Shiitake Mushroom and Leek Cream Sauce

Hi everyone, Jess here. For the 7th Winter CSA pickup of the season, in which we were fortunate to have some Maine tomatoes and a leek. The button mushrooms from the CSA have already been used in a jar of marinated mushrooms, but my friend Farmer Elizabeth of Fat Moon had some shiitakes around the corner. Look at these beauties!

With a prototype box of micro basil from Johnny Putt Farm in Littleton, a clove of garlic from a previous CSA box, and a bit of High Lawn Farm cream, it looked like I’d be in business for a delicious and versatile cream sauce!

Here’s roughly the list of ingredients I used, all very flexible:

1 leek, washed and chopped
4 ounces of shiitake mushrooms (stems removed and saved to make a veggie broth)
3 tablespoons micro basil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pat Amish Roll Butter
Pinch of salt (or to taste)
1 tomato, diced
1 cup heavy cream

First, I washed and chopped the leek. After chopping the roots off, I save the dark green parts for veggie broth along with the shiitake mushroom stems. Leeks have a tendency to hide dirt, so I chop the leek first and then run it through a bowl of water before draining.

A medium-low heat in a pat of melted Amish Roll butter gets things started.

After a few minutes, I added some sliced shiitake mushroom caps.

When the mushrooms were tender, I added in some cream and and began to reduce it a bit. At this point, you can thin and further flavor the sauce with a splash of broth (such as veggie, chicken, beef) or white wine. Do this just before adding the cream and reduce the sauce to preferred thickness.

After a low bubble and things starting to reduce, I was ready to add my tender herbs.

As I was working with such a young and tender herb, I decided to wait until the sauce was reduced and just about ready before I added my herbs. (Were I working with heartier herbs, I would have added them with the mushrooms).