Jump to Recipe

Earlier this year, my family went in on a whole grass-fed cow. Yes, a whole cow. As in, we bought one. Well, technically, we bought the meat of one. My two sisters’ families got a share, my parents got a share, and we got a share. So, in the end, we bought a quarter of a cow each.

It never really sunk in for me just how much 25% of a half ton animal is. Especially because my parents volunteered to store the vast majority of our share until we moved. It wasn’t until last week, when my parents moved out (and took their 1/4 of a cow with them) that I realized I had an insane amount of cow to eat. As in, our chest freezer is full. So is the freezer on top of our fridge.

So, needless to say, we’ve been eating a lot of beef lately. A lot of it. And we’ve been particularly loving grilled steaks. They are so easy and come together so quickly! And the quality of our 1/4 cow is so remarkable (seriously, if you ever have a chance to get a share of a local, grass-fed cow, I highly recommend it) that it makes a simple grilled steak an amazing experience.

There are a lot of side-dishes that go well with steak, but there is something so iconic about steak and mushrooms. And steak isn’t a steak without a nice glass of red wine. So I figured, why not combine ’em all?

These mushrooms take a while to cook, but the hours they spend simmering in the combo of beef broth and red wine makes them sweet, carmelized and so rich with flavor that it’s totally worth the time. Oh, and want your house to smell incredible? Stick a dutch oven with mushrooms, onion, garlic and red wine simmering on your stove for the afternoon. Ah-maze-ing.

I also love the color of these mushrooms. They turn so deep, dark and purple, which I think is such a fun hue for a veggie side dish. I served them on a plate with sliced steak and mashed cauliflower, but I think they’d look beautiful next to a pile of bright steamed green beans. I love beautiful plates!

With delicious meals like this, we might get through all that beef quicker than I thought. But even so, I’ll take any of your favorite beef recipes. Help a girl out, pretty please?

Drunken Mushrooms

Drunken Mushrooms

Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes

I love the color of these mushrooms. They turn so deep, dark and purple, which I think is such a fun hue for a veggie side dish.

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 large onion, sliced thinly
  • 1 pound button mushrooms, sliced thinly
  • 1 cup beef broth
  • 2 cups red drinking wine
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

  1. In a large, heavy-bottomed pan, heat olive oil and butter over medium-high heat until butter is melted.
  2. Add in garlic and onions. Saute until just soft, about 4 minutes.
  3. Add in all remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered until all the liquid has been absorbed, about two hours.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1 serving
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 205Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 8mgSodium: 323mgCarbohydrates: 13gFiber: 3gSugar: 4gProtein: 4g

At Wholefully, we believe that good nutrition is about much more than just the numbers on the nutrition facts panel. Please use the above information as only a small part of what helps you decide what foods are nourishing for you.

© Cassie Johnston
Cuisine: American / Category: Side Dishes

 

Have you ever done a share of a cow or hog? How’d you get through all that meat?

Cassie is a holistic nutritionist, cookbook author, and all-around food lover. She grew up cooking dinner with her parents every evening, and her passion for home cooking has been strong ever since. Cassie is the author of two published cookbooks (Cooking with Greek Yogurt and Chia, Quinoa, Kale, Oh My!) and dozens of recipes published in major magazines and newspapers. Cassie has been sharing her award-winning recipes on Wholefully since 2010. She loves dark chocolate, homegrown tomatoes, motorsports, and anything that sparkles. She lives in Indiana with her family on a small homestead.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

10 Comments

  1. Omg! so easy to make and it turned out delicious. We ate it on tacos, added fresh cilantro and salsa, the perfect family dinner.

    Reply

  2. ooh, I love having a freezer full of meat at my beck and call (my family hunts, so in my case it’s usually elk/deer/antelope, but same principle!) It’s so convenient! Anyhoo, I’m late to the party on this post, but just wanted to say your photos make me want to make bouef bourgignon (my inner Julia Child is doing jumping jacks at the mere thought!)…can’t beat slow cooked mushrooms and beef, I don’t care how you slice it!!

    Reply

  3. Fat Bastard wine is one of our favorites! We went in on a cow last year and wound up not enjoying it as much as I’d hoped. We like to eat vegetarian dinners at least 3 times a week, and having all that beef in the freezer (not wanting it to wait longer than, say, 6-8 months, as they recommend) made us eat way more red meat than we wanted to or felt was good for us. If I could go in on, say, a flock of chickens, I might feel differently…?

    Reply

    1. I can definitely see the pressure of eating all that beef can make it stressful, especially if you eat so many veggie dinners. We try to do that, too and it’s hard knowing that there is all that beef downstairs.

      We are looking at doing a bulk chicken and pork order from a local farm, too. The thing I like about the bulk pork order is that they give you a million different types of meat. So for a half hog, I could get tenderloin, chops, bacon, breakfast sausage, brats, ground pork, Italian sausage, etc.

      Reply

  5. One of my all time favourites is flank steak. It’s a tougher cut of meat, so it requires a little time to prepare, but it has so much flavour! Stick it in the fridge for a few hours in a marinade of lime juice (which tenderises the meat), olive oil, chili and cumin powder, garlic, salt and pepper, then sear and slice very thinly against the grain. Delicious.

    Reply

  6. This looks yummy! We went in on a cow this year too, we can’t open our freezer, its completely packed full of beef! It actually made me feel a lot better to see how much meat actually comes from one cow, it’s INSANE!

    Reply

    1. Yeah, isn’t it ridiculous!? And it’s so crazy only having to buy meat once a year. We just totally skip the meat section in the grocery store!

      Reply