green garlic mash, mushroom gravy

I know the blog was a bit sparse last week. Only two recipes, even though we had planned for four. We still have beets and artichokes to use up from the last delivery. We have our recipe ideas all planned out but for whatever reason we just weren't in the mood to make them. There's a million excuses: not enough time, not even hungry, just don't feel like it! Whatever.

Tonight we got home from work and we both knew we had to cook. No more putting it off. So we sat down and took a good look at the produce we got this week. I believe the conversation went something like this:

Katie: We could make green garlic mashed potatoes?
Kenny: Yeah... but no one needs us to write a recipe for mashed potatoes. We need to take it to another level.
Katie: What about using the cauliflower instead of potatoes? Like... make a cauliflower mash.
Kenny: [light bulb above head] I know what to do!


Ingredients:
2 lb Yukon gold potatoes
1.5 lb cauliflower, roughly chopped
6 pieces green garlic, first four inches only, sliced on a bias
2 cups extra virgin olive oil
1 cup soy milk

Mushroom gravy*:
6 ounces white button mushrooms, roughly chopped
4 Tbsp Earth Balance
6 Tbsp all purpose flour
4 cups vegetable stock
3 tsp dried thyme
1 1/2 tsp rosemary powder
salt and pepper to taste

Start the 2 cups of olive oil on VERY low heat in a small sauce pan. Add in the chopped spring garlic and allow to cook for 12-15 minutes, about the time when your kitchen smells nice and garlicky, but don't let them fry and get all brown and hard. We are going for caramelizing, keep the heat REALLY low. Strain garlic out and reserve oil for later use in, well, everything! We make this oil with regular garlic a lot, and reference it often on here. It adds really awesome roasted garlic flavor to any dish in a pinch.

Put a large pot of salted water on the stove. Add potatoes, and turn on the heat. When the potatoes are almost fork tender and have about 5 minutes left to go, add the cauliflower to the pot and finish both of them. Strain and add back to the pot. Toss in your spring garlic confit, the soy milk and beat 'em! (Use a beater, use a masher. Your choice. Make them kind of chunky, or super smooth- hey, your eating them. Do it just the way you like 'em.) Season with salt and pepper, and eat! Wait, I am forgetting something, gravy!

Melt the Earth Balance in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add in the 6 Tbsp. of flour and stir until incorporated, making your rue. (I know. This isn't your regular rue ratio, but mushrooms give off A LOT of liquid, and you will need this flour later.) If the rue is not coming together as usual, add a few splashes of stock to help it along. Cook the rue for 5 to 7 minutes, until its golden brown in color and smells toasty. Whisk in the rest of your stock slowly to incorporate the rue. Add in the mushrooms and herbs, and stir regularly until they are cooked about 10 to 12 minutes. You will notice that the gravy is also thickening up now. Let it bubble, while stirring until it reaches that velvety gravy texture we all know and love. At this point you can leave it chunky and just smother your potatoes, or you could do what we did and let it go a couple rounds with your immersion blender. Season with salt and pepper, and go for it!

*A little side note about this gravy recipe: It makes a little more than a quart of gravy, which is usually enough for about 8 people, or 1 Katie. So if you want leftovers for biscuits and gravy in the morning, open faced tofurky (or turkey) sandwiches- or whatever, go ahead and make the whole thing, it will last for a good 4 or 5 days in the fridge if cooled properly, and it reheats pretty well. If not, I would play it safe and half the recipe.