This recipe is a composite of a few recipes I've tried over the years. The preparation isn't difficult but there are three separate components to this dish, so it's best prepared when you have a little time to spend in the kitchen. This recipe is definitely one of Jeff's favorites!
Mashed potatoes
2 large russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
3/4 cup cream or milk (approximately)
2 T butter
salt/pepper to taste
Portobella caps
2 large portabella caps
2 T soy sauce
2 T olive oil
Vegetable gravy
2 T butter or veg oil
2 small carrots, peeled and diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 small onion
1 t garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups veggie broth
2-3 T corn starch
2 T fresh or 1 T dried thyme
Potatoes: Salt water and bring to a boil in a large dutch oven. Drop in potatoes and boil until fork tender, about 20-25 minutes. Drain potatoes and return to pot. Mix in butter, cream or milk, salt and pepper. Use a hand blender with the wire whisk attachments to beat potatoes until smooth. Add more cream/milk if the potatoes are too dry until you achieve desired consistency.
Mushrooms: Wash and dry the portabella caps. Drizzle with 1 T olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Heat remaining olive oil and saute caps over medium heat. Drizzle soy sauce over the caps and let it reduce a bit. Turn caps after about 4 minutes or so. Heat another 3-4 minutes until cooked. Remove from sauce and set aside. Leave the remaining liquid in the pan for the gravy
Vegetable gravy: In the same pan as the mushrooms, heat remaining sauce from mushrooms plus butter or veg oil to medium high. Saute carrots, celery and onion until onion is translucent and veggies are slightly tender. Add garlic and saute about 1 minute. Add vegetable broth and thyme and bring to a boil. Scoop out about a 1/4 cup of broth into a small cup. Add corn starch and mix thoroughly until no lumps remain and mixture is smooth. Add the corn starch mixture to the vegetable mixture and simmer until sauce thickens. If the gravy is still not thick enough, mix up another tablespoon of corn starch with some of the gravy and add to the pan.
To serve, place one mushroom cap face up on the plate, add a scoop of the mashed potatoes on top of the cap. Top the whole thing with vegetable gravy.
