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Chef2Chef Recipe Club - Volume 3 Issue 076 - October 14, 2002 Chef2Chef Recipe Club Member Forum: http://forums.chef2chef.net Un/Subscribe: http://chef2chef.net/news/subscribe.htm -------------------------------------------------- Hello Recipe Club, Welcome to another week of great recipes. This week we are excited to present recipes from Terri Pischoff Wuerthner, CCP. You can read about her recent culinary award just below. Her recipe theme this week will be "Celebration of Autumn Foods, with tips and recipes" Each day will focus on a different food with great tips and delightful recipes. Today's topic is wild mushrooms, something I'm very fond of. -------------------------------------------------- The Writers' Colony at Dairy Hollow in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, is where Terri was honored with the worlds first Culinary Fellowship. The Writers' Colony in Eurkea Springs is the first writers' colony in the world to meet the specific needs of food writers by renovating a writing suite to include a state-of-the-art dream kitchen designed by Deborah Krasner. This enables food writers to test recipes, as well as work on the creative and editorial aspects of their work-in-progress. Kitchen Aid, Renovation Style Magazine, Vieluxe and a host of other generous corporate and individual donors supplied the products, materials and inspiration to make this beautiful, fully outfitted kitchen a reality. http://www.writerscolony.org -------------------------------------------------- MONDAY: WILD MUSHROOMS Funny, friendly or formal looking...wild fungi, whether found in the woods or commercially cultivated, have a personality all their own. Curly chanterelles, smooth shiitakes and conical, comical morels may be tucked away under pine leaves or right out in the open, staring at you from the top of a fallen log. Many varieties of wild mushrooms are commercially cultivated and available year-round; others are dried and they, too, are available year-round. Any mushroom other than the white button is considered to be a wild mushroom. Mushroom tips: Dried mushrooms improve with age and have an intense flavor that many chefs prefer to fresh. They have a buttery richness and are simple to incorporate into your everyday cooking by reconstituting them in water and using them like fresh mushrooms. To reconstitute dried mushrooms, rinse quickly, and then soak in hot water to cover for 30 minutes. Drain mushrooms through a coffee filter or cheesecloth, set in a fine mesh strainer. Reserve soaking liquid to use in soup, stock or as a vegetarian broth. Grind dried mushrooms in a coffee grinder or spice mill, for an intensely-flavored powder to use in soup, stew, on sautéed chicken breasts or in any application where you want a mushroom flavor. To clean the grinder or mill between grinding mushrooms and coffee or spices, grind some white rice, then wipe out to remove leftover flavors and odors. Use ground dried mushrooms to replace some of the flour in pasta dough, or to dust on vegetables before grilling. Purchase foraged (i.e. gathered in the forest) wild mushrooms from a responsible gatherer and always buy mushrooms that are fresh looking and firm, not soft or slimy. The base should be relatively clean, not decomposed, and the mushrooms should have a good color and pleasant odor. There should not be unusual breaks in the caps or gills. As mushrooms are porous and have a high moisture content, they are best cleaned with a mushroom brush, soft toothbrush or towel (a pointed knife can dislodge any debris from the cracks). If necessary, cut in half to dislodge dirt, then wipe with a moist paper towel or rinse under a soft stream of running water, and immediately pat dry. Store in a bowl lined with paper towels, or in brown paper bags. Wild mushrooms should be cooked before using, except for enoki mushrooms. -------------------------------------------------- Jerky of the Month Club The perfect gift for the hunter or fisherman in your family. Enjoy a healthy lean treat while watching your favorite football team. Gourmet handcrafted beef jerky in your favorite flavors like Teriyaki or Barbecue, delivered to your door for six months. REGISTER TO WIN! Jerky-of-the-month.com is giving away three six-month memberships to lucky Chef2Chef visitors this month! Everyone loves great beef jerky! Register for a chance to win gourmet beef jerky or give your winnings to the jerky lover in your family. Or better yet, with the holidays just around the corner, order the gift that keeps giving! http://html.chef2chef.net/goto.php?id=229 -------------------------------------------------- Shiitake-Mushroom Bread Pudding Serves 6 as entrée, 8 as side dish This vegetarian entrée would make even a devout carnivore happy. It could also be served as a side dish to accompany meat, poultry or game and would be a stunning addition to an autumn tailgate picnic. 3 tablespoons olive oil 1 pound fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, cleaned and coarsely chopped into1-inch pieces 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley 1 teaspoon thyme 1 day-old, 8-ounce baguette, cut into 1-inch cubes 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon white pepper 5 eggs 3 cups half and half 5 ounces chèvre, preferably chèvre with chives or herbs 1 tablespoon soft butter for coating the baking dish Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour oil into a large skillet set over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often (mushrooms will absorb the oil quickly, but keep stirring and lower heat as necessary to prevent burning). Mushrooms should be slightly caramelized, or golden brown. Add garlic, parsley and thyme, reduce heat to lowest setting and cook 5 minutes longer. Remove from heat and add baguette cubes, salt and pepper, over-seasoning a bit as the liquid ingredients will dilute the flavor. Place eggs, half and half, and chèvre in a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Place the baguette cube-mushroom mixture into a 9" x 13" baking dish that has been coated with the butter. Pour liquid ingredients on top and allow to set for 15 minutes. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Pudding should be golden brown and have the look of a soufflé, but be set in the center. -------------------------------------------------- Recipe Club, looking for unique, one-of-a-kind salsa, sauce and marinade recipes to wow your family and friends? Try "Banditos Quick Treat", a package of cream cheese softened, a 16 oz. Jar of medium or habanero salsa and whip together until fluffy. Delicious! You can find this recipe and many more at Bandana Bandito: http://www.bandito.com Check out their new recipe ebook "Appetizers - Recipes from the Bandit's Wife." http://www.bandito.com/moreinfo.cfm?Product_ID=230 The bandit's wife offers 23 great Bandana Bandito appetizer recipes that are unique, secret and tasty. Order it now for only $5.95 http://www.bandito.com/moreinfo.cfm?Product_ID=230. As you read this, the bandit's wife is in the kitchen secretly preparing other e-recipe-books, filled with great twists to old favorites and unique recipes only the bandit's wife knows about! She'd love to hear your ideas too! Register to win a Chip and Dip Bowl and an exciting selection of gourmet salsas by clicking here: http://html.chef2chef.net/goto.php?id=215 -------------------------------------------------- Cream of Chanterelle Mushroom Soup Serves 4 Chanterelle mushrooms and half and half merge into a delicate, richly flavored soup that is ideal to serve to guests as it is elegant, yet can be made ahead. Only the quick and simple preparation is more appealing than the wonderful flavor. 4 tablespoons butter 1/2 cup finely chopped onion 1 pound fresh chanterelle mushrooms, cleaned and coarsely chopped 2 tablespoons flour 2 cups chicken broth 2 cups half and half 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon white pepper 2 tablespoons Madeira 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley Melt butter in a heavy saucepan set over medium heat. When foam from butter subsides, add onion and sauté for 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and sauté 5 minutes, stirring often. Add flour and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly to coat onions and mushrooms with flour. Add broth, immediately bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Add half-and-half, salt and pepper and heat on low--just below a simmer--for 10 minutes. Add Madeira, stir, and serve sprinkled with parsley. -------------------------------------------------- Lost Yankee Winter Morels. Why wait till spring when you can enjoy Morels any month of the year? Winter Morels: Frozen, bite sized wild Morel caps (no stems), in a low salt, no MSG, chicken, vegetable or beef stock. Recipe developed over five years with advice from two very fine restaurants. Designed to be a versatile Morel product allowing a chef to explore the world of Morel recipes. http://html.chef2chef.net/goto.php?id=237 NOTE: I've had these delicious morels recently and they are every bit as good as this company claims them to be. All the aroma, flavor, texture of fresh picked wild Morels can now be had year round. -------------------------------------------------- Porcini Mushroom and Pork Ragout Serves 6 This is wonderful served on polenta or pasta, or with a loaf of crusty Italian bread to use for soaking up the full-bodied sauce. 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms 1 1/2 cups hot water 1/4 pound bacon, coarsely chopped 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 pounds boneless, fairly lean pork, cut in bite-sized cubes 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 cup chopped onion 3 large cloves garlic, minced 1/2 cup chicken broth 1/2 cup reserved mushroom soaking liquid 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar 1 teaspoon thyme 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon white pepper 1 cup half and half Soak porcini mushrooms in the hot water for 30 minutes. Drain porcinis through a coffee filter or cheesecloth set over a mesh strainer in a bowl, to catch the liquid. Squeeze mushrooms dry, blot with paper towels and coarsely chop (reserve liquid for use later in this recipe). Set a Dutch oven with a cover over medium-high heat. Add bacon and fry until crisp; remove bacon from Dutch oven and set aside for use later in this recipe. Add the 1 tablespoon olive oil to the bacon drippings in the Dutch oven. Increase heat to high, and brown pork cubes until golden and crusty. Add browned pork and any juices to reserved bacon. Add the 2 tablespoons olive oil to the Dutch oven; reduce heat to medium, and sauté the onion and garlic for 5 minutes, adjusting heat so garlic doesn't brown. Add broth, the 1/2 cup reserved mushroom soaking liquid, vinegar, thyme, salt, pepper and reserved pork (with accumulated juices), bacon and mushrooms to Dutch oven. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and simmer for 1 hour and 45 minutes, or until most of the liquid is absorbed and meat is very tender. Reduce heat to very low, add the half and half and cook until heated through. -------------------------------------------------- Shopping Lists: Olive oil 1 pound fresh shiitake mushrooms 2 cloves garlic Fresh parsley Thyme 1 day-old, 8-ounce baguette Salt White pepper 5 eggs Half and half 5 ounces chèvre, preferably chèvre with chives or herbs Butter Butter Onion 1 pound fresh chanterelle mushrooms Flour Chicken broth Half and half Salt White pepper Madeira Fresh parsley 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms Bacon Olive oil 2 pounds boneless, fairly lean pork Olive oil Onion 3 large cloves garlic Chicken broth Balsamic vinegar Thyme Salt White pepper Half and half -------------------------------------------------- QUESTIONS, Comments, Technical Support: http://forums.chef2chef.net -------------------------------------------------- ARCHIVE: All Club e-mails are archived each Friday at: http://chef2chef.net/news/club/ -------------------------------------------------- |