In a Dutch oven or soup pot, melt vegan butter over medium-high heat. When it starts to foam, add the chopped onion, chopped celery and chopped sweet pepper. Cook, stirring, for 3 to 5 minutes, or until vegetables begin to soften and turn golden.

Add the minced garlic and jalapeno. Give a stir and cook until the vegetables begin to relax and turn fragrant.

Sprinkle the unbleached flour over all — no need to sift — and continue stirring until vegetables are coated. Cook for another few minutes, until the flour absorbs all the vegetable juices and starts to toast.

Add chopped tomatoes, wine, and broth.

Stir to combine and continue cooking until mixture coalesces into a thick sauce. Add Creole seasoning and bay leaf. Keep stirring, reducing heat to medium should the etouffée start to stick to the bottom of the pot.

Tumble in the chopped mushrooms and gently stir to combine. It may appear there’s not enough sauce to coat the mushrooms, but continue cooking for another 5 to 10 minutes. The mushrooms break down and soften under heat, producing their own rich broth.

Stir so everything incorporates. Mushrooms and other vegetables should be tender, not mushy, and the gravy should be about the consistency of heavy cream — not gluey, not soupy. The mushrooms are smothered, not drowned. Add the leaves from a sprig of thyme, then season generously with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.