When you think of MSG, greasy Chinese take out might come to mind.  As an artificial flavor enhancer, it seems to make everything in its path taste unnaturally good, but unfortunately, is not necessarily good for you. In fact, artificial monosodium glutamate in large quantities has been linked to health issues such as brain damage and endocrine disorders.  Wouldn’t it be nice to have a natural and safe source of MSG?  Look no further.  Mushrooms are not only praised for their rich, meaty flavor, but also have a high content of free amino acids.  One in particular, glutamic acid, is a concentrated natural source of monosodium glutamate.  Go figure.

No wonder mushrooms add such intense flavor to any dish.  For instance, you can start the night off with a Mushroom Pate that will be the new crowning glory of any cracker.  Follow that up with a Mushroom Ravioli using your favorite fungi.  Finally, finish the evening off in style with a scoop of Porcini and Honey Ice Cream.

Greasy Chinese food?  Fuggedaboutit.  Why not give magic mushrooms a try tonight?

Photo by daneen_vol

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Here in the Northwest we are blessed with a variety of wild fungi. It only takes a little bit of rain after the summer heat to suddenly ignite the growth of one of my favorite wild mushrooms; the delicious, velvety chanterelle. Every fall I say to myself, “this year I am going to forage for my own mushrooms!” and then I walk to the farmer’s market and I see overflowing baskets of porcini, lobster and golden chanterelle mushrooms and I instantly cave.

The idyllic vision of seeing myself with tall rain boots, scrunched up hiking pants and a thick rain jacket while tromping in the woods and seeking out chanterelles suddenly fades once I’m at the market. Now all I see are images of me tossing fettucini with chanterelles, cooking roast chicken and chanterelles or dipping my fork in to rich, gooey soft boiled eggs with sauteed chanterelles and toast. Getting hungry? Me too! Since we are celebrating national mushroom day, I suppose it’s only appropriate to inspire you with some earthy, umami recipes. Here is a recipe for a decadent Rib-eye with Chanterelle Mushrooms a frothy, vegan  Mushroom Cappucino soup, Salmon with Chanterelles and Slow Cooked Tomatoes or Lobster Mushroom Penne.

Need More Shroom Recipes!?
Christina Choi’s Porcini with Bay Leaves
Adventures in Shaw’s Mushroom Pizza
Too Many Chefs’ Creamy Polenta with Mushrooms

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Julia Child once said, “The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook.” I reminded myself of that when I cooked her dish of Sautéed Chicken with Mushrooms and Cream. Definitely not a diet dish. But what the heck, it’s Julia Week (Day 6, in fact) and we’re here to celebrate some of her delicious creations! What’s a little cream gonna hurt?

I’ve included a link to the recipe below, but one of the things I love about Julia is how she instructs us to follow our culinary instincts. There’s really no need to measure out each and every ingredient (unless of course you’re baking), but instead follow your senses.  In fact, in her cookbook The Way to Cook her recipe basically goes like this, “While the chicken is cooking, sauté the mushrooms in butter, season with salt and pepper….deglaze the pan with wine….add the cream (never does she say how much)….add the mushrooms….put the chicken back in….baste, simmer and serve.”

I’m sure she would have had a few sips of wine in there too. Love her.

So that is precisely what I did. I sautéed the chicken in a bit of butter and olive oil in one pan, and the mushrooms in another. Then, I removed the chicken from the pan, dumped nearly all the fat, and deglazed the pan with some dry white wine. (I actually just dumped the contents of my wine glass in, then gave myself a refill. It’s what Julia would have done, right?) Back in went the mushrooms along with a good splash of cream – swirl, swirl, swirl – then the chicken was tossed in.

The result: creamy, rich, mushroomy goodness. No need to even open a cookbook. But it’s nice to see Julia’s face on the pages right there next to you.

For the complete recipe:

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The genesis of this soup was a trip to Costco, our first in a long time, resulting in wide eyes and a cart full of mega packages of delicious things to be used up…somehow. Even with three adults on the eating roster, that pound and a half container of lovely Italian brown mushrooms was going to last awhile.

Then suddenly it was a rainy Sunday — soup weather! I came up with this recipe after cobbling together ideas from several cookbooks. I am not a big fan of over thickened floury “cream” soups or those testing the arterial limits with scads of butter and cream. So for shortening I used a combination of non-hydrogenated margarine and grapeseed oil. Where traditional recipes called for thickening with cream or with a true butter based béchamel, I used a microwaved white sauce with a base of skim milk. The huge volume of flavorful mushrooms is what made this all work.

INGREDIENTS
1 lb fresh Italian brown or other mushrooms, washed, stems removed, chopped medium fine
1/2 cup white or yellow onion, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped fine
4 Tbs tbs non-hydrogenated unsalted margarine (or substitute butter)
3 Tbs mild cooking oil such as grapeseed, olive oil not recommended
1 C skim milk
2 tbs white flour
4 cups chicken stock, unsalted or low salt
1 C cooked brown rice
salt and pepper

TECHNIQUE
Heat 3 Tbs of margarine and 3 Tbs of oil in large heavy saucepan or stock pot
Add garlic, onions and mushrooms
Sauté for 15 minutes adjusting heat as needed to keep contents from browning
Sprinkle with 1 Tb flour, stir in, then add 4 cups of stock
Bring to boil, reduce heat, simmer for 20 minutes

Make 1 cup of thin white sauce in microwave as follows:
melt 1 Tb margarine in microwave safe bowl
Stir in 1 Tb flour and mix to a paste
Heat 30-60 seconds in microwave until the mixture looks grainy – do not let this brown!
Add 1 C skim milk and whisk until incorporated
Heat in microwave for 1-2 minutes, stopping to stir occasionally, the sauce should come to a boil as this helps cook and remove the “floury” taste
NOTE: you could skip this step and instead use cream or half and half

Add white sauce to soup pot, stir, and heat through
Stir in the cup of brown rice (optional, but adds nice body) and heat to just below simmer
Taste and add salt and pepper as needed

Serve and get ready to receive compliments!

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I will admit, I get a little overzealous when making mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving. I always seem to think that each person is going to eat the equivalent of their arm’s weight. I practically do. Allow me to digress for just a moment to explain how much I really like this tuber.

When I was about four my parents took my brother and I to a steakhouse. I barely touched my steak, but proceeded to eat everyone’s large baked Russet potato. All four. Every bit. I was in heaven. Truly, I would have traded my favorite doll for them. It may have been my first encounter with a dressed up tater, I don’t know, but ever since that night I apparently have “an exaggerated sense of what a normal potato portion should be.” I’ve heard that more than once. Clearly I believe the body:potato ratio is much greater than most people would believe it to be. Whatever. Needless to say, we have a crock-pot full of mashed potatoes leftover.

Amateurs.

They sure did come in handy though, along with the other leftovers, when we assembled this delicious Lamb Shepherd’s Pie.

We didn’t use a recipe for this dish as it was a hodgepodge of things in the fridge. First, we ground up our leftover lamb with my new favorite toy: our KitchenAid food grinder attachment (I’m grinding up everything!). Then, we sautéed that with a bit of red wine, garlic and onions.

In an soufflé dish we started layering: lamb first, then carrots, peas, some of Tracy’s corn pudding (a coarser this time as she added more polenta), some sautéed Chanterelle mushrooms, and topped it all with a healthy layer of mashed potatoes. We finished it by sprinkling the top with some of our favorite new black lava flake and set it in the oven to warm and brown.

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I truly am a sucker for Brussels sprouts. And chanterelle mushrooms are about the best things since sliced bread, and mushrooms generally are not on my list of top-loved foods. Then, there’s bacon. Ahhh, bacon. I may possibly name my first born Bacon, I love it so much. The smell of it cooking is about the only thing that can rouse me out of a deep morning sleep.

When these three lovelies combine the angels sing. Not only because the result is so good, but because it’s so darn easy. With all the other dishes being prepared, and everyone jostling for cooking space in the kitchen on Thanksgiving day, this can be whipped up lickity split (especially if you do the slicing and dicing the day before).

Bacon Brussels Sprouts With Chanterelle Mushrooms

8-12 oz    brussel sprouts, wedged
1/4 lb       bacon, julienned
2 oz         onion, white, small dice
1 oz         carrot, small dice
1 oz         celery, small dice
4-8 oz      chanterelle mushrooms, quartered
1 oz         beef or chicken stock
Salt to taste

In medium to large pan, on med-high heat, cook bacon stirring nearly constantly until mostly crispy. Add mirepoix (onion, carrot, celery) and cook until almost brown on edges. Add sprouts and about 1 teaspoon salt, and cook until nearly soft–if they aren’t juicy and just want to sear, add 1 oz of stock. Add chanterelles and cook until juices evaporate. Season with salt to taste. Also delicious with 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and 1 teaspoon of thyme leaves.

Serves about 4

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