Sauteed Mushrooms

One thing I really miss from the days before I was diagnosed with Celiac - besides bread - is mushroom tarts.

One of my fondest memories from when I was a child is making mushroom tarts with my mom for family gatherings. Growing up, it seemed we had family over for birthdays, weddings and holidays every other week. So plenty of time was spent in the kitchen making cookies, pies, tortierre and my favourite - Mushroom Tarts.

If you have never had a mushroom tart, you really should. They were little savoury bites of heaven. The original mushroom filling recipe contained flour as a binding agent and without it, the recipe just does not work. This recipe is as close to the original one handed down from my grandmother as I have been able to find.

From time to time, I whip up a batch of the mushroom filling, skip the tart crust and grab a spoon. It's not exactly the same, but once I perfect a gluten free pastry I will once again be able to enjoy them - and post the recipe. Until then here is the recipe for the mushroom filling for you.

Ingredients

1 shallot, minced fine - If you cannot find shallots, you can substitute with an onion to get a similar taste. Shallots are milder than onions and when you chop them up, it is easier on the eyes but the flavour is like a strong tangy onion with a hint of garlic.

1 clove of garlic, minced fine - If you have substituted the shallots with onion, you can double the garlic to replace a bit of the shallot taste. In fact, I would double or maybe triple the garlic anyways. I REALLY like garlic.

Oil for sauteing the shallots and garlic - I used salted butter because that is what I had on hand but growing up we used home churned butter. And before you ask, yes, I do know how to churn butter. And, no, I am not over a hundred years old.

1 1/2 pounds mushrooms, chopped - I minced the mushrooms pretty finely as in the mushroom tarts, the mushrooms were diced quite finely. They were almost pureed in fact but if you prefer more texture, you can chop them coarser.

2 sprigs of Thyme - You could omit this if you have none on hand but the few times I have made these without thyme, the taste was lacking something

Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat.

Add the minced shallot and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally until the shallots are softened. It took me about 2 and a half minutes.

Add the garlic and cook until the garlic becomes fragrant.

Add the mushrooms and thyme to the shallots. Cook, stirring frequently until the mushrooms are browned and dry. This took a while for me; about 20 minutes. The time will also depend on how coarsely your mushrooms are chopped. The larger you chop your mushrooms, the longer it will take to cook through.

Season to taste.

You can use this as a meat substitute, in soups and chili. You can store leftovers in the fridge for up to 2 days. It also freezes well.

Speaking of my love for garlic, it started young. When I was still in diapers, I apparently got into a massive bag of garlic-seasoned croutons and powered through the whole thing before being found out. I don't like the idea of changing a diaper at the best of times but I shudder to think of what my poor mother went through dealing with a babe in diapers who just ate her weight in garlic croutons.

Sorry, Mom.