We had a big crêpe buffet for brunch this morning. I had lots of different fillings available, but I felt like some sort of savoury sauce was in order. I was also thinking that some sautéed mushrooms would be good. So I went looking for recipes for mushroom sauce and found this one. It's a great sauce! Everyone loved it.

Creamy Mushroom Sauce

Slightly adapted from Havoc in the Kitchen

Ingredients

• 5g dried porcini mushrooms
• 1 c. hot water
• 450g cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 2-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 Tbsp. smoked paprika
• 1/8 tsp. ground Kashmiri chilies
• 1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning¹
• 1/2 c. cream cheese

Directions

1. Pour the hot water over the dried mushrooms and set aside to soak for 15-30 minutes.
2. Rinse the cremini mushrooms well, trim, and slice.
3. Add the sliced mushrooms and a splash of the porcini soaking water to a large pan and cook, covered, over medium heat until mushrooms release their juices.
4. Uncover and continue cooking until most of the water has evaporated.
5. Add the butter, oil, onion, and garlic and cook for another 5-8 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, drain the porcinis and reserve the liquid.
7. Chop the porcinis and add them to the pan along with the salt, smoked paprika, Kashmiri chilies, and herbs.
8. Cook for another 2-3 minutes, then add the porcini soaking water (strained to remove any grit if necessary) along with the cream cheese.
9. Cook, stirring, until cheese has melted and sauce thickens slightly.

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¹ I used up all of my Italian seasoning a few months ago and I don't use it often enough to really justify keeping it on hand these days, so I just threw in a mix of herbs to approximate it.