Basic Mushroom Gravy with Herbs

(recipe, Robin Asbell)

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Introduction

Sometimes gravy just hits the spot — with mashed potatoes, Homemade Mock Turkey Roast with Stuffing, or over biscuits at breakfast. All of our umami lessons pay off in this creamy gravy, where mushrooms, soy sauce, and nutritional yeast all add complexity and “meatiness.” This creamy classic will become a family favorite.

Ingredients

1 cup (240 ml) plain rice milk
1 cup (240 ml) vegetable stock or mushroom stock
3 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
1 Tbsp. tamari or soy sauce
1 tsp. dried crumbled sage leaves
¼ tsp. dried thyme
¼ tsp. dried marjoram
2 Tbsp. canola oil or Earth Balance margarine
4 oz. (100 g) fresh button mushrooms, coarsely chopped
¼ cup (30 g) chopped onion
3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. salt
Freshly cracked black pepper

Steps

In a large measuring cup, combine the rice milk, stock, yeast, tamari, sage, thyme, and marjoram. Whisk to combine.
In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, warm the oil or margarine, then add the mushrooms and onions. Sauté until the mushrooms are shrunken and wet. Sprinkle on the flour, then stir to make the flour into a paste. Keep cooking and stirring until the flour starts sticking to the pan. Over medium heat, continue to stir the mushroom mixture constantly, scraping the pan with the spatula, until the mixture bubbles and turns a shade darker and the mushrooms brown.
Remove from the heat and add a couple of tablespoons of the rice-milk mixture and work it into a paste with the spatula. Keep adding the liquid a little at a time and working it in, switching to a whisk as it gets incorporated.
Put the pan back on the burner over medium-high heat. Whisk constantly until the gravy boils, then immediately reduce the heat to low and cook for a couple of minutes, until thickened. Season with the salt and pepper and take off the heat. Serve warm or cool and refrigerate until needed. Reheat gently over low heat.