Pickling Chanterelles

I have the utmost fortune of knowing an outdoorsman who also happens to be an excellent mushroom hunter. He hooked me up with a big bag of these beautiful chanterelles, freshly picked from somewhere in the Big Sur. They smelled soooo good! To me they smell like roses, but I've heard people compare their fragrant aroma to peaches or apricots. I spent close to three hours washing and trimming all these mushrooms and I couldn't get their scent off my fingers. When fully cooked they loose much of the aroma but they have a nice firm texture and a lightly peppery finish to them.

I was tempted to melt a big hunk of butter and saute them, but begin close to the end of their season I wanted to preserve them for the summer time when they'd be no more. I've seen a few mushroom pickling recipes in a magazine here and there, but none of them really specified how long the mushrooms would stay good for. I found a pickled mushrooms recipe on the Food Network website by Michael Symon who claims his mushrooms will hold for up to one year, so I've adapted his technique and mashed it with a preserved mushroom recipe found in the August 2010 issue of La Cucina Italiana to come up with my own pickled mushroom recipe.

I love the Italian recipe because the mushrooms are preserved in white wine vinegar and dry white wine. I was concerned that I'd loose all the aroma of these beautiful mushrooms, but I think I've figured out a way to shove all the fragrance back into them. I had recently picked up a bottle of Stanza gewurztraminer 2008 and Gallo's Extra Dry Vermouth. I think the two of them will work well with the pickled chanterelles. The gewurztraminer has a nice aroma of roses and ripe mango and tasted like peaches, lychee, honeysuckle and a bit of spice. The vermouth has a nice creamy vanilla aroma, light body and suprising smooth for only $2.99.

I won't know for at least a week if my recipe was a success or a flop, but I am glad that the chanterelles retained their beautiful golden color. I can't wait to cook up a nice piece of meat to serve the mushrooms with. Or a big bowl of pasta with cracked pepper and pickled chanterelles... mmmmm.

Recipe: Yields 2 pints

1/4 cup salt
4 cups water
2 pounds mushrooms ( A bit over 2 cups cut into pieces)
2 cups white wine vinegar (7 percent acidity)
2 cups dry white wine
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Garlic cloves, peeled and lightly crushed (1 or 2 per pint jar)
Bay leave (1 per pint jar)
Peppercorn (A few whole peppercorn per pint jar)
Cloves (2 per pint jar)
Optional herbs (Thyme, tarragon, or mint)

1. Prepare the mushrooms by cleaning off the dirt, trimming off any moldy spots, and scrapping off the bottom stems. Cut or tear them by hand into large pieces.

2. Mix the salt and water, and pour the brine over the mushrooms. Let the mushrooms sit in the refrigerator, covered for 24 hours.

3. Remove the mushrooms from the brine, rinse, and then lay them out on paper towels to dry. (I had to change the paper towel a few times over a period of an hour while I sterilized all my equipment and jars.)

4. Dry saute them to heat them up (and drying them up a bit more), then drop them into a bath of boiling white wine vinegar. After 1-2 minutes pack about 1 cup into dry, sterile pint jars.

5. Place the garlic clove, bay leave, peppercorn and optional aromatic herb on top of the mushrooms.

6. In a saucepan, add the wine and oil to the vinegar; bring to a boil and pour the boiling mixture over the mushrooms. Leave 1/2 inch room from the top. (The mushrooms will absorb the mixture as it cools.)

(The chaos that was my stove top/ kitchen.)

7. Screw on the lid. Invert the jars on a kitchen towel and allow them to cool to room temperature. When they are cool, tighten the lids and refrigerate.

(You can see where the mushrooms caramelized during the dry saute process)

*Warning: Your house will smell like feet from all the vinegar. Be sure to keep all doors closed to prevent flies from wandering in. The last pickling fest I had at the end of summer, I left my front door open to let some cool air in and ended up being plagued by a hundred flies in my apt.

Swiss Chard Pie

I love swiss chard. The plant does amazingly in almost any garden, grows for almost two years and is extremely productive. I recommend having at least one plant per member of your household in your home garden. Today I went to the Neighborhood Community Garden and swapped some of my arugula for some swiss chard with a fellow gardener.

It was a nice change from all the black kale, arugula, and mustard greens I've been eating. My friends and I grew it two seasons ago and we were eating swiss chard five times a week! (We got so sick of it we decided not to grow it again... a decision I've regretted.) It was also a nice addition to my pb&j and ramen diet.

I wanted to make a quick meal out of it so I went into my pantry and fridge and pulled out two frozen pie crusts, my block of cheddar, and a can of vegetable soup. I sliced the swiss chard into 1/2 inch thick slices, mixed it with the can of soup, and threw in some shredded cheese. Defrosted the pie crust. Assembled and baked it. Took about 15 minutes to prep it, 35minutes to bake it and I had a delicious swiss chard pie. :) Rachel Ray would have been so proud of me.

Recipe: (Serves 4-6)

5 cups of chopped Swiss chard (about 6-8 leaves with stalks)
1 can of chunky vegetable soup (16 ounce can)
1 cup of shredded cheese.
2 roll out pie crust.

1. Toss the first three ingredients in a bowl while your pie crust defrosts.

2. Butter a pie dish and roll out the bottom crust.

3. Fill the dish with your stuffing.

4. Roll out the top crust. Make sure you poke a few holes in the top to allow steam to escape.

5. Brush the crust with oil or a cream and egg mixture.

6. Bake for 35-45 minutes at 375F

7. Allow it to rest for 5-10 minutes.

8. Cut and eat.

The pie assembled without the top. It's so green it looks too healthy.

Gone Bananas

Bananas add a brightness to the winter vegetable and fruit selection. In this month's edition of Fine Cooking magazine there was an article on bananas. They did a great job presenting how to use bananas at different stages of ripeness and offered several different types of recipes using bananas. This really had me going.

Fabulous T gave me some perfectly ripen plantains, and I couldn't wait to get home and make something yummy out of it. Something sweet but savory; bright but warming. Inspired by the article in Fine Cooking, I decided I wanted to make a plantain curry.

I started my base by reducing 2 cups of chicken stock and 1.5 cups of thick coconut milk by half. Once the base was reduced I added a few cloves of garlic, a 6in stick of lemon grass, and a healthy tablespoon of minced ginger. I allowed the flavors to mellow out before adding 2lbs of cooked chicken. Then I began adding my curry spices. I had to restrain myself from dumping in all my usual curry spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin, cardamon, fenugrek, coriander, tumeric, etc.)

I wanted to keep the bright asian flavors of the lemon grass and the ginger. I added a teaspoon of tumeric to bring out a rich yellow color, and restricted myself to only adding a bit of cardamon and ground coriander seed to the curry. The soup was super rich and savory from the chicken stock, so I brought it up a little bit with a pinch of cinnamon.

I added sliced plantains and waited. The flavors started melting together; the plantain helped harmonize all the different flavors in the pot. But something was missing. So much of the brightness lent from the lemon grass and ginger kept getting cooked away. I added a touch of minced orange habanero and it did the trick. It gave the curry a slight kick and brightness I was looking for.

I garnished the dish with chopped cilantro and crushed cashews and served it over brown rice. Healthy and delicious! The plantains had a nice firm texture to them, almost meaty, and not overly sweet.

Recipe: Makes 4-5 servings. Modified.

1 (14oz) can of thick coconut milk
1 (14oz) can of chicken broth (or at least a cup of water)
6 inch stick of lemon grass crushed
3 large cloves of garlic sliced
2-3 tspn minced garlic
2lb of cooked chicken
2 tspn ground tumeric
1 tspn ground coriander seed
1/2 tspn ground cardamon
1/2 tspn cinnamon (or cloves or allspice will work well)
2 ripe plantains (cut into 1 inch thick chunks)
1 habanero minced

1/4 cup cashews or peanuts chopped (for garnish)
1/4 cup cilantro chopped (for garnish)

1. In a heavy skillet add your liquids and bring to a boil. If using chicken stock allow the mixture to reduce by a quarter. (I let it reduce by half and ended up having to add water at the end. If using raw chicken I'd recommend adding the chicken at this point and allowing the liquid to simmer letting it simmer a little hot rather than at a rolling boil.)

2. Once the liquid is reduced add the spices and give it a good swirl. The liquid should turn yellow. If you'd like it yellower, add a bit more tumeric. Add the garlic, lemon grass and ginger allowing the flavors to to come together. Give it a few minutes and add your cooked chicken and plantains.

3. When the mixture is all heated and the chicken starts to fall apart slightly. Add the minced habanero. Give it a quick stir, and allow the curry to rest and thicken. Adjust the thickness by adding a little bit of water at a time.

4. Serve over rice and garnish with cilantro and cashews.

Sweet Potato Pielettes

My boss Fabulous T is giving her presentation today. Over the last few days we've been spending long hours at the office data mining. Since instead of helping her I ditched her for Robert Burns Night at Shakespeare Pub I decided to wake up early and bake something for our lab meeting.

I had no toppings for cookies, but I had some premade pie crusts in the fridge and few sweet potatoes leftover from Thanksgiving. (Thank you Costco.) Mmm I hadn't made sweet potato pie in forever. I havn't been able to find a good recipe that I like so I Frankensteined a recipe from various online sources.

Instead of making one big pie, I decided to fill a cupcake pan with the crust and bake them that way.

Sweet Potato Cups

4 cup Mashed Sweet Potatoes
1/2 stick Butter
1 cup Dark Brown Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
1/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Salt
2 large Eggs (from my chickens)

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Mix the mashed sweet potatoes in with the butter, brown sugar, vanilla, and spices*. Add in the egg last. Mix until smooth and creamy.
3. Roll out the pie crust. Cut 3in diameter circles and lay inside well buttered cupcake pan. Fill all 12 and add a big scoop of pie filling in it.
4. Bake in middle rack for 20-30 minutes.


*(I steamed my sweet potatoes and mashed them in a mixer with the butter then added everything else to it. I added in the egg last to make sure it wouldn't cook in the mixture. By then the sweet potatoes had cooled to a comfortable temperature.)

Quick Berry Pie

Its really hard to live a "sustainable" lifestyle and eat completely seasonally. One of the things that's hard to go without are berries. During the summer time I try to eat my fill of fresh berries, but the during the wintertime I indulge myself in frozen berries. To clear my conscious I will try to only buys berries grown in the States, and from farms close by.

One of my favorite things to make with frozen berries (usually not fresh) is make a mixed berry pie. With premade pie shells in the fridge, I can whip up a batch before I leave the house. This one's for my friend Sarah. She's a Texas girl and makes the best pies I've ever had, and I've decided to make a pie for her (in her pie pan.) Here's a quick easy recipe. I decided to vary up the recipe for the winter by making a crumble top crust.

Recipe:

Filling:
4 1/2 cup mixed frozen berries
1/2 cup white sugar
3 tbs corn starch
1 tbs lemon juice

Crumble topping:
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup flour

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F
2. Mix all the ingredients for the filling. Tossing the berries and letting the powders coat them evenly. Allow the mixture to thaw out ~15 to 30 minutes before filling. (When I'm in a rush I'll throw it in the microwave to defrost for a few minutes.) Set aside while prepping the topping.
3. Melt the butter. Mix in the sugar and cinnamon. Toss in the oats and mix in the flour without over churning the mixture. Set aside while the filling is defrosting.
4. Prepare a pie dish by rubbing butter into it, lay out your pie pastry (maybe one day I'll make my own, but I don't like to have to deal with flour.)
5. Fill the pastry with your filling. Evenly. As the berries cook the juices will fill in. I try to leave my berries as whole as possible. Dot the top with the crumble filling. Cover lightly with foil.
6. Bake at 375 for 50 minutes, remove foil and bake for additional 15 to 20 minutes.
7. Allow the pie to cool completely before cutting.

Improv Dinner

So my parents decided to come down for a visit last night, which meant when I got off work at 9pm I had one hour to make dinner. Fortunately, I like the challenge. I made rice, beef lettuce wraps w/ bean paste, cucumber salad, bean sprout soup and roasted potatoes korean style.

Beef Lettuce Wraps
Lettuce wraps are a Korean traditional way of consuming greens and meat and very simple to make.

Cook your beef and wrap it in lettuce. You can find thinly sliced meat in Asian Markets or cook a nice thick steak and slice it very thinly once its cooked.

I did a sesame oil (1 tblspn) and salt (2 tspn) dip and a dark bean paste (or miso) dip which is one part bean paste mixed with one part fermented red chili paste with sesame seeds.

Cucumber Salad
1 large Cucumber (select one with a very small nipple... it contains less seeds)
2 medium grapefruit peeled and sliced w/ juices
2 tbsp Rice Vinegar
1 small red onion, sliced thinly
2 tspn ginger
Pinch of Salt

Toss all together and let it marinade for at least one hour.

Roasted Korean Potatoes

1.2 lb Small Yellow Potatoes (smaller the better between size of quarter and a silver dollar)
1 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp corn syrup (or honey)
Water

Heat soy sauce in a heavy skillet until it starts to boil. Add the washed potatoes to the skillet and cover. Turn the potatoes to allow it to cook evenly for about 15 minutes. Watch the soy sauce, it will reduce. If it reduces too much before the potato is cooked, add a table spoon of water each time to prevent the soy sauce from becoming too thick and burn. Add the corn syrup with another tbsp of water, stir and watch the syrup coat the potatoes. Remove from heat and serve.

Bean Sprout Soup

2 cups of water
2 cups of bean sprout
8 medium sized dried anchovies
1 tbsp Salt (or to taste)
1 tbsp crushed dry red pepper flakes (or 2 tsp cayanne pepper)
2 garlic cloves crushed

Boil water w/ anchovies, red pepper flakes and garlic. When the water is boiling, add the bean sprouts and boil for 5-10 minutes then add salt to taste.