Wacky Idea

My Beloved loves mushrooms. The more, the better. Smother a stone with mushrooms and I swear he'd eat gobble it down. He's a dedicated fungophile.

I happened to have saved a few of my reconstituted mushrooms from the risorta, and thought they'd be great with our chuck roast but, when I pulled them out of the fridge, there weren't enough for both of us.

Some self-sacrificing wives would have cooked them up just for the hubby, but I don't fall into that category - my challenge was to figure out how to make them stretch.

Diving into the fridge, I came upon a package of Canadian bacon, that smoky kind from Niman Ranch that I just love and often have on hand. Seized with a wacky idea, I chopped up a slice into small dice and added it to the pan with the mushrooms. Not only did it swell the volume, it added a rich layer of smoked flavor to the mushroomy concoction. Tumbled out onto the sliced beef, it got an enthusiastic thumbs up from My mushroom loving Beloved.