We love starting our day with a big breakfast. (After we’ve had our morning latte or Americano while reading the Seattle Times online first, of course!) (I need to wake up a bit before I do anything as difficult as turning on our stove or breaking an egg.)

But whenever I get around to fixing breakfast, I try very hard to mix things up a bit so that I can keep us from experiencing “breakfast boredom”.

So, breakfast can feature everything from breakfast meat, eggs cooked different ways, scrambles (melted butter, breakfast meat, green onions, eggs, touch of milk, salt, pepper, and cheese), toast, pancakes, waffles, or French toast, homemade granola with yogurt and fresh berries, half a grapefruit or a baby orange each, juice, Patti McMuffins (toasted English muffins containing breakfast meat, scrambled eggs, and thinly sliced sharp cheddar cheese) or fried egg sandwiches (toast lightly spread with mayonnaise, thinly sliced sharp cheddar cheese, scrambled eggs, topped with a few drops of Frank’s RedHot Sauce). Or my personal favorite, scrambled eggs (or omelets if I’m feeling ambitious) topped with this sauce, grated sharp cheddar cheese, and Mexican style sour cream. Add a piece of toast and some fruit on the side, and my day is off to a perfect start.

This easy to prepare sauce is simply a wonderful combination of ingredients that lift eggs from every day to a special treat. To see the original recipe including how to make a perfect omelet, look under Baked Cheese Omelet with Spicy Tomato Sauce on this site.

Well, that’s my culinary offering for today. It’s partially sunny here on Camano Island today which is a good thing because I am chomping at the bit for the Amazon truck to arrive. (My order was scheduled to have arrived yesterday but didn’t.)

For whatever reason, I got a wild hair this year to dye Easter eggs and put together an adult Easter basket. We are hosting a rehearsal and recording session this Sunday (Easter) in our living room. So, I thought it might be fun to bring a bit of holiday spirit to the session. I ordered some high-quality food coloring to disguise a few hard-boiled chicken eggs to fool our guests into thinking that the Easter bunny still knows how to find our house. I also purchased a 16-inch stuffed bunny just for the heck of it!  

The basket will also include plastic eggs stuffed with good Easter candy and chocolate covered coffee beans. Along with baby oranges for the health conscious.

I’m also serving Quick and Easy Baked Maple Bars (recipe on site) to keep the musicians energy level at peak performance level. There might even be wine or beer if people got thirsty. Now, if only Amazon would deliver!

May you too enjoy your Easter with family and friends. And may you continue to make everyone’s life brighter by all your hard work in the kitchen.

Peace and love to all.        

2 tsp. unsalted butter

¼ c. finely diced green bell pepper

¼ c. minced onion

1 lg. garlic clove, minced

1 (8-oz.) can tomato sauce (I use Contadina Roma tomatoes sauce)

7-8 crushed red pepper flakes

pinch dried oregano (Mexican preferably)

freshly ground black pepper

kosher salt, if needed

In a small saucepan, melt the 2 teaspoons butter over medium heat. Add green pepper and onion; sauté for about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook for one minute or until garlic releases its aroma.  Stir in the tomato sauce, red pepper flakes, oregano, and black pepper.  Simmer until the sauce is thick, about 7-8 minutes. Taste and add salt if needed.

Serve over an omelet or scrambled eggs. Pass grated cheese and sour cream.

For our last JazzVox pre-concert meal I served some of my favorite dishes. Pastrami Roll Ups (recipe under 1950s Themed Cocktail Party Menu) as an appetizer. For the other dishes, Old Fashioned Meatloaf (without the ketchup brown sugar topping) topped with Mushroom Onion Gravy, Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes with Caramelized Onions (recipe soon to be published, Pear and Blue Cheese Salad, Broccoli Salad with Bacon, Dried Cranberries, and Sunflower Seeds, Bread and Butter Pickles, Overnight Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls, and for dessert – Ginger Cake with Bourbon Caramel Sauce and Bourbon Whipped Cream. (Recipes on this site for all highlighted dishes.)

A mighty fine combination of dishes if I do say so myself. (Which of course I would say. Duh!) Anyway, of all the dishes I prepared, the ones Mr. C. raved about the most were the roll ups and this gravy.

The roll ups I have been making for eons, so no thrilling new taste sensation there. But the gravy, well that was a different story. Mr. C. really liked the gravy. I had simply wanted to dress the meatloaf up a bit. And how better to make anything a bit fancier than by adding a sauce or gravy?

And of course, it didn’t hurt that both of us are gravy/sauce/aioli etc. addicts. I tend to be a bit more addicted, but Mr. C. comes in a close second. So, a gravy seasoned with a bit of powdered dried porcini mushroom to enhance the button mushroom flavor was all it took to lift the gravy from just OK, to well, pretty darn tasty! And not a bit of real roasted beef fat was required*. Would have been nice, but sometimes we must make do with what we have on hand. (More about using real roasted meat fat and juices below.)

So, if you too want to add a bit of excitement to a simple cut of meat or a plain meatloaf, I invite you to make this gravy. But make plenty. Some folks feel it necessary to slather rather than merely decorate or garnish with gravy. Me? I am firmly and enthusiastically in the “slather” camp!

Unpaid and very opinionated political announcement: If you happen to live in the state of Washington where voting for your favorite democrat or republican candidate for president is in full swing, please vote. We as individuals don’t often get a voice in what happens in our country. But if we vote, we can at least say we tried to make a difference.

Peace and love to all.

6 T. (¾ stick) unsalted butter*, divided

¼ c. finely chopped shallot

8 oz. fresh button mushrooms, chopped

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp. ground** dried porcini mushrooms   

¼ c. all-purpose flour

2 c. water

2 rounded tsp. beef base (I use Better Than Bouillon Beef Base), or more to taste

2 tsp. balsamic vinegar

2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. Kitchen Bouquet

¼ tsp. dried thyme

¼ tsp. kosher salt, plus more to taste

freshly ground black pepper

¼ c. heavy cream or whole milk

1-2 tsp. cognac

Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a small, heavy pan. Add the shallot and cook until tender. Add the mushrooms and cook 7-8 minutes or until golden and the liquid from the mushrooms has evaporated. Add the garlic and ground porcini mushrooms and cook for another minute.

Then melt in the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter.  Add the flour, whisk to combine, and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring continually.  

Add the water, beef base, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, Kitchen Bouquet, thyme, salt, and pepper.  Whisk continually until the gravy is thickened.  Simmer on low, stirring occasionally, for 5-10 minutes.  Taste and adjust seasoning.   

Just before serving, stir in the heavy cream and cognac. If the gravy is too thick, add a bit of hot water. 

*If you have the fat and juices from roast meat available, use them to make your gravy. There is still nothing better than the real thing (rendered meat fat and juices) to flavor gravy. Or use part meat fat and part unsalted butter.  

**Grind dried mushrooms in a coffee/spice grinder or pound with a mallet in a Ziplock bag.

There are just those times when a bit of gravy would be nice. But you don’t happen to have any gravy happily residing in your refrigerator. As happened to me the other evening when I wanted to serve chicken fried steak over mashed potatoes smothered in gravy. (It is after all comfort food season.) So, now what to do? Plus, I had some mushrooms that really needed to be used or added to the yard waste receptacle. And who wants to do that when given a choice? So, mushroom gravy came to mind. But, how to make a beefy mushroom gravy without dripping from a beef roast?

After much deliberation, I decided to wing it. And what I came up with is the recipe you find below.

Now, my recipe for “wing it” beef gravy will never be as delicious and have the same depth of flavor as a gravy starting with roast beef drippings. I’m not a magician after all! But, when desperate, and you still want to serve beef gravy, this recipe might possibly also work for you. Because it sure as heck worked for us.

So dear readers, I offer this recipe as a quick and easy substitute for the real thing.

Speaking of real things, Thanksgiving is just around the corner. And if there was ever a time to offer thanks, it is now.

Most of us live in this country where, yes, bad things happen. But at least in the USA we are not being bombed. Women can still take advantage of educational opportunities, and everyone who is eligible can cast a vote for the future of our country. These are precious advantages that should be the norm for every living being. But they are not. There are just so many people living with hardships that are unimaginable to most of us. Innocent men, women, and children we are powerless to help.

So, I invite you to share your wonderful life with others. Host Thanksgiving dinner. Or get together with friends and family at someone else’s home or at a restaurant. Take a pie or some cookies to a neighbor who might not be able to celebrate with family or friends. Or just smile and say hello to a stranger. We can make a difference.  By our example, if nothing else.

Happy Thanksgiving to all. And as always, peace and love.

2 T. unsalted butter

½ c. finely chopped onion

8-12 sliced mushrooms

2 T. dry sherry

1 tsp. Kitchen Bouquet*

1 tsp. Dried Mushroom Powder Seasoning, opt. (see recipe below) or Wild Mushroom Seasoning Salt

pinch dried thyme leaves

freshly ground black pepper

2 T. all-purpose flour

1½ – 2 c. water

2 heaping tsp. beef base (I use Better Than Bouillon Roasted Beef Base)

Melt the butter over medium heat and add the onion. Sauté until the onion is almost tender. Add the mushrooms and cook until they are brown. Gradually pour in the sherry. Add the Kitchen Bouquet, mushroom seasoning, thyme, and black pepper. Then stir in the flour and let it cook for a good 3 minutes, stirring all the while.

Starting with 1½ cups water, gradually add the water and beef base stirring for as long as it takes to make a smooth consistency. Let it cook for about 20 minutes, stirring periodically. If you prefer a thinner gravy, add a bit more water. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Serve drizzled over anything that might benefit from a bit of gravy.  

*Kitchen Bouquet is a browning and seasoning sauce primarily composed of caramel with vegetable flavorings. It has been used as a flavoring addition for gravies and other foods since the late 19th century. And by me since the early seventies in every turkey gravy I have ever made. Also, in beef stew or any time my gravy, savory sauce, or soup needs a bit of a flavor boost. It is truly a wonderful ingredient.  

DRIED MUSHROOM POWDER SEASONING

3 T. ground dried mushrooms** (cremini, shiitake, porcini, etc.)  

1 T. granulated onion

1 T. kosher salt

1 T. freshly ground black pepper

2 tsp. dried thyme

2 tsp. dry mustard

1 tsp. granulated garlic

**Place any combination of dried mushrooms (about 9 tablespoons) in a spice grinder. (I use a coffee grinder dedicated to spices and herbs.) Whirl until the mushrooms are powdered.

Then mix with the other ingredients. Store in an airtight container.

This seasoning is wonderful any time an extra bit of flavor would be welcome. Great in stews, soups, sauces, gravies, and broth. (And yes Mark, this is the seasoning I gave you for Christmas a couple of years ago.)

WILD MUSHROOM SEASONING SALT

3 T. dried thyme

1 T. black peppercorns

2/3 c. coarse salt

pinch cayenne pepper

3 T. granulated onion

1 T. granulated garlic

1/3 c. powdered dry mushrooms (I used dried shiitake mushrooms)  

Whirl the thyme, black peppercorns, and salt together in a spice grinder until finely ground. Stir into a bowl containing the cayenne, granulated onion, granulated garlic, and powdered dry mushrooms. Whisk well to combine.

Store in an airtight container.