Episode 125: Mushrooms

Mushroom Ragout with Lardons and Roasted Garlic
Mushroom Tarte Tatin
Wild Mushroom Bread Puddings
Stuffed Morels

MUSHROOM RAGOUT WITH LARDONS AND ROASTED GARLIC

1 kilogram mixed mushrooms, including some of the following: button, shitake, oyster, chanterelle and crêpes (2 pounds)
6 ounces bacon, cut into lardons
1 ounces butter
1 head garlic, roasted
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ cups crème fraiche (375 millilitres)
½ cup parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper
6 large whole Portobello mushroom caps

Preparation time is 40 minutes
Preheat the oven to 320 degrees Fahrenheit

Place a whole head of garlic on a baking tray in the oven and leave to roast for at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile, clean and prepare the mushrooms. Remove and dirt with a mushroom brush and cut off the woody stems. Cut the button mushrooms into halves or quarters depending on their size and break the other mushrooms apart into bite-sized pieces.

Fry the lardons in a pan. Once crispy and the fat has rendered, remove them and set aside. Fry the mushrooms, starting with the densest ones that take longer to cook first, and cook them for a couple of minutes, tossing all the time. If you need more fat, add a small knob of butter. Put the Portobello cap on the hot grill.

Remove the garlic head from the oven and chop off the top with a pair of scissors. Squeeze the roasted garlic into the pan with the mushrooms. Add the crème fraiche and chopped parsley. Stir well and serve in a grilled Portobello mushroom or in potato baskets.

Yield: 6 servings
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MUSHROOM TARTE TATIN
Preparation is medium

4 medium shallots
4 tablespoons olive oil (60 millilitres)
12 ounces mixed and wild mushrooms (375 grams)
Salt and pepper
4 cloves garlic, roasted
1-tablespoon fresh thyme
1-tablespoon fresh oregano
4 tablespoons sugar (60 millilitres)
¼ teaspoon sherry vinegar
1-½ cups caramelized onions
8 ounces puff pastry (250 grams)

Preparation time is 40 minutes
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit

Wrap the shallot in foil and bake it for 15 minutes in the oven. Bake the garlic cloves on the same cookie sheet. Remove the shallots, peel them and set aside.

Heat the oil in a heavy frying pan over a high heat. Add the mushrooms in batches and add salt and pepper. Do not crowd the pan. Turn the mushrooms when they begin to brown after about 2 minutes. Add some thyme, oregano and the roasted garlic. Cook for a further 2 minutes and repeat with the remaining mushrooms.

Increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine the sugar and a tablespoon of water over a medium heat. Swirl the mixture until the sugar has completely dissolved and let the mixture boil until it reaches a nut-brown stage. Stir in the vinegar and remove it from the heat.

Divide the caramel between four ramekins, add mushrooms on top, caramelized onion and then roasted shallot. Top with a round of puff pastry, move to the oven to bake for about 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden and puffed.

Turn out on to plates and serve with a dollop of seasoned crème fraiche.

Yield: 4 servings.
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WILD MUSHROOM BREAD PUDDINGS
Preparation is easy

3 slices white day old bread
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
300 grams assorted wild mushrooms (10 ounces)
1-tablespoon olive oil (15 millilitres)
100 millilitres whipping cream (3 ¼ fluid ounces)
1 egg and 1 yolk
3 green onions
Salt and pepper

Preparation time is 40 minutes
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

Butter the inside of 4 ramekins. Put the olive oil to heat in a pan and dice the onion and crush the garlic. Put them to sauté in the oil. Clean and chop the mushrooms and after about 3 minutes add them to the onions. Cook for a further 3 minutes. Season and set aside to cool.

Dice the day old bread into 1-centimetre cubes. Add the bread, onion and mushrooms to a bowl. Slice the green onions and add to the mixture.

Break the eggs into a bowl and mix with a fork. Put the whipping cream to heat and as it reaches boiling point, pour it into the eggs in a steady stream, stirring all the while. Mix the cream with the mushroom mix and season well. Let the whole mixture sit for 20 minutes.

Spoon the mixture into your buttered ramekins and cook in a Bain Marie for 30 minutes, or until set and a wooden skewer comes out clean. Serve with pan-fried lamb cutlets.

Yield: 4 servings.
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STUFFED MORELS
Preparation is easy

18 large morel mushrooms
8 ounces minced chicken breast (250 grams)
2 parsnips, fine brunoise
2 carrots, fine brunoise
2 leeks, fine brunoise
1 onion, fine brunoise
2 tablespoons olive oil (30 millilitres)
3 slices white bread soaked in cream
Salt and pepper
1 egg plus 1 yolk.
½ cup cognac (125 millilitres)

Preparation time is 40 minutes

Put the olive oil to heat in a pan. Add the onion, parsnips, carrots and leeks to sauté for about 3 minutes, until softened. Set aside to cool.

Dice the white bread and then soak it in some cream and season with salt and pepper. In a large bowl mix the minced chicken breast meat with the sautéed vegetables and the white bread and cream. Stir in the eggs.

Push the mixture into the centre of the morel mushrooms with a small teaspoon and your fingers or with a piping bag.

Close the morels with a toothpick and prop them open end up in a steamer. Steam for 8 minutes. Just before servings heat some butter in a pan and brown the outside of the mushrooms. At the last minute add the cognac to the pan, heat and flambé.

Yield: 6 servings.
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Recipe Courtesy of Chef Michael Allemeier, Executive Chef at Teatro in Calgary, Alberta, Canada