cook, travel, caffeinate: Shroomin'

Friday night's foodventure was another glorious success! My only regrets are that I didn't photo-document the beauty and I didn't make enough to last a week. When I tried to steal a picture from somewhere else online and pass it off as my own, I couldn't find something that did it justice! The mushrooms make the butter and cream their bitch, spreading their deliciousness and earthy delights into the sauce and the pasta. Mixing different types of mushrooms is key here. It adds complexity as each mushroom contributes its own distinct flavor to build a truly amazing dish. In fact, I even bought oyster mushrooms, but they were rendered useless as soon as I got home from the store by the discovery of a tragic mold invasion. This recipe is truly a keeper... Adrien may have called it the best vegetarian meal he's ever had. Yeah... that happened!!

Pasta with Mushroom Cream Sauce

1 ½ lbs mixed mushrooms (I used a combo of white, crimini, and shiitake), stemmed (save the stems for stock) and sliced

2 shallots, sliced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

¼ c chopped parsley

1 c heavy cream

4 T butter

Extra virgin olive oil

1 lb fettuccine

Grated Parmesan cheese

2 or more bottles of Chianti

In heavily salted water, cook the pasta 1 minute short of the package directions. Strain.

Saute the shallots in olive oil over medium heat for about 3-4 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the sliced mushrooms, salt them liberally, and crank the heat up to medium-high, cooking the mushrooms until they give up their juices and the juices cook off. Add the parsley, stir it all up, then add the butter, melt it, and add the cream. Cook over high heat until the liquid reduces by about half (this makes just enough sauce to coat the pasta…if you like it saucier, add more cream before reducing).