free from gluten and the top 8 food allergens
Creamy mushroom gravy is not only the perfect partner for biscuits, but pairs well with everything from smashed potatoes and meatloaf-your-way, to pasta and casseroles.
Mushrooms give this gravy a meaty texture that is packed with umami, and with a touch of toasted fennel seeds, what a match for sausage gravy!
See how easy it is to make this rich, satisfying gravy without the classic veal stock, gluten or dairy.
It’s so incredible, you’ll be tempted to skip right to the gravy and make it the main meal.
The creamy white “mother sauce” called béchamel, is the basis for our mushroom gravy. Also known as champignon, it is one of the many small sauces created from the versatile béchamel.
mise en place for bechamel
The method for making a basic béchamel is quite simple.
Rice milk, onion, cloves and bay leaves are brought to a boil and then simmered for 10 minutes. The liquid is then strained and reserved.
Next comes the roux, a cooked mixture of equal parts of flour and fat. An allergy-friendly margarine, such as Earth Balance is melted over low heat. Sweet white rice flour is stirred in and cooked for 1 minute.
The reserved liquid is gradually whisked into the roux over medium heat, then gently simmered for 15 minutes. Salt, white pepper and nutmeg are whisked in.
Here we have the easiest of the 5 mother sauces, béchamel.
bechamel
This base sauce is great in lasagna, casseroles, for mac ‘n cheese, and in making a variety of small sauces, including cream sauce, mornay, cheddar cheese sauce, mustard sauce, soubise, poblano cream sauce, and tomato cream sauce…whew! It’s also perfect for mushroom gravy!
To start mushroom gravy, onions, garlic and fennel seeds are cooked for 2 minutes over medium heat.
The Success Factor
Divide a pound of cremini or button mushrooms, or a combination of both into two parts. Half are pulsed in a food processor, and the other half are diced by hand as shown below. We’ve made the gravy using all pulsed mushrooms. We’ve also made the gravy using all diced mushrooms. We found the best results were a combination of half pulsed and half diced, which gives the perfect “sausage gravy” texture.
The mushrooms are added to the onion/fennel mixture and cooked for 8 minutes. It’s important to cook the mushrooms until all of the liquid has evaporated, as below.
The béchamel sauce is poured over the mushrooms, stirred and heated through, then seasoned with salt and pepper.
There are so many ways to enjoy this delicious gravy.
Biscuits and gravy are always a winner, and a popular breakfast dish in the United States, especially in the South.
Celebrating Foods Free
Creamy Mushroom Gravy
Yield 6 Cups
Free of: gluten and top 8 allergens.
This delicious creamy mushroom gravy is not only perfect for biscuits, but pairs well with everything from smashed potatoes and meatloaf-your-way, to pasta and casseroles.
Ingredients
Bechamel
6 cups rice milk (see recipe notes)
1/4 of a yellow onion
2 whole cloves
2 bay leaves
6 tbsp allergy-friendly margarine, such as Earth Balance
6 tbsp sweet white rice flour (see recipe notes)
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Creamy Mushroom Gravy
1 tbsp grapeseed oil
1 small onion, cut in quarters
2 garlic cloves
16 ounces button or cremini mushrooms, or a combination, divided (8 ounces + 8 ounces)
1 tsp fennel seeds, toasted and coarsely ground
1 quart bechamel (above)
3/4 tsp black pepper
Dash salt
Instructions
- For the béchamel, in a medium saucepan over high heat, bring rice milk, quarter of an onion, cloves and bay leaves to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Strain and reserve liquid, discarding onion, cloves and bay leaves.
- To make the roux, using the same saucepan, melt margarine over low heat. Add flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
- Increase heat to medium. Add half of the milk, whisking until smooth. Increase heat to medium-high and add remaining milk, whisking occasionally. When the sauce comes to a simmer, reduce heat and gently simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in salt, pepper and nutmeg. Set béchamel aside.
- To make the creamy mushroom gravy, a.k.a champignon, place the small quartered onion and garlic in a food processor. Pulse until coarsely ground. Transfer onion and garlic to a small bowl. Set aside.
- Trim and clean mushrooms. Cut half of the mushrooms in quarters and place in food processor. Pulse until coarsely ground. Set aside. Dice the remaining half of the mushrooms.
- In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions, garlic and fennel and cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add coarsely ground and diced mushrooms. Increase heat to medium-high. Cook for 8 minutes, or until all of the liquid has evaporated.
- Stir in the béchamel. Add pepper and bring to a simmer, cooking for 1 minute. Season with salt.
Notes
- We suggest using Organic Rice Dream Rice Drink, Original Classic over Organic Sprouted Rice Dream Rice Drink, which curdles in the heating process.
- In this recipe, regular rice flour is not a good substitution for sweet white rice flour, which is much higher in starch than regular rice flour. Sweet white rice flour can be hard to find, but Bob's Red Mill Sweet White Rice Flour can be purchased online or at markets that carry Bob's Red Mill products, such as Whole Foods.
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