We had some opened red wine in the fridge for a while and my husband kept asking, “can we throw this out?” And my answer was always “No! I may want to cook with it.” I rarely cook with wine, so I’m not sure what I was keeping it for. I don’t even know how long wine keeps in the fridge for cooking purposes. Anyways, now I know why I was keeping it around! Mushroom bourguignon! So perfect for the cozy rainy weather we are having right now in Los Angeles!

This recipe is adapted from mushroom bourguignon on my favorite blog Smitten Kitchen. It is rich, mushroomy and delicious. I needed quite a bit more liquid and used less mushrooms, but I’m guessing it is because I had the fire up higher. We had mushroom bourguignon with garlic mashed potatoes. Yummy.

1 tablespoon butter
1 pound mushrooms (portobello, crimini, white, shiitake all work)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small carrot chopped
1 onion chopped
2 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon sage
Fresh ground pepper
Salt
1 cup red wine
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3-4 cups mushroom broth (I used Pacific Natural Foods Organic Mushroom Broth, you could also use 1 tablespoon Better than Bouillon Mushroom Baseand water)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour

1. Melt butter in a big saute pan over medium high heat and saute the mushrooms until they brown and are just starting to let out liquid. Remove from heat.
2. In the same pan heat the oil and saute the carrots and onions until the onions start to brown, adding the garlic, thyme, sage, pepper, and a little salt near the end. Add the wine and reduce by half. Then add 3 cups of the mushroom broth (or bouillon and 3 cups water) and the mushrooms and cook for 15-20 minutes. If you think you need more liquid, add another cup of broth or water. You want enough liquid so it is “stewy”.
3. Mix the butter and flour together and stir into the stew to thicken. Cook for just a few minutes more then add salt if necessary.