Category: mushroom

chestnut gnocchi

I absolutely love Two Greedy Italians. Not only are Gennaro Contaldo and Antonio Carluccio the most avuncular and affable guys on TV, joshing and fondly trading insults, they also serve up some jaw-droppingly good Italian food. In the series where they tour Italy, revisiting places of their youth and being tourists everywhere else the former colleagues eat their way through just about every culinary region of the Old Boot.

In this episode traversing the Alps, they went to a region where they historically couldn’t grow wheat so used chestnuts for all their flour. Gennaro then used this to make a delicious chestnut gnocchi with mushrooms. I had to give it a go myself, but all my previous attempts to make gnocchi have been messy, hideous and not worth the effort. The recipe also isn’t listed on the site. So I bought shop-made gnocchi and improvised a sauce. This was fab, I’m definitely doing it again and I hope I’ve paid enough tribute to Gennaro’s original recipe. Watch the sweetness, you will probably need a good dose of salt to balance it out.

The recipe is probably in Two Greedy Italians Eat Italy, but I don’t have it so no guarantees!

Chestnut gnocchi (serves 2):

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

100ml Marsala

300ml beef stock

200g chestnut mushrooms, sliced

1 tablespoon chestnut puree

1 pack of potato gnocchi

Handful of parsley, roughly chopped

Parmesan shavings to serve

In a small saucepan heat some oil over a medium heat. Add the garlic, Worcestershire sauce, a pinch each of salt and sugar and cover the pan. Cook for 3-4 mins, stirring regularly until the garlic is starting to brown. Add the Marsala and allow to reduce by half. Then add the beef stock and reduce this by half. Add the chestnut puree and check for seasoning. Keep warm while you do everything else.

Into a frying pan add a knob of butter and the mushrooms. Fry for 8-10 mins until the mushrooms are browning, then add a good whack of black pepper. While the mushrooms sizzle, cook the gnocchi for 2-3mins in salted boiling water until floating at the top. Drain until needed.

When the mushrooms are ready, add the sauce and gnocchi to the pan and toss vigorously to combine. Give it a final check for seasoning and top with parsley and parmesan for serving.

beef food gherkin mushroom rice sour cream

beef stroganoff

I must have made beef stroganoff to a different recipe each time I’ve made it. There’s always beef, always mushrooms, always paprika and a creamy element. But like many of the best recipes, once you hit the familiar targets the rest falls where it may.

I’ve tried this version from Lawrence Keogh on Saturday Kitchen. The key here is the acidity brought by the white wine vinegar and white wine, which gives you a great contrast against the cream. This dish has everything going for it, a sharp-creamy sauce, crunchy pickles, tender meat – what a treat.

Adapted from Lawrence Keogh’s recipe. His recipe calls for a pilaff too, I sped it up by using plain boiled rice on the side

Beef stroganoff (serves 4):

450g rump steak pounded thin and cut into long strips

2 teaspoons sweet paprika

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

30g butter

½ onion, finely chopped

150g button mushrooms, sliced

1 teaspoon tomato purée

50ml white wine vinegar

75ml white wine

200ml double cream

A few slices of gherkin, julienned

125ml sour cream

Flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

1 pinch sweet paprika

Sprinkle the beef strips with the paprika and season with salt and pepper.

Heat a large frying pan with the vegetable oil. Colour the beef as quickly as possible, making sure you keep them as rare as possible, then tip the meat into a colander, reserving any juices that drain off.

Using the same pan, turn the heat down and add the butter, onion and mushrooms and cook for one minute.

Add the tomato purée and cook for few more minutes, stirring the ingredients together. Turn the heat up again and add the white wine vinegar. Cook until completely evaporated.

Add the white wine and cook until reduced by half then pour in the double cream, bring to a boil, and season with salt and pepper.

Turn off the heat and tip in the beef and juices. Stir through to warm.

To serve, pour the stroganoff into a large warmed serving dish and sprinkle with dill pickle. Drizzle the sour cream over the top then sprinkle with chopped parsley and dust with paprika. Serve with rice.

Tags lawrence keogh

food mushroom pie stock turkey

turkey and mushroom pie

What’s that you say? You have leftovers from Christmas Day? Unheard of.

Previously I’ve made Jamie’s sweet leek pie with leftover poultry and it’s brill. Using that as an inspiration I made a mushroom version and it’s just as good.

Turkey and mushroom pie (serves 4 – 6):

1 onion, diced

1 sprig rosemary, leaves picked and chopped

300g chestnut mushrooms, sliced

Christmas dinner leftovers, about 800g (I had turkey and stuffing)

500ml stock (ideally turkey stock made from the carcass, but chicken would be fine)

300ml creme fraiche

A sheet of ready-rolled puff pastry

1 egg, beaten

Heat a little oil in a large casserole dish, then add the onions, rosemary and mushrooms. Stir fry a little and cover with a lid to sweat for about ten minutes. Add the turkey leftovers, stock and creme fraiche and simmer for ten further minutes.

Preheat the oven to 170°C. Pop a sieve over a saucepan and tip the turkey mix into the sieve. When the creamy gravy has all strained off transfer the mushroomy meat to a baking dish and cover with the pastry. Brush with the beaten egg and bake for 30 minutes or until golden. Serve with the creamy gravy that has been warmed through over the hob.

Tags jamie oliver

beef mushroom pie steak stock

steak and mushroom pie

I possess the world’s worst hands for handling pastry. Fact. These hot hams won’t be churning out mille feuille any time soon.

So I tried my best at one of these recipe ideas from BakingMad using simple old short crust. I made a few changes to make sure the meat was completely tender and gave it a cheese-flavoured savoury pastry that just finished it off nicely. I handled the dough as little as possible and it seemed to turn out OK. It made a rich, savoury stewy pie that left me licking the bowl.

I’ve freezed a whole bunch of it so I can look forward to more pies over the next few weeks.

Based on a recipe from Baking Mad

Steak and mushroom pie (makes 6 individual pies):

For the pastry

250g plain white flour

100g cold butter, diced

25g cheddar, grated

1 egg, beaten

Splash of milk

For the filling

1kg casserole beef (such as braising, shin, blade), diced

1 onion, thickly sliced

2 carrots, peeled and sliced

2 tablespoons flour

500ml beef stock

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

400g mushrooms, thickly sliced

First make the pastry. Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the cheese, then add the egg and enough milk to bring it all together. Try not to mess about with it too much, but press enough so that it comes together. When it forms a ball wrap in cling film and store in the fridge until you’re ready to use it.

Get a large lidded casserole on a high heat, add a splash of oil and brown the beef all over. Do this in batches as necessary so as not to crowd the pan.

Lower the heat and add the onions and carrots. Cook until the onions are lightly browned, then stir in the flour. After a minute put the heat back up and add a little of the stock, scraping up all the crusty bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the remaining stock and all the other ingredients, pop a lid on and leave to simmer for about 2 hours, or until the beef is tender. If it’s a little watery at this point, take the lid off and ramp the heat up to reduce it down.

Spoon the beef filling into dishes you’ll eventually cook the pies in. Allow to cool before adding the pastry, otherwise it’ll be all soggy underneath (eurgh).

Roll out the pastry as thin as you like and press on to your pie dishes. Press around the edges with a fork and slash the middle to allow the steam to escape. At this point you can freeze the pies (defrost thoroughly before baking).

If you’re eating now, get the oven on 180°C and brush the pies with milk. Bake for 30 mins or until the pastry is golden and risen.