Burgundy Mushrooms, Prime and Chocolate

What do you make for dinner for a guy who darn near worships the rib eye of a bovine? Why have some prime along with burgundy braised mushrooms and a blue cheese butter, bring out the candles, showcase the beautiful roses he brought ya' and say happy day my Valentine.

Pioneer Woman cooked up yummy looking mushrooms on her show at Christmas and I realized I'd been looking at a version of them in my favorite Idaho a la CArte cookbook for eons. It seemed like a great idea to put 'em on the stove to brew yesterday particularly since we had a storm move through that brought freezing temperatures and even some snow of all things.

I have to admit these beauties smell blissful when they're cooking so be forewarned. Picture a bubbling cauldron full of butter and burgundy seasoned with worcestershire sauce, dill seeds, garlic, pepper and a couple of Knorr beef cubes all loaded up with pounds of mushrooms and simmering for a total of 9 hours - well you can just imagine the aroma from that! Then serve up the delicious flavorful little sponges on a gargantuan sized rib eye steak the Big Guy cooked himself to a perfect blue rare then topped with a compound butter made of blue cheese and coarse ground black pepper ...the old taste buds were humming, believe me!  

Add chocolate and we had the perfect romantic Valentine's dinner right here at home without having to deal with hoards of people, grumpy waiters and mediocre food. Enough bragging you say! Hey, I'm not done yet. Now, about the chocolate! 

If you've never tried a Chocolate Bread Pudding before you'd best put this one on your list PDQ because it is absolutely heavenly. I used the recipe from the King Arthur Flour website but changed it up a notch by using some chopped up dark chocolate instead of semi sweet chips as well as some Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder instead the regular kind. I also added cinnamon for a little Mexican twist and extra vanilla because I make my own and there's nothing like it - all this and cubed up slices of Texas toast with the crusts removed, a little milk, some eggs and time were the only other requirements.

The result - rich, creamy, oozey chocolaty incredibly sumptuous custardy bread pudding that honestly, if I didn't know better, I'd be hard pressed to say there was even bread in it. Unbelievable. 

Gold Rush Burgundy Mushrooms (from JBug’s Kitchen adapted from Idaho a la Carte cookbook)

I cut the original recipe in half because 4 pounds of mushrooms seemed a little excessive for just 2 people so feel free to double this if you’re feeding a crowd.

3/4 cup unsalted butter

2 cups good red wine, preferably burgundy

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon dill seeds

1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 cup boiling water

1-1/2 cubes beef bouillon cubes (I used Knorr)

2 pounds medium to large button mushrooms, well washed and dried

Place butter, wine, Worcestershire sauce, spices, water and bouillon cubes into a heavy pot and bring to a boil. Add mushrooms, lower heat, cover and simmer over very low heat for 5 hours. Remove cover and simmer for 4 hours longer or until liquid barely covers mushrooms. Serves 4 to 6.

Dark Chocolate Bread Pudding with a Mexican Twist (from JBug’s Kitchen adapted from King Arthur Flour)

5 slices Texas Toast, crusts removed

3 ounces dark chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup dark cocoa (I used Hershey’s Special Dark)

1-1/2 cups whole milk, divided

3 large eggs

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Whipped cream for garnish

Butter 4 -  8 ounce ramekins. Cut bread into half inch cubes and divide evenly among ramekins. Sprinkle ramekins with half of the chopped dark chocolate. Set aside. Place remaining chopped chocolate, sugar, and cocoa into a small sauce pan and whisk together to combine. Whisk in 3/4 cup of milk and place pot over low heat. Heat, whisking constantly until mixture chocolate is melted and mixture thickens. Remove from heat a cool slightly.

Meanwhile in another bowl beat together eggs, salt, vanilla, cinnamon and remaining 3/4 cup milk. Slowly whisk in chocolate mixture. Pour mixture over bread cubes and chocolate pieces in ramekins, dividing liquid evenly between the ramekins. Place ramekins into a large pan with 2 inch sides and allow to sit at room temperature for a minimum 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325. Pour boiling water into pan to a level half way up the sides of the ramekins. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted into center of ramekin comes out clean. Puddings will be slightly “jiggly”. Remove ramekins to a wire rack and cool. Serve at room temperature with whipped cream. Makes 4 servings.

A year ago - Rack of Lamb with Marionberry Hazelnut Crust 

Two year's ago - Beef Wellington

Comments

[pam]

Thanks for reminding me how good chocolate bread pudding is!! I haven't made it in ages.

[Lea M. Callais]

What a perfect meal of love and goodness! The steak cooked to blue perfection at that! I gotta give those shrooms a try for sure - 9 hours!

[June]

Pam - that was my first time making it and now it is the new favorite. Incredible!

Lea - I know. I couldn't imagine cooking mushrooms for 9 hours but holy cow, they really are little sponges and didn't get tough OR disintegrate either. I was shocked how good they were.

[Lorraine]

What a V-day feast! The mushrooms sound wonderful(9 hours is a surprise) and Chocolate bread pudding...yum. How about some rum mixed with the whipped cream?

[June]

Thanks Lorraine. I was surprised the mushrooms would hold together after that length of time too, but they did and were delicious. As for the whipped cream, you are so on to me. I used a little Meukow cognac but rum would be great too. LOL