Funghi Porcini Fritti - Fried Porcini

We're going to casually slink past the fact that I haven't written in over a year and launch right into a shiny new recipe! Not only that, this isn't just any recipe, this is recipe2.0, in which I don't just review the recipe (which, admittedly, is not much of a recipe, it's really pretty simple and obvious), I actually go on to do much more: Take this basic idea (fried porcini) and incorporate it into a restaurant-style main dish.

Ever since the first rains this season, mushrooms have been popping up on my radar in a number of ways: Friends of mine have been mushrooming several times and telling me about and occasionally sharing their delicious findings; recipes have been cropping up for hearting warming mushroom recipes; a wide range of mushroom types have been showing up in food stores. All of this has lead to massive mushroom cravings for me.

One day in September, I first saw huge gorgeous porcini mushrooms at the mushroom shop in the Ferry building and I immediately remembered the drool-eliciting photos of porcini in the Silver Spoon and knew I needed to buy some and get back on track with my blog. After my purchase, I met a friend for lunch at Boulette's Larder, a restaurant that is often the source of culinary inspiration for me. A fellow luncher sitting at the group table ordered one of the specials that day which was a lightly breaded and fried pork chop sitting on four small heaps of lentils topped with a structure of greens. It was very 3-dimensional and spectacular to look at.

When I got home, I flipped through the mushroom chapter to see my options. After a survey of the recipes and a tally of my ingredients, I decided to make something rather elaborate and inspired by that lentil-pork dish, but vegetarian in nature. In lieu of pork chop, I decided to use the porcini. Enter today's recipe.

I sliced the mushrooms into thick slices cross-wise, coated them in flour, then dipped them in a beaten egg. I preheated some vegetable oil, and tested it with a little drop of water to make sure it was hot enough (it sizzled), then began deep frying the mushrooms until they reached a satisfyingly golden glow.

I drained them on paper towels and salted them lightly. This is where our recipe form SS ends. Not too exciting, but a solid Italian classic recipe.











Before frying the mushrooms, I'd prepared the following:

1. French Lentils: In a small pot, I sautéed a chopped shallot in a tablespoon of olive oil. Once it was golden, I added a cup of green French lentils and stirred until they were all coated with the oil. I added one cup of vegetable broth and simmered on medium-low until the lentils were cooked. I don't like them to be too al dente, so I tend to test the lentils until they just lose that toughness but before they get mushy.

2. Green beans: I steamed a small batch of green beans until they were bright green but then ran cold water on them to flash them and prevent them from getting overcooked, drab and soggy.
   
3. Sliced one huge heirloom tomato into 1/2" to 3/4" slices - nice and big and beefy.
4. Sliced the other type of mushroom I bought - butter boletes - into 1/4" slices, lay them out on a cookie sheet with a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of thyme, salt and pepper and oven roasted them. (You didn't really think I could leave the mushroom shop with only one type of mushroom, did you?)
5. Opened a jar of homemade hazelnut-basil pesto I'd made the previous week (it had olive oil, toasted hazelnuts, a ton of basil I'd gotten from my CSA, some Parmesan cheese and a couple of cloves of garlic).

The fried porcini were the last things to be cooked and I made sure that everything else was ready by the time I finished frying them. Then began the architectural assembly.



On each of our two dinner plates, I first built four little lentil pyramids as elegantly as possible (a feat in itself. Why don't we just pretend they were elegant.)

Then I placed one large tomato slice centered atop the pyramids.





I spooned a tablespoon or so of pesto onto the tomatoes and spread it to cover it as much as possible.





Then I split the mushrooms into two batches and set them atop the tomatoes like sun rays, emanating from the center of each tomatoes.




In the spaces on the plate between the mushroom rays, I sprinkled little batches of the roasted mushrooms.

Finally, I mounted a tower of green beans on top of each of the structures, sprinkled some freshly ground pepper and Voilà!

Vegetarian porcini summer veggie & lentil extravaganza!


Maybe I need to come up with a better name.

Point being, some of the recipes in Silver Spoon are admittedly on the basic side. However, the more basic recipes can definitely be combined with other ideas or even other recipes for more elaborate concoctions. It's sort of like using the béchamel recipe which is then incorporated in the lasagna recipe...


Tasty Factor: A+ (let's think about this one: Deep fried mushrooms... What's not to love?) Ease of Preparation: A Modifications: No. Really, not much there to modify.

Risotto Alle Fragole - Strawberry Risotto

I should have written this ages ago, but if you recall, back when I ended up with a surplus of cherries, thanks to the Mariquita Farms mystery box delivery, I also ended up with a boat-load of strawberries. Since I was already looking up a variety of desserts to use up said fruit before it turned moldy (a battle I've often struggled with), I thought that turning to other solutions other than sweets much just help.

I've often been intrigued by the fruit risottos in SS: Blueberry risotto, apple risotto, strawberry... Initially, when I first got this book, it wasn't really all that tempting to me. I would have much rather tried the more recognizable risottos (like Milanese) but in the years since then, I've had the opportunity to taste a white wine pear risotto that was simply fantastic! The flavour was subtle but very satisfying and now, a strawberry risotto didn't seem so much of a stretch anymore but rather a great way to use up my strawberry surplus without yet another dessert.

The recipe is pretty straight forward: just another risotto. Heat up your vegetable stock, chop an onion (I used a red onion this time), sauté it in some butter, add the rice, stir to coat and cook. Pour in some white wine (I used a cup and a half of Sauvignon Blanc here), cook till it evaporates then start the stock adding show.

There are conflicting tales of how to make risotto: Some claim you have to stir constantly and never let it stick, others claim you don't need to stir it much at all , scrape the bottom, don't scrape the bottom... I myself am a fan of the don't stir much plan that Mario shows Mark in the NY Times video.

About 20 minutes in, after a couple of ladles full, I added a bit over 2 cups worth of strawberries that I've mashed up. When the rice is almost done (tender but still al dente), I turned off the heat, added a cup of half and half (instead of light cream) and seasoned it with salt and pepper. The remaining strawberries made for a gorgeous garnish - I enjoyed playing around with different toppings.

The flavour was very different from the risottos I normally make, and like the pear risotto I'd had before, it was very subtle. It tasted a bit like savoury Strawberries and Cream. I think at the first bite, the resemblance to an ice cream flavour was a bit off-putting (who put onions in my strawberry ice cream!?) but it quickly grew on me and by the 3 or 4th bite, I was sold. It was delicious and worked out quite well with the garlic kale and miso-glazed tofu I served with it.

However, I don't know if I'd be able to sell the more conservative palates in my acquaintance-base. Definitely save this as a surprising treat for your more open-minded eaters and serve it with something that would act as a savoury complement and contrast - perhaps something with earthier notes.

Tasty Factor: A- Ease of Preparation: A- (I suppose this depends on how easy you think a risotto is) Modifications: Yes. But only minimal ones: cut down a bit on the high-caloric factor with half and half instead of light cream.

Clafoutis alle Ciliege - Cherry Clafoutis

We've been getting tons and tons of cherries lately, over a quart from our C.S.A. and then a half pallet that our friend Robert got from the Mariquita farms soup-nazi-esque mystery pickup.

I'd been dying for a clafoutis lately, not exactly what planted that distant memory in my head... But conveniently, when I scanned the SS for cherry-related recipes, sure enough they had a clafoutis recipe. (Again, this is where SS shows itself as being more a cookbook written by Italians for Italians and not necessarily a book of Italian cuisine - a clafoutis is a French dessert).

This is one of those recipes that's fantastic if you've just returned from a pick-your-own orchard with a bushel of cherries and are far too exhausted from your long day in the sun to hop out to shop for other ingredients. You probably have everything this recipe calls for in your kitchen already (or close enough).

First, I did the most difficult part of the recipe: halving and pitting 2 cups worth of cherries. Since I'm recovering from Strep and Mono, this was just about my speed today.

Once that was done, I started by sifting a cup of flour into a mixing bowl. The recipe called for a scant cup of flour but I didn't just want to use regular white flour, so I decided to experiment with a variety. I used a quarter cup of whole wheat flour, half a cup of white flour and a quarter cup of coconut flour (which is very high in fiber). To that I added a cup of milk and two lightly beaten eggs. That's it. I mixed the ingredients till the batter was smooth, then poured it into a greased cake pan and sprinkled the cherries over it.

I baked the clafoutis in a 400º pre-heated oven for 40 minutes, then instead of
sprinkling it with vanilla sugar (which I did not have), I used a touch of brown sugar then drizzled a bit of Amaretto.

It was absolutely delicious - so quick and easy (minus the pitting). A wonderful dessert.


Tasty Factor: A+ Ease of Preparation: A- (well, maybe all the pitting warranted a lower grade, but I do feel that the recipe came together so easily that it couldn't really score lower) Modifications: Yes. Used 2 parts white flour to one part coconut flour and one part whole wheat flour in an attempt to make it a bit healthier. And used brown sugar and Amaretto instead of vanilla sugar.

Puré di Cicoria - Chicory Purée

I do love my leafy greens (and leafy yellows and reds) and chicory happen to hang out near the top of that long list. Radicchio, curly chicory, frisée and endive are all types of chicory. So it's a bit surprising, actually, that it's taken me so long to explore the Chicory Family chapter of SS.*

There are only three recipes in this chapter so I decided to start with the one that struck me as most unexpected: Chicory Purée. I mean really, purée? The only time I really purée leafy veggies is for my spinach pesto. But this recipe did sound delicious: cream, nutmeg and Swiss cheese? Perfect comfort food (à la creamed spinach. Yum.)

The recipe called for white chicory, which I didn't have, so though red chicory (aka radicchio) would do. I boiled it in salted water for 15 minutes (very much in line with the SSVTR rules - in this case seemed not to matter since gratins are often on the more-cooked side of things). I preheated the oven to 350º and greased an ovenproof dish.

I drained the chicory well and then squeezed it well to drain as much liquid as possible, then puréed it using my lovely immersion blender. At this point, I noticed that it wasn't really getting a very smooth texture. I kept going until I decided to move along and maybe that was just something that wasn't going to happen?

I mixed in some heavy cream, a pinch of sugar and processed some more. It got a bit smoother but still didn't quite achieve what I would call a purée-texture. I finished it with a bit of nutmeg, salt and pepper, spooned it into the baking dish and sprinkled with grated Swiss. just a touch of butter and put into the oven. I baked it until the cheese was bubbly and golden.

The flavour was really yummy and the dish was quite satisfying in a comfort-food sort of way, but ultimately I wasn't too psyched about the texture. I almost wonder if I shouldn't have just cooked it more like a creamed spinach and not bother with the purée. Still, we did enjoy the dish very much - I served it with Pearl Onions with Sage and Savory Artichoke and Potato Pie (both coming soon) - a delicious dinner!

Tasty Factor: A- Ease of Preparation: A- Modifications: Yes. Used red chicory (radicchio) instead of white. Cut down a touch on butter.

*It's interesting that there is also a Chicory chapter with three more recipes. This is probably due to the Italian naming system: Chicory Family is Cicoria whereas Chicory is Indivia.

Barbabietole alle Acciughe - Beet with Anchovies

I've been working on this lovely series of films for the past 9 months or so now, about five Italian grandmothers' food stories. I would leave every editing session with this huge appetite and a desire to rush home and make whatever it was that I'd seen that day on the video. One of the most common cravings was Bagna Cauda - a Piedmontese anchovy, garlic and olive oil type of fondue.

I've since gone home and made this dish several times, to great success! Big E and I both loved it and it's one that I'd make again and again. This has made me reconsider the various veggie and anchovy recipes in SS that I'd been carefully ignoring since this failed fiasco. So when I had some beets in our latest C.S.A. box, I scanned through SS and decided on this recipe.

The recipe wasn't too difficult and it was a great one to time with other recipes, because once I tossed the ingredients together, it still had to sit for about 15 minutes for the flavours to set. I first had to boil the beets then peel and dice them. This could be done in advance. In a small bowl, I tossed the diced beets with chopped parsley and a minced small garlic clove. Then in a frying pan, I heated a couple of tablespoons of olive oil with a splash of red wine vinegar. To that, I added 3 anchovy fillets to the oil and sautéed them, while mashing them with a wooden spoon till they were almost completely disintegrated and mixed into the oil.

I drizzled the anchovy oil over the beets, tossed them to coat and then let them stand for 15 minutes before serving them. They were milder than I'd expected and with my new found love of Bagna Cauda, I might even make more sauce in the future. The salty and savory anchovy sauce was a great contrast to the naturally sweet and earthy flavoured beets. Yum! We ate the entire bowl in one sitting.

I served the beets with Asparagus with Parmesan (from SS, coming soon), simple sautéed greens and braised Marin Sun Farms flank steak with soy sauce and garlic olive oil.

On a side note, the first of the five films we've completed for Rabbits and Wrinkles has been selected to show that the NYC Food Film Festival on June 17th at 8:20pm - it's called In Pignata and is about Carluccia, a lovely Calabrian farmer. If you're in the area, come see it - It's only 24 minutes and it's free!

Tasty Factor: A- Ease of Preparation: A- Modifications: No.

Pollo Alla Birra - Chicken in Lager

We'd been joking around for some time about Beer Can Chicken, so when I saw this recipe, I decided I had to try it. Same beer and chicken goodness, minus the potential for oozing chemicals into the chicken while it cooks for an hour.

This recipe calls for a bit more than just a chicken and a can of beer, thus moving even further away from the realm of the authentic dish. Then again, this isn't the place to read about authentic American recipes.

The ingredient list is somewhat short, but does involve a fair bit of chopping: one carrot, one onion, one leek and a celery stalk - all finely chopped. That was the hardest part of the recipe.

The next trickiest part was the choice of beer. The recipe called for 4 cups of lager. I'm not much of a lager drinker myself (much more into the more flavourful, Belgian-style beers and other caramelly wonderful brews) so I sent Big E to the corner store with the simple instruction of buying me 4 cups worth of lager.

This is what he got: Red Stripe lager - and then he pointed out that the reason the recipe called for a lager is because Italy isn't really known for its beer*. If you order a beer in an Italian bar, you'd most likely get a lager. He also pointed out that the recipe might be tastier with another type of beer. As the recipe title in English specifies that this is Chicken in Lager, the Italian title merely states that it is Chicken in Beer. Sure, a lager would be more authentic - but wouldn't the Italian cooks using this book prefer a more flavourful beer to cook with if given the option.

This is of course all speculation, and I decided to go ahead with the recipe as translated. I seasoned the chicken with salt and pepper and placed it in a big pan. I added the chopped veggies and poured in the beer till the bird was almost completely covered. Then I brought it to a boil, lowered the heat and simmered it for about an hour. After that time, I'm supposed to look for a golden brown bird and almost no more beer. I'm not sure the colour of the bird was really anywhere near golden brown, but the beer had reduced and the chicken was almost falling off the bone.

That's the good news: this recipe certainly does provide a very tender chicken. Unfortunately though, it wasn't all that great. I mean, it was fine but the beer didn't really add much. It was almost as though I just boiled it in a weak veggie broth (I think a normal veggie broth might have yielded better results). Ultimately, I'd imagine that the choice of beer would make a substantial difference in the flavour. Perhaps I'll make some Chimay chicken next time or some other flavour.

Tasty Factor: C Ease of Preparation: B+ (small amount of chopping) Modifications: No. Though I probably should have used a different beer.

*I do want to point out that apparently Italy now has a growing microbrewery industry, of very high quality.

Arrosto di Tacchino all'Arancia - Turkey à l'Orange

What with my mysterious turkey craving not gone yet, I found myself poring over the SS turkey recipes, trying yet again to find the one that would satisfy my desire. My desire for turkey, that is. I am fully aware that it would be ridiculous to expect a recipe to fulfill all my desires (glances around nervously).

This recipe seemed to do the trick, especially since we'd just received a bunch of gorgeous oranges and beets in our latest box.

What a tasty and colourful recipe! And it wasn't too complicated, either. There were a few questions that I had, but nothing that seemed to pose a problem to the final outcome. For one thing, the recipe called for a 1 3/4-pound turkey breast. So I headed out to my lovely butcher and asked for just that. And that's what I got - a lovely turkey breast, complete with skin and bones.

Once I got home and read the instructions (I know, I know, I should really do that before I go shopping.), SS told me to tie the turkey breast neatly with kitchen string. Well now. I imagine if my turkey breast were deboned, that would be a lot easier to do, now, wouldn't it? I decided to skip that step.

Next, I heated equal parts butter and olive oil in my large gorgeous Le Creuset pot. A little sidebar here, I love this pot. It may be my most frequently used large pot - I use it for all kinds of braising, in the oven, on the stove top. It makes me happy. Anyway, it's the perfect size for a turkey breast.

When the oily mixture was ready, I tossed in a chapped onion, a chopped celery stalk, and a chopped carrot. In retrospect, the recipe didn't actually call for any beets, but it seemed like a good idea at the time, so I chopped them up as well. I also decided to add some of the gorgeous thyme we'd gotten in the box because A/it smelled divine and B/the recipe seemed to lack any good savory flavours to balance the sweetness of the orange and now beets, and well, thyme goes so well with orange! So I cooked them all over low heat for about 10 minutes. Then, I raised the temperature to medium, added the turkey breast and browned it all over.

While it browned, I peeled two oranges and blanched a few pieces of rind in boiling water. I juiced one of the oranges and sliced the other (SS said to separate it into segments, but I thought the slices looked much prettier.)


When the turkey was golden brown all over, I poured in the orange juice and a half cup of white wine. I added the blanched rind and seasoned the turkey with salt and pepper. I lowered the heat and simmered the bird for about an hour, then removed it and placed it in a serving dish. I added two tablespoons of hot water to the juices and scraped up the tasty sediment, then thickened the sauce with a pinch of flour. I finished it with about a quarter cup of heavy cream and some black pepper.

I spooned the sauce over the turkey and decorated it with the orange slices. It looked and smelled fantastic and I couldn't wait to taste it!

Well, it was not a disappointment. The turkey was nice and juicy as well as incredibly flavourful. The beets and orange sauce combined beautifully with the thyme. Even better, the leftovers were delicious the next day! I will definitely be making this again soon, maybe with different root vegetables this time. Yum!


Tasty Factor: A+ Ease of Preparation: B- (fair amount of chopping and multiple steps of cooking) Modifications: Yes. Added beets & thyme. Used a whole turkey breast instead of a skinned boned one. I wonder if that helped with the juiciness?