Category: mushroom

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food mushroom polenta rosemary thyme

mushroom and herb polenta

mushroom and herb polenta

My poor snap is a billion times worse than the one in Ottolenghi’s new book, Plenty. I didn’t trust my polenta to keep still on a wooden board though. This is mighty good, powerful in flavour and the mushrooms give it a real meaty presence. The original calls for a whole bunch o’ mixed mushrooms, but to save foraging and potential fungal-induced death I used good old chestnut mushrooms supplemented with a jar of Sacla antipasto mushrooms. This takes a lot of graft out of it (not that it was difficult in the first place) however the pickled flavours can unbalance the seasoning, so taste well. Otherwise feel free to use any mushrooms you can find for an interesting mouthful.

Adapted from a recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi

Mushroom and herb polenta (serves 2):

500ml vegetable stock

80g polenta

2 tablespoons rosemary, chopped

2 tablespoons thyme, chopped

50g butter, melted

50g parmesan, grated

200g chestnut mushrooms

200g jar antipasto mushrooms

1 clove garlic, grated

1 tablespoon truffle oil

100g comté, grated

  1. Get some oil heated in a pan and begin frying the chestnut mushrooms. Don’t move them too much, let them colour. Let them cook down for about ten minutes, until they have some give when prodded.
  2. Get the grill on hot while you make the polenta. Bring the stock to the boil and whisk in the polenta in a steady stream. Keep whisking until the polenta starts to come away from the edge of the pan. If you’re using old-school polenta this will take a ruddy lifetime. Use the quick-cook stuff and it will take about 3 minutes.
  3. Take the polenta off the heat and beat in the parmesan, butter and half the herbs. Spread into a baking dish into an even layer and pop under the grill for a minute. Let’s return to the mushrooms.
  4. Add the garlic, fry for a minute and then add the remaining herbs and mushrooms. Give it a good stir to warm everything through and taste for seasoning. Add the truffle oil. Get the polenta out, pour the mushrooms on top and grate a thin layer of comté over. Return to the grill and cook for another minute or two until the cheese bubbles.
Categories
bread food mushroom pate steak

tournedos rossini

Some days of the year call for pure luxury, and I think New Year’s Day should be one of them. This renegade of the 70s is a favourite of mine in a decent old-fashioned restaurant, and is complete indulgence. In essence it’s fillet steak, sitting on pate and a crouton, in a red wine sauce. Traditionally it calls for foie gras but I’ve scaled it back to good old chicken liver pate. It’s absolutely delicious and great for a real treat. The tender meat, al dente mushrooms, smooth pate and crisp crouton, all going down with a savoury sauce… yum.

Tournedos rossini:

500g fillet steak, at room temperature

5 – 6 closed cup mushrooms, sliced

Slightly stale bread, cut to rounds (preferably the same size as the steak) and toasted

Pate, cut like the bread

For the sauce:

1 garlic clove, unpeeled

Small glass of red wine

Splash of balsamic vinegar

500ml beef stock

  1. Fry the mushrooms in a little oil and butter. Get on with the steaks while they cook. You want them to be fairly soft. Don’t season them until right at the end to make sure they don’t release water early.
  2. In another pan season the beef with pepper and fry in a very hot pan for 3 minutes either side. You’re looking for a nice bounce to the meat when pressed with a thumb – please keep it medium – rare. Leave the meat to rest on a hot plate while you make the sauce.
  3. Add the garlic clove to the steak pan and deglaze with wine. When this has reduced to a nice syrup add the stock and vinegar and bubble fast to reduce this liquid down.
  4. Check for seasoning, remove the garlic and throw in the mushrooms.
  5. Season the meat with salt and add the meat juices to the sauce.
  6. Assemble the dish with bread, then pate, then the meat, finally top with sauce.
Categories
food mushroom pork tomato

savoury pork casserole

Another one from the slow cooker, this time the dull-named ‘savoury pork casserole’ which takes it’s inspiring title from the 1986 Russell Hobbs manual from which it came. I can’t even bring myself to write out a full recipe as it was so achingly boring, but it was pork, onions, peppers, button mushrooms, thyme and tinned tomatoes slow cooked together for about 7 hours. I managed to revive some last minute interest by adding a dash of creme fraiche and some worcestershire sauce, but it was too late. Yawn.

Categories
chicken cream food mushroom thyme wine

creamy chicken pot-roast

Another weekend, another slow-cooker recipe. Another from delicious magazine, this rich, soupy casserole certainly packs flavour. But is it too intense? A little oily, but certainly filling.

Creamy pot-roast chicken:

6 rashers streaky bacon, cut into lardons

8 chicken pieces (I used a mixture of thighs and drumsticks)

2 tablespoons flour

1 onion, sliced

200g baby onions, peeled

3 garlic cloves, sliced

200g button mushrooms

300ml white wine

Handful thyme leaves

Handful parsley

100ml double cream

  1. Fry the bacon and chicken in a frying pan to brown everything. Put these into the slow cooker.
  2. Fry the leeks, onions, garlic, mushrooms and flour in the same pan for 5 mins to allow some colour to develop. Add these to the slow cooker too.
  3. Add the remaining ingredients and slow cook for 6 hours. Serve with potatoes (I boiled thick potato slices in water infused with garlic and thyme).
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