Slow Cooker Shiitake Mushrooms in Red Wine Sauce

I find that I can control myself from diving into the carnivore dish I prepare for my husband by preparing  a plant based food that is similar except for the absence of meat, oil, dairy or eggs.  It can also be a totally different type of dish as long as it can compete in flavor against the meat containing one. Yesterday I had a hard time keeping myself from going beyond just tasting the Slow Cooker Oxtail Braised in Red Wine I prepared for my husband because I did not have a plant based dish that could compete with it.

I decided this morning when I woke up to develop a recipe that contains all the flavor and even beyond what the oxtail dish offered.  I did not want to use any vegetable broth or nutritional yeast for flavoring so I depended on the carrots, celery, onions (fresh and dry) and garlic (fresh and dry) to increase the intensity of the taste of the red wine sauce.  I also added sun dried tomatoes and tomato paste plus Worcestershire sauce to increase the flavor.  I added flour to thicken the sauce.

The slow cooker was what I used to cook this Shiitake mushroom dish.  It is ideal since the slow cooking process allows for the dried Shitake mushrooms to soak and soften thus eliminating one more step.  I did not saute any of the ingredients to avoid the use of oil.

This is a plant based main dish which is delicious and very hearty.  It is also a complete main dish with its "beef like" shiitake mushrooms, potatoes and other vegetables like carrots and celery.  The sauce has that distinct taste that only cooking with red wine imparts.  It can go over rice or mashed potatoes or pasta or with just a crusty bread. It can also be a side dish for a family dinner with carnivores since it goes well with steak and baked potatoes.

Happy New Year.  Thanks for reading my blog.

Slow Cooker Shiitake Mushrooms in Red Wine Sauce

• 18-20 dry shiitake mushrooms (I bought mine from the Asian store) 
• ¼ cup sun dried tomatoes
• 1 cup cut carrots (I used baby carrots)
• 4 celery stalks, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced into slices with 1/2 inch thickness
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 stalks green onions, sliced into 1/4 inch pieces
• 2 tbsp minced dry onions
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 cups red wine
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 3 cups water
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp black peppercorn
• 1 ½ tsp salt

Combine all the ingredients in the slow cooker bowl.  Slow cook for 3 hours at high setting or 6 hours at low.  I cooked mine in an Aroma brand rice cooker/slow cooker for 2 hours at slow cooker setting.  Serve over pasta or rice or mashed potatoes or just with crusty bread.