Funghi Faux Food

I've been going veg about 3-4 times a week these days - seeing as I don't eat lunch either, a veg dinner usually comes in the form of pasta, since it's substantially heavier, and oh well, I am on a mission to complete 101 ways with it!

One of my favorite kitchen staples are dried exotic mushrooms, because they go a really long way. The re-hydrated liquid that they soak in also has tons of flavor, and can add to a pasta sauce, soup, or risotto very well.

The trick to cooking dried mushrooms is this - first, use very hot water so it doesn't take forever and a day to rehydrate. Next, once the mushrooms are hydrated, give it a really good squeeze to get rid of excess liquid.

(I know, sounds ironic right? First they are dried, then you add liquid, and now you want to remove the liquid... Make up your mind already!)

Then, before using the mushroom liquid, strain it to remove any fine grit and dirt that tend to be prevalent in dried mushrooms.

I usually end up stir frying (which is why they have to be fairly dry) the mushrooms because when your brown them, it caramelizes and brings out this really delicious flavor. To stir fry them, just heat a little oil, and throw in some garlic, then add the mushrooms, and resist stirring so parts of the mushroom bits can get nicely browned.

So anyway, back to this pasta dish - it rips off the flavor from browning mushrooms, and then adds green goodness with the spinach and peas. It's pretty tasty - check it out. If you want to go on the lighter side of things, skip the heavy cream, and reduce a cup of white wine instead!



Wild Mushroom & Spinach Capellini

Serves 2

2 oz Dried Wild Mushroom Mix
12 oz Bloomsdale Spinach, or other thick stemmed spinach. Don't use Baby Spinach or Chinese Spinach
1 cup Fresh or Frozen Peas
6 ea Garlic Cloves, sliced
4 Tbs Olive Oil
0.5 cup Heavy Cream
1 cup Grated Hard Cheese, like Parmesan
2 Tbs Parsley, Minced
2 servings Capellini or other noodle pasta, cooked according to instructions
Salt & pepper to taste

1 Soak the dried mushrooms in 1 cup of very hot water for about 15 minutes
2 Hang squeeze water from soaked mushrooms and reserve mushroom liquid
3 Heat 2 tbs olive oil in saute pan, then throw in garlic and cook for about 30 seconds until garlic is lightly browned
4 Add the mushrooms to the pan and quickly saute until edges turn light brown
5 Add the spinach and the remaining olive oil, and saute until spinach starts to wilt
6 Add the reserved mushroom liquid and the heavy cream, and reduce until sauce starts to coat the back of a spoon
7 Add the peas and and cover pan until peas are just cooked, about 1 minute
8 Season pasta sauce accordingly, then toss noodles, cheese, and parsley well
9 Serve immediately

Magical Mushroom Mystique

I absolutely love mushrooms, and think that one of the simplest, most luxurious food that you can have is creamy mushroom soup! Traditionally, as with most other foods, cooking a great mushroom soup requires time, patience, and multiple steps. However, there are times when the luxury of time or patience cannot be afforded, as with a small dinner party on a workday evening.

At times like those, it is necessary to take shortcuts, while still producing the best possible result that I would not be ashamed to serve on the table. Although I had to work quickly, it paid off, and we had mushroom soup on the table in 30 minutes!




Here's the recipe:

Creamy Mushroom Soup

1 lb Fresh Mushrooms, I like to use Crimini & Shitake for best flavor
2 ea Garlic Cloves, Smashed
2 sprigs Thyme
1/4 cup White Wine
2 cups Chicken Stock, or Veggie
2 cups Half & Half
3 Tbs Butter

Salt & pepper to taste

In a heavy saucepan, melt one tbs of butter
Add 1/3 of the mushrooms, one garlic clove, and 1 sprig thyme
Saute mushrooms until a deep brown, and cooked through
Repeat with the remaining 2 batches of mushrooms
Deglaze the pan with the white wine - that means addinfg the liquid and scraping up the brown bits over heat
Bring the pan juices, stock and mushrooms to a boil
Simmer for about 10 minutes
Puree the mushroom soup and add the half & half
Thin with water to desired consistency, then season with salt & pepper

The Mother of All Sauces

In preparation for Easter Lunch this Sunday, I made The Mother of all Sauces last night. Not to go into full disclosure and spoil the surprise, but as one of the sauces for an Entree, I created a Marrow & Mushroom Bordelaise. It felt like I died and went to heaven when I tasted it.

When I say that it was the Mother of all Sauces, I mean that the sauce is "da bomb" or "to die for" or "outstanding" or "best ever". Not necessarily that it's a mother sauce.

For the uninformed: There are five mother (Grande) sauces in classic French cuisine, from which all other sauces are made from; Bechamel, Veloute, Espagnole, Hollandaise and Tomato. Mine was a descendant of the Espagnole.

If none of these sound familiar, try thinking Bordelaise (made from Espagnole, and found on almost all fine dining menus), Mayonnaise (some version of hollandaise), Lasagne (that creamy thick stuff on the top? That's bechamel), Creamy Stew Gravy ( that's usually a veloute), and as for tomato sauce, Italian food anyone?

At the top of my list is Bordelaise, because it's just the most delicious, and is a "goes with anything" kind of sauce, without the creamy and fatty taste of the other sauces, sans Tomato. WIth Bordelaise, a tablespoons adds so much flavor, that it goes about a mile, or just till the end of the meal :) So it's not surprise that my sauce has Bordelaise base.

The recipe for Bordelaise includes and equal amount of Red Wine and Demi Glace (equal parts of Veal Stock and Espagnole, reduced by half). Traditional Espagnole is made with a brown roux and more veal stock, but I don't know anyone that makes it this way anymore. These days, a Demi Glace is simply made with two parts of veal stock, where the first part is veal stock reduced by half, and then reduced by half again. Confused? I supposed it I wrote it out in mathematical terms, it would look like this:

Demi Glace = (Veal Stock/2 + Veal Stock)/2

Bordelaise = (Demi Glace + Redv Wine)/2

So, now that we got our basics down for Bordelaise, I can tell you how to make this "die & gone to heaven" sauce. It's not for the faint hearted, or those taking the easy way out, but the results, oh my... the results.... they drool for themselves.

The sauce starts off with a good beef or veal stock. Get about 5 lbs of bones from the butcher, and ask for a few marrow bones.


This is what marrow bones looks like

In my 5 lb bag, I got about 3 bones with good clean marrow, about 2 oz in total. Take the marrow bones, and gently push the marrow out, leaving a hollowed bone. If you're having trouble, run the back of a small knife against the other side to loosen it up. The marrow should come out in one piece.

Soak the marrow in cold water overnight, changing the water every 6 hours. This is to remove as much blood as possible.

Lightly coat the bones in oil, and roast at 425F for about 20 minutes on each side for a deep brown color. Place the bone in a very large pot, add roughly chopped pieces of 1 onion, 1 carrot, 1 celery stick, bay leaf, 5 peppercorns, a spring of thyme and a bay leaf. Add enough water to cover the bone, and more if your pot will allow it. Bring to a boil, then add 1 tablespoon of tomato paste. Let the stock simmer at least 8 hours, if not overnight.

Strain stock, and reduce to 1 qt for a quick Demi-Glace.

Soak 1 cup dried exotic mushrooms ( I recommed a mixture of morrels and porcini) in hot water. When mushrooms are soft, strain, reserving liquid, and squeeze excess liquid from mushrooms.

In a heavy saucepan, heat a tbsp of olive oil, and saute 2 cups of sliced crimini (baby bella or brown button) mushrooms with 1 clove of garlic and 1 spring thyme. Cook until mushrooms are browned, and liquid has mostly evaporated. Remove from pan and saute the reconstituted mushrooms in the same way.

Add all the mushrooms in a large pot, and the reserved mushroom soaking liquid, together with 1 bottle good wine and a bay leaf. I like pinot noir for this because it's light and fruity. For a heavy sauce, try a Syrah. I would skip Cabernets on this, the tannins won't go well with the mushrooms. Add the Demi-Glace and bring to a boil. Let simmer for about 1 hour. Strain the mushrooms off, reserving the delicious sauce. Reduce sauce to 1 cup.

Remove your marrow from the cold water and pat dry. Heat a heavy sautepan, and when very hot, add the marrow. Kiss the marrow pieces on all sides to brown. The more brown you can get it, the more delicious the end sauce will be.

Add the reduced sauce, the marrow, and all the rendered liquid from the marrow sautepan into a blender.

Blend well, and add salt to season. You can finish with a dash of lemon juice if you feel the sauce needs some acid for cutting.

Pour over any meat to serve, and you can garnish with the reserved mushrooms.

It might be an all day affair, but the wait is so worth it!