Roasted Herbed Vegetables with Red Wine Sauce and Toasted Garlic Bread

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Last night I really wanted to have a date night at home.I love getting dressed up and going out to eat, but sometimes it’s nice to putthe extra money into a nice home cooked meal, turn on some music, and relaxinstead. Needless to say, I wanted to make something a little more specialthan the average weeknight.
I immediately thought about our first trip together toNew Orleans and recalled this amazing French bistro we tried on our first nightin the vibrant city. I ordered coq au vin (obviously pre-vegetarian days), whichI had never had before, and I simply cannot remember what Dustin ordered…probablybecause I was too busy focusing on my yummy meal! I wanted to make something reminiscentof that dish, only without the meat. It seemed a difficult challenge!
In the end I decided to brown some potatoes in a littleoil and butter (you can’t have a French dish without butter!) and then threwthem into a pot with loads of mushrooms, a couple of carrots, pearl onions,garlic, lots of herbs, and a beautiful wine sauce. I served it over toastedsourdough French bread, and it turned out perfect! I think I will definitelymake this again, only next time I will use a full cup of wine, and will remember to put candles on the table –ooh la la! (Cheesy, I know!)
Getting Started

Start by cutting, chopping, slicing, peeling, andmeasuring everything you need; it makes everything go a lot more smoothly,trust me. If you are making this for a date night, the last thing you want isto be stressed because your potatoes are burning and you don’t have the wineopen yet (not that this happened to me, mind you!).
Now that you have everything ready, start browning yourpotatoes in a little olive oil (about 2 tsp) and 1 Tbs butter over medium-highheat. Two things about this: 1) you aren’t cooking the potatoes, really, justbrowning them, so it’s okay to use a higher heat setting, and 2) since you arecooking on a higher heat setting, it’s important to add the oil with thebutter; if you don’t, the butter will burn, and you don’t want that!
Add in your salt and pepper (I used about 2 good pinchesof salt and 1 pinch of pepper), and continue turning until both sides of thepotatoes are golden. When you reach this point, transfer the potatoes to abaking dish that has a lid, turn the heat down on the stove to about medium, and put the panback on the burner.
Add the wine and half the veggie broth to the heated panand start scraping up all the brown bits left by the potatoes. Mix the flourwith the remaining veggie broth by adding the broth to the flour a little at a timeuntil well blended, then pour this in with the rest of the wine and vegetablemixture. It should be a beautiful purple color by this time, and I hope youwill forgive me for forgetting to take pictures of this part! Let reduce andthicken.
While waiting for the wine sauce to thicken, add thecarrots, pearl onions, garlic cloves, mushrooms, chopped herbs, and anothertablespoon of butter (chopped into smaller pieces) to the baking dish. Addanother pinch of salt and pepper, and toss well.
When your sauce has thickened, pour over the top of theveggies, along with another drizzling of olive oil. Add in the rosemary sprigsand bay leaf, and bake in the oven, lid on, for about 35-45 minutes at 350degrees, or until all the veggies are tender.
While the veggies are mingling in the oven, cut a fewthick slices from a fresh loaf of sourdough French bread. Coat both sides withbutter and a sprinkle of garlic powder, and set aside. When you have about 10minutes left before the veggies are done, place them on a baking sheet and popthem in the oven. Turn occasionally until lightly brown on both sides.
Wrapping it up
When the veggies are done, remove the bay leaf and thesprigs of rosemary; then place a piece of the chunky garlic bread on each plateand top with the roasted veggies and lots of sauce for the bread to soak up. Youcan add a simple salad for starters if you like, light some candles, and enjoyyour date night ;)
Ingredients for Veggie Pot
3 russet potatoes cut intochunky rounds, skins on2 carrots cut into chunky rounds, skins on8oz white mushrooms, cut intohalves and quarters2.5oz sliced shitake mushrooms6oz package pearl onions, peeled(cut the root end off, make a slit in the skin, and peel)8-10 garlic cloves, peeled andleft whole2 tsp fresh, finely chopped sage1 1/2 tsp fresh, finely chopped thyme1 bay leaf3 rosemary sprigs, left wholeCoarse salt and pepper to tasteOlive oil for sautéing anddrizzling2 Tbs butter, divided1/2 cup red wine (I used a Pinotthat I like, and next time I will use a full cup)1 cup veggie broth2 Tbs flour
Ingredients for Toasted Bread
4 or 5 chunky slices of freshsourdough French bread2 Tbs melted butterGarlic powder to taste

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