A trip to the liquor cabinet

I can't take one ounce of credit for this recipe; it is all my husband's. What I can do, is attest to how delicious it is.

While I don't remember all the details of how he came up with this recipe or why, I do recall that he used Tawny Port wine when he created it. We had two bottles, which my uncle had given us over the past two Christmases.

We didn't drink Port, Tawny or otherwise it was a little too strong for my taste and it was taking up space with a 15-plus-year-old bottle of Scotch, which we also don't drink. (I love Scotsmen, but I don't like Scotch. I still have the bottle, which is well over 30 now, just in case we get a visit from across the pond.)

One day, many years ago, we were having steak, so Jim sautéed some onions and garlic with a pound of mushrooms.

To spice it up a bit, he added a couple of surprise ingredients, including the Tawny Port.

It was so good, we've been making it now for years. There's only one change, since we went through the two bottles of port, we now use Marsala wine, and it's just as good.

Sautéed

Mushrooms

1 pound button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

1 large sweet onion, chopped

1 teaspoon garlic, minced

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon oil

1 tablespoon sweet-hot mustard

One-half cup Tawny Port or Marsala wine

Salt and pepper to taste

In a skillet, melt butter, add oil and sauté onion and garlic until the onion is transparent. Add mushrooms, sweet-hot mustard, port or Marsala and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until smooth and mushrooms are soft.

Serve over steak.

Hint: for a perfect steak, in my opinion, buy a good cut London broil or a thick sirloin and take it out of the refrigerator an hour before you plan to grill it.

Season it on both sides with table salt and a sprinkle of kosher salt, black pepper, and freshly ground black pepper and let it rest for an hour. Just before grilling, repeat the salt and pepper on both sides. Then grill until your desired level of doneness.

I've heard that letting meat come to room temperature before cooking enhances the flavor, and if that's what the difference is, then this is worth the small amount of effort.

When we make steak this way, it is almost as good as going to our favorite steakhouse.

For more Comfort & Joy recipes, go to www.tnonline.com/lifestyle/comfort-and-joy.