This recipe comes to you inspired by the Alembic, a gem of a bar in our neck of the woods.  This is a a place that really cares about the craft of mixing a good drink, and making delicious, creative small plates alongside.  I’ve whiled away many hours here, happily perched on their suede bar stools, sipping lovingly prepared cocktails and eating handful after handful of the addictive fried shishito peppers they serve as an appetizer.

At a recent visit, one of the entrees we shared was a plate of miso marinated trumpet mushrooms, artichokes and brown rice topped with dollops of butternut squash and black garlic puree. It was a warm, earthy, utterly delicious dish – the nutty brown rice was a perfect vehicle for the juicy, savoury mushrooms and we were trying hard not to lick the plate clean.

Back home, I decided to make a homier version of the dish, leaving out the garnishes and focusing just on the mushrooms and the grains. I stirred some miso into a teriyaki-ish marinade, and poured it over a bowl of mushrooms, then let them marinate in the fridge. On finding I was out of brown rice, I made a pot of farro instead and, taking a cue from Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc, stirred some butter into the farro after it had cooked to give it a luscious oomph. I did use a more modest amount of butter since Thomas Keller has you use an entire stick of butter per pound of farro. I love deriving inspiration from restaurant dishes but I have not mustered up the courage to use butter with abandon… yet.