookthis way, but it is kind of entertaining.