Klunker's Mushrooms

(Edited on 5/18/2015 to reflect Mike's new domain url)

On the McDougall Friends Facebook group, a member named Michael Klunker posts recipes that he adds to his blog, Klunker's Kitchen. The past 2 weeks, many people have mentioned his Crockpot Mushrooms, and I finally tried them yesterday.

But first, I had to unbury my Crockpot. 

This is the exact same Crockpot I have, graphic from here.

My poor Crockpot had seen many years - over 3 decades - of use, but in recent years I decided things like canned beans were much more convenient and tasty than from-scratch beans, and it lay unused in one of the few kitchen cabinets. Over time I bought more spices and herbs and in larger containers than could fit in one of the smaller cabinets above and started tossing the bottles in this one, strategically arranging them on top of the Crockpot so they wouldn't fall out when I opened the door. 

I also have a new Crockpot that I bought on sale about 5 years ago, one of the larger sized ones. That's the same one Mary McDougall used in her refried beans recipe on the McDougall Made Easy DVD. That was in a storage area in our front hall and had less stuff on top of it. But I didn't think one pound of mushrooms needed a 9 quart crock, so left it still un-opened where it was. 

Cooked down, in the 3-quart Crockpot

So, changes I made to the recipe:

Mushrooms - Instead of the whole ones Mike used I got sliced cremini because they were on sale and looked good.

Red onions - I thought I had a 10 ounce container of them in the refrigerator but couldn't find them, so used a bag of frozen diced ones. A few hours after dinner I was grabbing the hummus for my husband for his snack and found them. Oh, well.

Garlic - I used cubes of frozen Dorot, my go-to for garlic lately.

And that's it. Tossed it all in the Crockpot on high for about an hour then turned it to low for another 4 or so. 

I made a big batch of mashed potatoes and steamed up the last of the multi-colored carrots from Trader Joe's to go with it all. 

We each had one big bowl (as shown) and my husband had another, somewhat smaller amount of potatoes and mushrooms. We have about a half cup left over that I'll have tomorrow for lunch with the leftover mashed potatoes.

Delicious!

Now that the Crockpot is unburied, I just finished making a batch of pinto beans in it, and tonight I'll soak some garbanzos and make them up tomorrow. Oh, and I joined the Rancho Gordo Heirloom Bean Club! I was on the waiting list for almost a year and a week ago got the email telling me I can register if still interested. Of course I was! After I completed the order form and got my receipt and welcome email I expected that to be it until the next shipment in July, but a half hour or so later got another email with a tracking number telling me the first shipment is on the way. Good think I uncovered that Crockpot, since that's the way they advise cooking the beans. I foresee a lot of tater or rice meals with beans and greens in our future. Can't go wrong with that, right?