Here is what my backyard looked like yesterday afternoon. What to do except sigh and take pictures and consider what to cook for dinner that night?
In my refrigerator, I had sour cream and basil that needed to be used before both went bad. Sounds like the perfect makings for a dip, I know, but we try to save such things for the weekend because in my husband’s mind, chips must go with dip.
Since it was Tuesday, and dip was out, I started thinking about what else I could do, and I got the idea of a creamy basil sauce to go over pasta. I had mushrooms in the refrigerator and broccoli in the freezer. Both, I felt, would be perfect in this sauce.
My only other consideration was what spicing should be added to the sauce besides basil. Let’s face it, a white sauce can be very bland. Unfortunately, lightly cooked onions do not set well with me, and while raw garlic will have the same effect, lightly cooked garlic does not. Therefore, I decided to add a clove of garlic as well.
Once in a while, a dish comes out exactly the way you hope it will, and this is what happened with the mushrooms and broccoli in the basil cream sauce. I would not change a single thing. But, need I add that this is flexible dish, and many things could be substituted for the broccoli and mushrooms? This could include chicken, shrimp, peas, and sweet red peppers. (Shannon, are you listening?)
Mushrooms and Broccoli in a Basil Cream Sauce
(Serves 4 if you have a husband like Clif )
2 cups of raw mushrooms, sliced and sautéed
2 cups of frozen broccoli, cooked and chopped
Put both the prepared mushrooms and broccoli in a bowl and set aside
For the sauce
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced fine
4 tablespoons of butter
4 tablespoons flour
½ teaspoon of salt
Pepper to taste (a few squeezes of grated pepper)
1 cup of milk, plus more for thinning
1 cup of sour cream
Grated Parmesan to add on top
In a large skillet, melt the butter. Add the garlic and stir for a half-minute or so. Don’t let the garlic burn. Add flour, salt, pepper, and stir until the mixture is a little sizzley. Pour in the milk all at once, and stir vigorously until the mixture is smooth and thick. This will only take a few minutes. Turn off the heat. Add the sour cream. Your sauce will be very thick, and what I do at this point is thin it with milk, a little bit at a time, until I get a saucy consistency that I like.
Next stir in the mushrooms and broccoli. Then very slowly, heat up the mixture. Don’t bring to a boil. A tricky balance, I know, but you don’t want the sour cream to curdle.
I served this sauce over whole wheat pasta, but rice would be good, too. Or regular pasta. Tortellini might make it a special dish for company. Naturally, grated cheese over everything.
This sauce would also be a tasty base for a casserole, which would include two or three cups of pasta or rice. Perhaps salmon, shrimp, or chicken. Use your imagination. Pour it all into a two quart casserole, top with bread crumbs, and bake at 350° until the edges bubble.
As a sauce or as a casserole, this dish is guaranteed to perk up any snowy March afternoon. 
Notes From the Hinterland 
I’m listening! When I see the words “flexible dish” I just know that I’m in trouble! 😛
Oh, I don’t think so! You’re a great cook. Just need a little practice in the flexibility department 😉
I just took a quick little trip to Campobello last week. Who in their right mind does THAT in March in Maine? Cabin fever of a sort will do that to a person. On the way back, I stopped at Raye’s Mustard in Eastport. How a person can spend fifty bucks on mustard is right up there with my first question. If you have to ask, you would not understand the answer. However, I know you WILL understand how and why to spend that much on mustard/s. One of the things is for adding mustard as an additive to sauces of the kind you’ve talked about here. Dark mustards can add a little color to a flour/rouxe dull looking sauce and a bit of zing, not heat, just wake it up some. I love to add mustard to stuff like this! And, a bit of the mustard mixed in with marscapone to smear on bread, and…….we haven’t even talked about mustard plasters for aching joints and chest complaints. Well, let’s not. But you see where I started.