Vintage Eats Recipe: 1964 Mushrooms au Gratin

When I began researching vintage recipes and cookbooks 18 months ago, I did it for fun and comfort. Stress was a big part of my life (and continues to be) and thinking of my mom and grandmas (people who had loved me) made me happy.

Sadly, all of these wonderful women are gone now, but I strive to remember them by re-creating their abilities as great cooks in my kitchen. Seeking lost culinary treasures from the past brings me pleasure and I always wonder—might one of them have tried these recipes from their era as well?

My simple attempts keep me humble, so it was exciting and unexpected when a friend invited me to be part of her video series of creating fascinating recipes.

 Mariann Miller Taylor and I attended the same church for many years. She has since moved across the country and while we don’t see each other often, we keep in touch on social media.

For many years I’ve admired her abilities as a chef / cook/ recipe developer. Almost daily it seems she posts a new creation under her moniker ‘Taylor Kitchen.’

She is on Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, Youtube, and has her own website, all of which she fills with cooking videos and inspiration for working with food. The results are always beautiful, enticing and creative. Her photos are gorgeous!

When Mariann asked me to share and cook a vintage recipe from one of my cookbooks for her show, I was honored.

With a plethora of cookbooks to choose from, it was hard to come up with something original.

I finally chose ‘Mushrooms au Gratin.’

Mariann and her lovely mother, Lana, whom I have loved for decades and who is also a fantastic cook (she made my wedding cake 45 years ago), came over recently to film the making of this delicious recipe in my kitchen.

Mariann brought her filming equipment and the rest was up to me.

I have been in front of a camera before for TV interviews with World War II vets and events so that didn’t faze me too much.

We didn’t rehearse so what you see is what actually happened with some editing on Mariann’s part, mainly to eliminate the cooking times.

Nothing burned and we didn’t drop food on ourselves – in other words, no catastrophes like the smoke alarm going off. It’s happened!

The YouTube video link is here

The vintage recipe is posted on tkfoodie.com

The recipe for Mushrooms au Gratin is below.

Mushrooms au Gratin was printed in a cookbook called ‘Nashville Seasons’ printed by the Nashville Junior League in 1964. It’s a delightful volume I’ve used before:

Chicken Curry  

Butterscotch Brownies

I’ll dip into it again in the future for more goodies.

Thanks so much to Mariann for inviting me on to her show! It was a delight and I hope it encourages viewers to make this dish that is a good vegetarian side or entrée. It could easily be adapted for vegan as well.

I plan to make it at Easter.

Please watch the video and let me know if you make the dish and what you think. Even if you don’t like mushrooms much, give it a try. They are healthy and it might surprise you how easy and tasty they can be.

Enjoy!

**

Mushrooms au Gratin

1 pound mushrooms

¼ cup butter

3 Tablespoon flour

¾ cup chicken broth

¼ teaspoon marjoram

1 teaspoon parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

¼ cup heavy cream

1 Tablespoon sherry

2 Tablespoons parmesan cheese

¼ cup fresh bread crumbs

Wash mushrooms.

Remove stems and chop.

Slice caps.

Melt butter.

Cook mushrooms 15 minutes.

Stir in flour and blend.

Gradually add chicken broth.

When sauce is smooth, add marjoram, parsley, salt and pepper.

Cook five minutes, stirring constantly.

Stir in cream and sherry and cook three minutes.

Put into 1-quart casserole.

Mix cheese and bread crumbs.

Sprinkle over top.

Bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

6 servings

My Notes:

1. I used mushrooms that were already sliced and chopped them, though Mariann suggested I could have cooked them as is. Next time, I will do that!
2. The plant-based butter I used for this dish worked with great results! Mariann eats dairy-free so I chose it for her, but we still used the cream since she would not have much and it seemed integral to the recipe.
3. The recipe called for a small amount of marjoram (I found it at Wal-mart). I think it, along with the sherry, added a unique taste to the dish.
4. I used a 1-1/2 quart dish which worked well.