Fresh mushrooms seem to last longer if you store them in the fridge in a paper bag. They dry out a little, but this seems to concentrate “umami,” the flavor that people associate with meat.

Here’s something delicious you can do with them.

2 cups of mushrooms, sliced. I prefer Shitake and Oyster mushrooms, but use what you like
1 medium onion, peeled and diced.
5 cloves of garlic, chopped
3 stalks of hearts of celery, finely chopped.
3 cups vegetable stock
2 tablespoons of concentrated beef stock
1 cup of leftover pre-cooked roast beef or steak.
1 tablespoon of butter
3 tablespoons rendered deep smoked Kentucky bacon fat.
1 teaspoon Zatar
1 teaspoon ground sassafras leaf (File)
1 cup of cream-line  milk (whole milk will do, but cream-line is richer)
1/4 cup of white Italian Condiment (White Balsamic Vinegar)
1/4 cup of flour

Add fats to a Dutch oven on the stove top at medium high heat. Sautee the onions, celery and mushrooms, add herbs and quarter cup of flour. Keep the sautee moving with a wooden spoon as the flour cooks in. Add the quarter cup of vinegar and de-glaze the pan, scraping the delicious brown bits up into the sauce. Add your leftover beef and concentrated beef stock and three cups of vegetable stock.

Simmer for 10-15 minutes until it starts to thicken, then turn down the heat and add the milk.

Let it simmer but do not boil it.

Serve with toasted Italian Rolls, sloppily smeared with soft goat cheese.

Dig in.