Our Veggie Kitchen

A few weeks ago, I began chatting with Sam from Oh! Nuts. Oh! Nuts is a family owned store with five locations in Brooklyn and an internet store. They sell nuts, gift baskets baskets and an impressive assortment of dried fruit. They're not necessarily vegan, but I at least use bucket loads of nuts and I'm always one to promote small business, when I can, so I thought I'd give them a plug. Their website is at www.ohnuts.com

All this talk about nuts got me stewing about almonds, and I came up with this gravy that I spooned over fried tofu and mashed taters. It had a deep, rich flavor that wasn't overwhelmed by either the mushrooms or almonds. It was good. I made a second batch the next day and changed my technique a bit and it yielded a deeper brown gravy that looked more pleasing. Alas, the taters were gone, so I don't have an updated pic, but the color was more pleasing.



Almond Mushroom Gravy
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp mustard seed
1 onion, chopped
4 sprigs thyme
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 lb mushrooms, chopped
1/4 cup sherry
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup almonds, ground

Heat the oil in a sauce pan. Add the mustard seeds and cook until they begin to pop. Add the onion and cook over medium heat until the onion browns and begins to carmelize. Add the thyme, garlic and mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally until the mushrooms have given up their moisture. Stir in the sherry and let it cook down a bit. Then add the salt, pepper, almonds and water. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 5 minutes, then blend the contents, in batches if necessary. Makes about 1 quart.

For a richer color, dry fry the ground almonds in a frying pan. You may also add a touch of browning sauce.

8 Servings: 139 cal (12g fat, 5g carbs, 3g protein)