Every other Tuesday, my husband has standing plans with a friend of his so Mr. Onion-hater and I often have what we call “Foodie Night.” Foodie night will sometimes entail going some place that Mr. Consumer* doesn’t particularly enjoy. Like FLIP Burger**… it’s too trendy for his down-home tastes (I don’t disagree) and he had to wait 20 minutes for a table the one time we went there for dinner. He’s not good at the waiting. 🙂
Foodie night usually involves cooking, though. It can be something one of us is especially craving that Mr. Consumer isn’t a fan of, like chorizo and corn tacos (to be posted at some point), or something that is more cooking intensive for a normal weekday meal like the cottage pie.
For the most recent Foodie Night, Mr. O and I were going to make pork dumplings for the first time and were going to try making baked egg rolls again since I wasn’t 100% happy with our last attempt. We were also going to do my take on these mushrooms so he got those started in the slow cooker before I got home.
I ended up leaving work early that day for a doctor’s appointment which took a lot longer than I expected and got me home later than expected. Plus, I forgot to grab my lunch that day so only had a yogurt for lunch. By the time I got home, the last thing I wanted to do was spend an hour or more forming egg rolls and dumplings. We ended up just cooking the ingredients together for some weird stir-fry hybrid which was pretty tasty and still went well with these mushrooms as a side.
The mushrooms completely absorbed the flavors and had that perfect sweet-salty-tangy-spicy-earthy combination. My taste buds were confused for a second with all the flavors that were going on so needed a 4th and 7th bite to just be sure. They really weren’t confused. Just greedy.
Dinner that night was very satisfying and made for a good lunch a couple days later as well. It’s good to be adaptable in the kitchen, especially when menus are planned out. I just have to figure out what to make with the egg roll and wonton wrappers now. 🙂
- 1/4 c reduced sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 c water
- 3 Tbsp jarred minced garlic
- 2 Tbsp natural peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 2 tsp rice vinegar
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp sweet chile sauce
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
- Black pepper to taste
- 24 oz whole button mushrooms
- In a medium bowl, whisk together everything but the mushrooms. Set aside.
- Using a damp cloth, wipe the dirt off the mushrooms and place in a 4-qt slow cooker.
- Pour the sauce over the mushrooms and stir to coat.
- Cover and cook on low 5-6 hours or high 2 1/2 – 3 hours.
- Serve warm.
I like to make my own hoisin sauce instead of getting the bottled kind which often has artificial ingredients and preservatives in it as well. Plus, after figuring out my own hoisin sauce recipe, I’ll never enjoy the bottled stuff the same way again!
- 1/4 c. reduced sodium soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp natural peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 1 Tbsp jarred minced garlic
- 2 tsp rice vinegar
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp sweet chile sauce
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste.
- Whisk together and use immediately
* Someone once asked my husband if he cooked. He laughed and said, “No. She’s the cooker. I’m a consumer.” 🙂 ** If you live in the Atlanta area, I highly recommend FLIP Burger. They make as much as they can in-house and locally source much of their food items. They have a handful of standard items on their menu but it seems to change monthly and everything I’ve had there has been incredible. The chef and owner, Richard Blais, is incredible at putting flavors together between 2 buns. For your first time, I recommend their sampler of 3 mini burgers so you can try more things. Also get the side sampler. The fries are cooked in beef tallow which is unlike anything I’ve had before. It brings them up to another level, like french fry angels slam dancing on my tongue. Or do like Mr. O I do and split 2 different burgers. Their food isn’t 100% unprocessed/”real” so my stomach still hurts after eating there but it’s nowhere near the degree it hurts after eating at most restaurants.
Get Off the Couch and Cook 
I never would have thought of making hoisin sauce at home, but it sounds delicious!
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Baby June, it’s so easy and SO much better than the bottled stuff. 🙂
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