Island Free Press ...Local News

Island Cooking: Wild mushrooms add
bold flavors to autumn dishes

By LYNNE FOSTER



When I lived in England, autumn found me tromping through the fairyland woods on my Surrey Highlands property hunting for an elusive treasure.   The air was usually crisp but not frigid and it was fragrant with a blend of damp earth, drying leaves, evergreens and wild mushrooms. It always took a while to spot the first wild mushroom, and, once found, they kept popping out before my eyes. They were near the tiny wild bilberries and tucked beneath fallen oak leaves. The colors in the forest were the velvety deep blue of the berries, muted matte oranges and golds of deciduous leaves and every shade of green, ecru, and peach imaginable. The experience was completely sensual, even if there were no mushrooms to be found. But there usually were. Wild mushrooms are celebrated favorites across Europe and have several aliases. In France, they are called cepes. In Italy, they are porcini and in Germany, steinpilzen. They appear in the markets in the fall of the year, and many restaurants create entire menus around their arrival when knowledgeable buyers and chefs deal only with reputable hunters. This is one product for which no one is holding out for a deal. There are many poisonous mushrooms, and they often look deceptively like edible varieties. As if Mother Nature is tempting us, the prettiest and most Disneyesque are often the most treacherous. Some are even fatal, so this is not a business for amateurs. The cepe was the only variety of wild mushroom I ever learned to identify with confidence, and I admit to having been very nervous the first few times I ate them. Their locations are carefully kept secrets and woe to the intruder, for these richly flavored mushrooms cannot be commercially cultivated.   They, therefore, command a good price, and they hold a favored place on family tables. In this country, Oregon produces an abundance of cepes and other wild varieties of fungi.    The lush Willamette Valley where they grow is still filled with family owned farms and with vineyards where it is possible to talk with the congenial winemakers and drop in for a tasting where you get friendly, individual attention. There is a unique restaurant in Dayton, deep in this wonderful region, that is more famous for its pinot noir, pinot gris, and chardonnay. The Joel Palmer House, which is as well known for its warm and impeccable service as for its delicacies, features Oregon’s bounty and revolves around cooking with wild mushrooms foraged by its owner/chef, Jack Czarnecki . The restaurant proudly announces on its Web site now, “Harvest is in full swing! No, not the grapes … the porcini, matsutake, black truffles, white truffles, chanterelles, and lobster mushrooms!” I wish that I could be back there now for Jack’s Mushroom Madness Menu. I drool as I read: “A selection of the day’s specials, emphasizing, of course, wild mushrooms. Pick your entrée and Jack will choose and prepare the rest of the dinner for you, making this a five course extravaganza.” Alas, there is only one way to enjoy them here. Dried. But dried product, while of course not as good as fresh, still holds a rich flavor, different but even bolder and earthier, and there is a bonus. In the necessary process of rehydrating them, a flavorful broth is the byproduct. It merely needs to be sieved through a double layer of cheesecloth to become a base for the soups, stews, and pan sauces. Texture is important to any dish, so I don’t use dried wild mushrooms where I would fresh mushrooms, but they are superb in a slow-cooked oven dish or a sauce where textures of all ingredients meld. Our harvest celebration, Thanksgiving dinner, is filled with traditional seasonal dishes. A warming bowl of wild mushroom soup is the ideal starter to the feast. RECONSTITUTING WILD CEPES 2 ounces dried cepes 4 cups barely warm water Soak the mushrooms for at least 30 minutes. Remove the mushrooms with your (clean) hands and squeeze out as much water as possible. Be sure to let the liquid flow back into the container in which the mushrooms had been soaking. Rinse the mushrooms in several changes of fresh water and be sure to scrape off any remaining dirt.   Pat dry with paper towels and they are ready to use. Be sure to retain the richly flavored water. Strain it in a sieve through a double layer of cheesecloth or you can use paper towels. The recipe for mushroom soup that follows is from my dog-eared, stained copy of “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” by Julia Child and written in her inimitable style with a sight variation, the addition of dries cepes and with a plea to follow the recipe to the end, including the final options. It is not as complicated as her format makes it seem. MUSHROOM SOUP 2 1/2 quart, heavy-bottomed saucepan, preferably enameled 1/4 cup minced onions 3 tablespoons unsalted butter Cook the onions slowly in the butter for 8 to 10 minutes, until they are tender but not browned. 3 tablespoons flour Add the flour and stir over moderate heat for 3 minutes without browning 6 cups boiling homemade chicken stock or canned chicken broth and 2 flat leaf parsley sprigs, 1/3 bay leaf and 1/8 teaspoon thyme Salt and pepper to taste The chopped stems from 1 pound of fresh mushrooms Off heat, beat in the boiling stock or broth and blend it thoroughly with the flour. Season to taste. Stir in the mushroom stems, and simmer partially covered for 20 minutes or more, skimming occasionally. Strain, pressing juices out of mushroom stems. Return soup to the pan along with the liquid from the dried cepes. 2 tablespoons unsalted butter An enameled saucepan The thinly sliced caps of 1/2 pound fresh mushrooms and 2 ounces reconstituted dried cepes 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon lemon juice Pour the mushrooms and their cooking juices into the strained soup base. Simmer for 10 minutes. If not to be served immediately, set aside uncovered, and film the surface with a spoonful of cream or milk. Reheat to simmer just before proceeding to the step below, which will take 2 or 3 minutes. 2 egg yolks 1/2 to 3/4 cup whipping cream A 3 quart mixing bowl A wire whip A wooden spoon Beat the egg yolks and cream in the mixing bowl. Then beat in hot soup by spoonfuls until a cup has been added. Gradually stir in the rest. Correct seasoning. Return the soup to the pan and stir over moderate heat for a minute or two, but do not let the soup come near the simmer. 1 to 3 tablespoons softened butter Optional: 6 to 8 fluted mushroom caps cooked in butter and lemon juice and/or 2 or 3 tablespoons minced fresh chervil or parsley Off heat, stir in the butter by tablespoon. Pour the soup into a tureen or soup cups and decorate with optional mushrooms and herbs. For a main course lunch or dinner, serve this soup with open faced grilled cheese sandwiches, using a chewy country style bread and Gruyere or blue cheese. To weave mushrooms through your Thanksgiving dinner, add them to your favorite dressing along with their liquid. For classical Italian recipes, I look to Marcella Hazan. Her fricasseed chicken with dried porcini and Marsala wine is inspirational! What a great combination of two products that are each full of highly concentrated and complex flavors. FRICASSEED CHICKEN WITH PORCINI MUSHROOMS AND MARSALA WINE 1 ounce dried porcini (cepes) or if in packets, a 3/4 ounce packet, reconstituted as above. A 3 1/2 pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces Flour for coating the chicken, about 1/2 cup 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 tablespoon butter Salt Black pepper ground fresh 3 tablespoons chopped onion 1/3 cup dry Marsala wine (look for the word secco but if you see the additional words, superiore and ambra they are even better) 2 or 3 tablespoons of mushroom liquid from the soak Wash all the chicken pieces in cold water and pat dry. Coat the chicken with the flour. Put the oil and butter in a large skillet or sauté pan that will hold all the chicken pieces in a single layer and not crowd them. Turn on the heat to medium high. When the butter foam begins to subside, slip in the chicken. Cook until well browned on one side. Add salt, pepper and chopped onion and turn the chicken over. When the chicken has become browned all over and the onion attains a rich golden color, add the Marsala wine. Let it bubble briskly for just a few seconds; add the chopped and rehydrated porcini mushrooms. Turn the ingredients with a wooden spoon, then cover the pan and turn the heat down to medium low. Cook the chicken at a slow but regular simmering, replenishing the cooking juices when they begin to dry out with 2 or 3 tablespoons of the mushroom liquid. Turn the chicken pieces every once in a while and cook until they feel very tender when prodded with a fork and the meat looks as if it will easily fall off the bone, about 50 minutes to an hour. The cooking juices should be condensed into a small amount of creamy sauce. If there is too much fat floating free, tip the pan and spoon it off. Transfer the entire contents of the pan to a warmed platter and serve at once. This, too, can be prepared in advance. Cook all the way through but do not skim off any fat. When ready to serve, warm the chicken in a covered skillet over slow heat, adding a little water if necessary. Then spoon off any excess fat when the chicken is hot, just before serving. A sinfully rich way to enjoy mushrooms is in a ragout made with the widest variety of wild and cultivated mushrooms you can find. Remember when using fresh mushrooms that they will absorb a lot of water, so do not soak them to clean them. Either brush lightly with a soft brush or do as I do, wipe them with a slightly dampened paper towel. When trimming, save the stems for later use in soups or stews. WILD MUSHROOM RAGOUT 1 cup chicken broth 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley plus a few sprigs for garnish 2 garlic cloves, minced 2 teaspoons unsalted butter 2 teaspoons good extra virgin olive oil 1 pound fresh white button mushrooms, trimmed, cleaned and halved 1 pound mixed cultivated and wild mushrooms, trimmed, cleaned and cut into pieces the size of the button mushrooms 1/4 cup heavy cream Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste In a small saucepan, bring the chicken broth to a boil until reduced by half, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. Combine the parsley and garlic on a cutting board and chop together until very finely minced. Set aside. In a large frying pan melt the butter and olive oil over medium-high heat. Add all the mushrooms and sauté, stirring occasionally, until golden and tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the reduced chicken stock, cream, and garlic-parsley mixture and simmer over medium heat until reduced by half or until nicely thickened, 3 to 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve in a warmed serving dish, garnished with fresh parsley. A wonderful accompaniment to beef or served on pasta. Everyone expects a seafood recipe from me so here is a terrific seasonal appetizer for the holidays. Either chunk it and serve with cocktail forks or toothpicks or make it into a spread, They are here and they are big. Live bait fishing for kings is the most fun you can have fishing! The oiliness of the fish makes it ideal for smoking. If you can’t catch your own and you don’t have a smoker, check the local seafood markets for smoked king mackerel. SMOKED KING MACKEREL SPREAD 1 pound smoked king mackerel (If you like texture, then flake the fish. Otherwise, process until smooth) 1 pound softened cream cheese 1 cup sour cream 4 tablespoons or to taste horseradish Salt and pepper to taste 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley As ever, taste as you mix and adjust the flavorings to your taste. Blend and serve with crackers. Happy Thanksgiving to all! Please remember to support the Hatteras Island Food Pantry. The need is greater than ever and I promise you that you will enjoy your own feast all the more for knowing that you have helped put food on another family’s table. See Susan West’s story in this newspaper, “Economic Woes put more pressure on island’s Food Pantry,” for details of how you can donate from here on the islands or from afar.

(Lynne Foster lives in Hatteras village with her husband, Ernie. Together they operate The Albatross Fleet of charter boats. They actively support the sustainable practices of the island’s commercial fishermen and the preservation of Hatteras Island’s working waterfront. Both love to cook seafood and entertain friends, and Lynne loves to experiment with recipes for locally caught seafood.)