Creamy Morel Mushroom Sauce

Submitted by NorthwestGal

"This is my (and DH's) all-time favorite recipe. We usually reserve this delectable mushroom sauce for special occasions, because it is by far the VERY BEST mushroom sauce ever! I got the recipe from my brother-in-law who traveled quite a bit for his job as an aerospace engineer. While in Micronesia during one of his business trips, he ordered grilled steak that was served with a creamy morel mushroom sauce. One bite, and he was completely hooked (which was my experience as well). And it then became his personal mission in life to duplicate that recipe. After trying various versions, he eventually came up with this recipe, and he passed it on to me (some begging and groveling was involved). I'm posting it here with his approval. Thanks, Jimmy!"

 

• Ready In: 35mins
• Ingredients: 7
• Serves: 4-6

ingredients

• 2 ounces morels (dehydrated mushrooms)
• 1 cup red wine
• 2 shallots, finely minced
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 -2 tablespoon beef base (I use Better-Than-Bouillon Beef Base, but you can use any condensed beef paste of your choosing)
• black pepper, to taste

directions

1. Soak the dried morel mushrooms in the red wine just long enough to rehydrate them, about 20-30 minutes is usually sufficient. (I use a plastic container with a lid for this step. That way, I can tilt the container occasionally or shake it around a bit, to be sure all the mushrooms are adequately rehydrating.).
2. After the mushrooms are rehydrated, place them in a colander and rinse with cool water to remove any grit from the mushrooms. Leave the colander in the sink to allow the excess water to drain from the colander.
3. Finely mince the rehydrated mushrooms; set aside.
4. In a large skillet, saute the minced shallots in butter just until they are clear, about 3-4 minutes. Add the minced mushrooms and beef base, and stir well. While stirring, add the cream and pepper, continuing to stir constantly until the sauce is thickened.
5. Spoon the sauce over grilled steaks (especially New York or Sirloin), veal, lamb, grilled chicken breasts, or pasta.
6. NOTE: For the wine, it doesn't really matter what kind of red wine you use. The wine is just to rehydrate the mushrooms, not to really flavor the sauce. So feel free to use whatever red wine you have on hand. I have used a lot of different red wines for this sauce, and they all seem to work just fine. But I probably use merlot and cabernet the most. But if a different variety of red wine is your favorite, then by all means use it. That way, if you use a wine you actually enjoy drinking, then it's more likely you'll enjoy using it in this recipe.

Reviews

[alyssavschaefer]

We had fresh morels so I used about 2 1/2 oz, cut in half (preferred more chunky to minced), otherwise followed recipe (even bought the same beef base). First batch we thought was a little too salty (likely due to the beef base as no other salt had been added). The next couple of times we reduced the beef base to just under 1 tablespoon. This is an awesome mushroom sauce. We used the recipe tonight with baby bellas and shitake mushrooms and it was not quite as great, but still very good. Thank you for sharing your recipe! It will be a regular in our frequent steak eating home!

 

[christyL]

Such a good creamy morel sauce!! I used fresh morels. I added the red wine, about a tablespoon, with about 2 min to go as suggested in another comment. Will def use this recipe again!!

 

[luckylassMT]

Last fall, we went Morel hunting in the Rockies. Just used them in this recipe and it was absolutely luscious! Had them over our anniversary ribeye. I will say I was apprehensive when I thawed the pack out because they were "soggy", but I dried them with paper towels, put them in a bowl with good red wine and let them sit for a while. Then chopped. Worked out perfectly!

 

[jhanbeaullieu]

This is the most decadent and phenomenal mushroom sauce ever tasted! I absolutely love morel mushrooms and this sauce completely highlights and brightens their flavors. I followed the recipe as written except to keep the morels larger, cutting them in half or fourths for larger sizes. Served this over seared fillets for my girls and a ribeye for my husband. Everyone raved about how unbelievably delicious it was. This recipe is an incredible treat!

 

[Patricia S.]

I made this twice last week. The first time we put it over rib eye steaks. My son said it was the best steak he had ever had except for Kobe Beef in Japan. The second time we slathered it over hamburgers. Delicious. I plan on making it tonight and making a double recipe to put over pasta and some leftover chicken. We used fresh morels. It is a little bit salty. I used reduced sodium beef base and cut back on it a little bit. The second time I made it I didn't use heavy cream because I didn't have any. I used skim milk (it's what I had) and added a little bit of corn starch to give it some thickness. It was still delicious.