It’s cold, wet, and gray with a side of cold, wet and gray here in Tacoma. The wet settled in, and I’d bemoan it if I hadn’t lived here all my life and if I wanted to depress myself with thoughts of nine more months of this incessant bleakness and wetness and grayness and coldness and etc. Anyway, as in my previous post all this weather does is bolster me to prepare warm, savory foods (and hibernate), so today I made Philly Mushroom Sandwiches Au Jus.
I absolutely adore mushrooms. They grow all year round and the various types yield an insurmountable amount of flavors and textures. Cooked right they are an excellent addition to any dish or just by themselves. They also make an excellent substitute for meat as they are full of protein and other good stuff. This recipe not only includes mushrooms as the main filler for the sandwich but utilizes mushroom stock for the au jus, which you can buy or make yourself. You can find the mushroom stock recipe here.
Ingredients
1 baguette, french bread, cut into quarters
1 lb mushrooms (crimini, white button, shiitake), remove stems and slice
1 medium onion thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 green pepper cleaned, drawn (kidding!) and quartered and thinly sliced
1/2 tsp thyme, fresh, chopped
2 cups mushroom broth
1 tsp soy sauce
1/6-1/4 lb cheese (mildly sharp and melts easily), cut into slivers, see notes below as to types
pinch of salt
3 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp butter
The first order of business should be to prepare the baguette by cutting and brushing the inside with the olive oil. Next prepare the vegetables, separating the mushrooms from the onion and green pepper. Set aside the garlic in a separate dish. Begin the au jus by very gently simmering the mushroom stock and soy sauce together. Over medium heat, sauté the onions until they begin to caramelize. Add the garlic and green peppers and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Remove the onions, green peppers, and garlic to a separate dish. Turn the ovens broiler on. Add one and a half tablespoons butter into pan, melt, and add the mushrooms. Mushrooms absorb oils like no ones business, so if in the process of browning the mushrooms the pan seems dry, add a half tablespoon here and there until they begin to satisfactorily cook again. Add the thyme and pinch of salt when mushrooms begin to brown. When mushrooms are brown, remove to the dish containing the onions, green peppers and garlic. Turn the heat down and ladle 1/2 to 3/4 cup simmering stock into the pan and deglaze. When deglazed to your satisfaction, return the mushrooms, onions, green peppers and garlic to the pan. Stir into the thickened juices and turn off the burner.
Place the bread, cut side up under the broiler for half a minute or so. Watch it carefully to ensure that it doesn’t begin to burn. When it turns lightly golden, remove from the oven and pile on a healthy spoonful or two or three of the mushrooms and onions on one side of bread. Over the mushrooms, arrange the cheese slivers. (I used parrano, an Italian cheese aged for three months. It has the bite of parmigiano and the softness of gouda. It melted well, too.) Return to oven until the cheese begins to melt and bubble. This should take all of a minute, if that. Remove from oven and smash the other half of the bread on top. Cut each sandwich in half. Remove au jus from heat and serve next to the sandwich in a small ramekin or glass thingamajig. Eat alone or serve with a salad or soup. It’s wonderful for a cold day at home.
What I used specifically might be important. I had hoped for shiitakes, but, alas, the ones being sold in the grocery store were “old and wizened,” so my lovely E returned with crimini and a portabella. Those worked, but I would have preferred the crimini with shiitake. Shiitake mushrooms take on a wonderful nutty flavor when cooked in butter until golden. The french bread was good and E liked it. It does have it’s appeal with a delicately crunchy crust and soft lofty interior, but I wanted something with a little more tooth and a little less delicacy, say the wonderful bread loaves used in making Vietnamese sandwiches? As for cheese, the parrano was excellent. It had a nice bite that carried over the mushrooms and melted beautifully. Good substitutes include Gruyere Swiss cheese, maybe stilton, perhaps a mild bleu, or the milder fontina with some romano grated on top. Let your mood guide you. You could change this completely and use jalapeño paired with cotija cheese.