Brown Mushroom Steak Sauce

I have no idea where this recipe came from.  I can only deduce that I saw it on the telly because it's in my hand writing, scribbled down on a piece of paper.  I'm sorry I'm not able to give credit where credit is due.

The night I had this dish scheduled for dinner was on a night I was to play Bunko.  On top of it being Bunko night the train rolled into the station late, then the traffic sucked which put me at home with only 30 minutes to get dinner ready and get myself down the street for game night with the neighborhood gals.

I can attest to the fact that you can make this in a hurry.  Actually, it helped that I had cleaned and sliced the mushrooms the night before.  Being in such a hurry didn't allow enough time to take many photos. 



I used this sauce of mushrooms, garlic, vermouth and balsamic vinegar as the cooking medium for 4 - 6 ounce cod fillets.  The only thing I wasn't crazy about was that the fish itself took on a brownish gray color after cooking in the deep brown sauce.  Otherwise tasted great.

With quite a bit of sauce and mushrooms left over, I used it the next night to top off a marinated flank steak that I broiled.

So, although the original recipe was intended for a piece of cod I think it paired much nicer with beef.  In light of that, this will dwell in my file of sauces; a mushroom sauce; a good mushroom sauce for dressing up an inexpensive cut of meat like a flank steak or cube steaks. 

Brown Mushroom Steak Sauce
Yields approximately 1/4 cup

Ingredients:
4 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, divided
10 ounces crimini mushrooms
4 medium cloves garlic
1/2 cup dry vermouth
3 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Mise en place:

• measure out butter dividing into a 3 Tbsp. piece and a 1 Tbsp. piece
• clean mushrooms by wiping with a paper towel or quickly rinsing under cold water; slice mushrooms 1/8" thick
• peel and mince cloves of garlic
• chop parsley
• measure out vermouth, vinegar, salt and pepper

Method:
In a 12-inch skillet melt 3 Tbsp. of the butter over medium-high heat.  Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally until well browned, 5 - 7 minutes.  Add garlic and cook until golden and fragrant, about 45 seconds.  Add vermouth, parsley, vinegar, salt and pepper and boil until liquid is reduced by half (about 2 minutes).

Reduce heat to low and gently simmer for about 5 minutes.  Over the low heat, whisk the remaining 1 Tbsp. of butter into the sauce.  Spoon over steak.