Your favorite mushroom dishes

[pixelchef]

Risotto con Porcini Secchi.

[DRColby]

To me, as a forager, wild mushooms mean seasonal eating. Combined with my garden nothing beats that.

That said , as we shiver in our hovels, thinking thoughts of parting snow, verpas under the cottonwoods, and morchellas popping up all over the burn areas, I lust for this: Grilled sweatbreads with green beans and morels cooked til just safe in some butter, shalots and white wine, served on a bed of greens with a vinegarette. Some crusty bread, a nice light red; bing: Spring is here.

Fortunately the above can be made with my hoard of dried morels. Ain't quite the same but will have to do 'til at least April Fool's Day.

Dave

Edited February 2, 2003 by DRColby (log)

[Suzanne F]

Does anyone else agree that mushrooms are one of the vegetable equivalents of bacon -- that is, adding them makes a good dish better? (Provided, of course, that you like mushrooms in the first place )

[Sandra Levine]

The stuffed mushrooms below (Grandma Fran's Famous) may be unsophisticated, but are almost as popular as the equally unsophisticated pigs in blankets. Make a stuffing like ruthcooks' above for yellow squash, omitting the cheese and substituting Ritz crackers for bread crumbs. Stuff into large buttom or cremini caps that have been rubbed with a little oilive oil. Drizzle a couple drops of oil on top and roast until the caps have cooked through.

Edited February 2, 2003 by Sandra Levine (log)

[ranitidine]

Sandy doesn't emphasize the popularity of these mushrooms enough. Grandma Fran would always serve them as an hors d'ouvre at Thanksgiving. They would go so fast and in such quantity that it was hard to leave room for dinner. Sandy has stopped making them because the crushed Ritz crackers made them too salty for her. But, don't they make a lower salt Ritz cracker these days?

[bigbear]

Does anyone else agree that mushrooms are one of the vegetable equivalents of bacon -- that is, adding them makes a good dish better?

Maybe the natural monosodium glutamate helps?

[Jason Perlow]

The very simple Spanish mushrooms Al Ajillo is my favorite mushroom dish.

Mushrooms sauteed with lots of garlic, olive oil and a dash of spanish paprika, with a shot of spanish brandy to deglaze.

[seawakim]

Chicken Oporto, a wonderful chicken served with a white port cream based sauce (infused with fresh nutmeg) and loaded with any type of mushroom preferred.

Edited February 9, 2003 by seawakim (log)

[Saffy]

Wild Mushroom and Sherry soup... with a crusty loaf of fresh bread

nothing better :)

[helenas]

Made some hon shimeji yesterday. The idea came from Schneider's Vegetables book: mushrooms are torn in strips lengthwise.

I seared them well with cinnamon stick in olive oil, added a splash of apple brandy and ignited it, then finished with some creme fraiche. Sprinkled with chevril before serving. Very satysfying, even too much so (i had Wolfert's smoked greens jam on the side): it should be served as part of some dish. Although it's said that shimeji mushrooms go well with seafood, i think something less intense in flavor and texture will work better, like young slim carrots...

[NulloModo]

Plain old button mushrooms placed in an aluminum baking tin with a couple sticks of butter, some chopped up thick cut bacon, a bottle of bourbon, and just enough salt, pepper, and sage. Place all that on a grill with the lid closed so it will get smokey, and let cook for several hours, or however long the football game you are attending is. When you return after the game, enjoy with a couple cold ones.

[fifi]

Thanks for bumping this up helenas.

I can't wait to try NulloModo's recipe. I could put it on the WSM. The smokiness was made for mushrooms. I have a really rich mushroom soup recipe that I developed using smoked gouda cheese. I serve it in small cups as a starter or, if alone and hiding, I will scarf down a big bowl and go to confession.

It basically has lots of shallots, sweated mushrooms, milk, cream and cheese. I will put it in RecipeGullet.

edit: And here it is: Mushroom Cheese Soup

Edited by snowangel to reflect new link to recipe.

Edited September 26, 2005 by snowangel (log)

[tryska]

without a doubt this old Good Housekeeping mushroom turnover hors d'ouevres recipe.

yum. i'll have to do some digging to actually find the recipe however.

[bloviatrix]

One of my favorite things to do is saute a variety of mushrooms on some olive oil with lots of garlic and deglaze the pan with some balsamic (a soy sauce-toasted sesame oil mixture works well too). Then serve warm on a bed of arugala.

I save all the trimmings (stems primarily) in a bag in the freezer. When I have enough, I make a mushroom broth which I then use as a base for my mushroom-barley soup.

[ingridsf]

Creamy polenta topped with sauteed mushrooms (mix of crimini and porcini works great but even all crimini works) and a mix of fontina and gorgonzola. Run that baby under the broiler and dig in. Watch out for the roof of your mouth. It's good but even better when cool enough to taste.

[hotle]

i guess my favorite today would be simply sauteed chanterelles with a bit of sliced shallot and half a garlic clove, deglazed with madeira and basalmic. i could (and have) eat this for dinner, not just as a side dish.

except, of course, the mushrooms i used to eat as a kid growing up in s. iowa. we didn't have all that much money, and had to stretch things. i remember going out with my dad to my aunt's acreage a couple days after a rainfall in the spring. we'd pick two FULL brown grocery sacks full of morels (mushrooms, to us, so i guess it IS a midwest thing). my mom would dip them in egg and milk, coat them in cracker crumbs (saltines), and fry them. we'd have one bag the first night, the second the following. squeeze a little lemon over them, have a salad from the garden.......wow.

[Artichoke]

I love the simple but delicious stuffed mushroom recipe from Vincent Schiavelli's great cookbook "Papa Andrea's Sicilian Table: Recipes and Remembrances of My Grandfather."

Preheat oven to 375°. Remove and coarsely chop stems from 18 large white mushrooms (about 2 lbs.), reserving caps. Heat 3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil in a large, deep, skillet over medium-high heat. Add chopped mushrooms, season with salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushroom mixture is dry, about 5 minutes. Slowly add 1/4 cup marsala. Cook until marsala has evaporated, about 2 minutes, then remove from heat, and stir in 1 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs. Set aside to cool, then add 1 cup grated pecorino romano, 2 tbsp. finely chopped fresh parsley, and 1 minced peeled garlic clove. Mix thoroughly. Place mushroom caps in a single layer on a greased cookie sheet. Spoon filling mixture into caps, drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, season with freshly ground black pepper, and bake until golden, 30–45 minutes. Serve warm. Serves 6–8.

[KarenS]

Grilled fresh porcini steaks with soft polenta.

[foodie52]

Even though portobellos are getting a bad rap , I still like them. Take off the stems and keep them for stock. Make a mixture of goat cheese, fresh herbs and minced garlic, some olive oil and fresh bread crumbs if you have them. If you're grilling, rub the gill sides of the mushrooms with oil and sear. Then put on the topping and grill some more.

Or bake them.

Do the same with the large buttons.

[andiesenji]

My favorite is a mushroom "burger" made with a whole grilled portobello top layered between carmelized onions on an onion/cheese Kaiser-type roll.

[fifi]

I wasn't a big fan of portobellos either. Then my nephew marinated some for a while in something that had some worchestershire in it. He put them in the smoker while roasting some pig he shot. I am now an ardent fan and would seriously consider reserving one of the racks in my WSM for those alone. (Memo to self: find out what he marinated them in.) I cut some in strips and rolled in a tortilla with the usual suspects... crema, avocado and some lime marinated red onion. OMG!

[Toasted]

The best mushroom dish I ever had was at the Todd English restaurant at the Mohegan Sun. It was a mushroom ragu sp?? on chiabata bread -sorry, spelling issues today! Anyway, it's a mixture of mushrooms in a marsala cream sauce with a little bit of fresh thyme, salt and pepper. I've made it at home and it's delicious. Saute the mushrooms in lots of butter, add the dry marsala, reduce, add the cream, reduce again and then season to taste. Serve over the slightly toasted bread. Yum!

[ludja]

I love creamless wild mushroom soups. Awhile back I modified a great recipe in Rosso and Lukins, The New Basic Cookbook and it has become a standard to start Thanksgving dinner.

Porcini risotto

I've also had a very delicious preparation of porcinis that is popular in Austria in the fall. There they are called "Steinpilz" or in dialect, "Butzling" (sp?). Basically you prepare them as in fritto misto and serve with a tartar sauce. It is an incredibly luxurious taste when you bite into the meaty mushroom with the crispy exterior; there is a slight gush of mushroom juices and a terriffic flavor of roasted porcini.

(Can make this with regular mushrooms too but nothing beats the Steinpilz.

Another heavenly mushroom dish common in parts of Austria is eggs scrambled with chanterelles ("Eierschwammerl" or 'egg mushrooms) sauteed in butter . One of my grandaunts that lives in the country would always pick some fresh Eierschwamm the morning of our visit and prepare this for us.

A favorite memory was going mushroom picking in the forests with another of my grandaunts. Eierschwammerl were easier to find; the official winner was the person who found the largest porcini!

[helenas]

chanterelles and butifarra sausage roasted in oloroso sherry:

[M.X.Hassett]

My vote would be for a morel cream sauce with capellini that used to be served at Chillingsworth on Cape Cod.