Playing the field
When cool weather hits, I crave slow-braised meats, jerusalem artichokes and chestnuts, but most of all mushrooms. The variety of cultivated and wild mushrooms now available is staggering. I usually encourage some experimentation with recipes, but the two recipes below work best with the varieties suggested. Pine mushrooms have a firm texture and earthy flavour, which hold up well during braising, and large field mushrooms remain extra juicy when baked in a parcel. Cooking mushrooms does not need to be a long process. Sauteed mushrooms with a little butter, garlic and salt served on a slab of toast is still one of the most satisfying things for a quick breakfast or lunch.
Baked garlic field mushrooms
These garlicky mushrooms are perfect served alone or as a accompaniment to a main course. I recently cooked these for dinner at home. I made an extra cheesy risotto with plenty of parmesan and mascarpone cheese and placed a baked mushroom on top of each serving and spooned all the baking juices over. It's comforting, delicious and vegetarian.
INGREDIENTS
4 large field mushrooms
4 tbsp butter
4 cloves garlic
handful parsley leaves, chopped
zest of half a lemon
8 sprigs thyme
METHOD
1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Place the butter in a mixing bowl, grate the garlic straight into the mixing bowl using a Microplane. Add the parsley, lemon zest and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir the butter well to incorporate the ingredients.
3. Peel the mushrooms and remove the stalk with a paring knife. Smear the garlic butter equally over all the mushroom gills and place two sprigs of thyme on each mushroom. Season each mushroom with a good pinch of salt and pepper.
4. To cook the mushrooms, take four x 30-centimetre squares of aluminium foil. Place a mushroom in the centre of each piece a foil. Bring two opposite corners of foil up over the mushroom, fold and squeeze the foil to seal. Now bring the other two corners up over the mushroom, fold and crunch together to form a tight seal.
5. Place the mushroom parcels on a baking tray, place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes.
6. When ready to serve, open the packets and carefully lift out the mushroom. Spoon over any of the cooking juice left in the parcel.
Serves 4
Pine mushroom barigoule
Pine mushrooms can often be found at markets and at some fruit and vegetable shops. Because of their firm texture they hold up well cooked this way. If they're unavailable, fresh shiitake mushrooms are a good substitute. Other vegetables such as young fennel cut into thick wedges are also delicious cooked in this method. This preparation can be used in many ways. The mushrooms can be served as part of an antipasti, as an accompaniment to meat or tossed through cooked pasta, the cooking liquid making a wonderful sauce.
INGREDIENTS
4 large pine mushrooms
Barigoule sauce
1 onion
1 carrot
1 celery stalk
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
½ tbsp tomato paste
½ cup white wine
6 sprigs thyme
1 tbsp lemon juice
¼ tsp coriander seeds
¼ tsp fennel seeds
¼ tsp white peppercorns
METHOD
1. Cut the onion, carrot and celery into 5 millimetre dice.
2. In a saucepan, warm the olive oil over a high heat and saute the diced vegetables, stirring from time to time. As the vegetables start to colour, add the garlic and cook for a few minutes.
3. Now add the tomato paste and continue to cook until the contents of the pan are a deep caramel colour. Add the white wine and simmer vigorously until the wine has completely reduced. Add 800 millilitres of water, along with the thyme, lemon juice, coriander and fennel seeds and peppercorns and bring to a simmer. Cover with a lid and simmer for 30 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, clean the mushrooms with a damp towel to remove any dirt or pine needles, remove stalk and add any mushroom trim or stalks to the simmering stock. Cut the mushroom caps into 1-centimetre slices.
5. When the barigoule stock has finished cooking, strain the liquid and discard the solids, returning the liquid to the same saucepan. Bring the stock back to a simmer and add the sliced mushrooms. The stock should barely cover the mushrooms. If it doesn't, top up with a little water. Simmer the mushrooms without the lid for 10 minutes. As the mushrooms cook, the stock will thicken and reduce to a sauce consistency. To finish, season to taste with salt.
Serves 4