ALTERNATE-SIDE WILD MUSHROOM RECIPES

                               
                             Easing out of the Snowbank
 

Each morning during this snow-emergency season, we listen eagerly for the status of alternate-side-of-the-street parking regulations.  The city has been good to us NYC car-parkers this winter.  Each dusting of snow gives us one less reason to venture out, one more hour to devote to dinner.  The cold weather has us hankering for wild mushrooms.

• Crimini, portobello, shiitake and other cultivated mushrooms can hold a week or more in the fridge.  They can be used interchangeably in many recipes, such as this gut-warming, aromatic version of Indian dal.  
• Introduce a new layer of earthy flavor with Dried Porcini, in this hearty Wild Mushroom Soup.  
• Top thick slices of pork roast with chanterelles, sautéed and finished with a port wine and tarragon reduction.
• Sauté a mixture of wild mushrooms and bind with just a touch of hoisin sauce.  Tuck into a wonton wrapper with warmed, julienned bok choy or tofu.  

Snow Days and Slow Days

                                           FIRST YOU PREHEAT THE OVEN

Don't know about you, but when I'm not sure what to make for dinner, I absentmindedly preheat the oven, set some water to boiling, or heft a sauté pan to the stove.  Taking meal prep to the next step is an adventure.  My family can be assured, though, that nary a bowl of cereal will be placed in front of them.

When a snow day like today comes up, the tables turn - the kids get to do the cooking.  My daughter's choice was lasagna.  Since her vegetarian cousin was visiting, she substituted some shiitake and dried porcini for the meat. Try this NY Times recipe for Wild Mushroom Lasagna.

 

François' daughter spent her snow day baking a crusty pain de campagne.  Its tantalizing,   yeasty aromas had us all gnawing at our fingernails.  The wait was worth it: crunchy, airy, slightly sour.  It was adapted from a Food & Wine recipe.

State of the Plate Address

                               SNACK GUIDE TO PROLONGED TV VIEWING

Do certain munchies come to mind when you think about the Super Bowl or the Oscars?  Messy nachos,  truffled canapes?  Craft brews or elegant Champagne?   The flow of menu ideas is unstoppable.

My sitting-still limit is usually one Olympic slalom race.  Last night I made an exception for the President's State of the State speech, and tried to drag the kids in front of the TV with me (limited success, despite their fascination with all things video).   Our son popped some popcorn, which we all like better than the microwave variety.  To celebrate the occasion's brevity and egalitarianism, we added some barely-melted white truffle butter.  The popcorn kept me down through the whole 1h15, with only a couple of streaking breaks.  The kids began yawning loudly and took to their beds.

Wild Mushroom Recipes are Mushrooming on the Net

At this time of year, it may be a cliche, but we're detoxing from all that sugar and fat.  In step grains, beans, and vegetables, to change the way our appetites think.  

Wild Mushroom and Multigrain Soup makes winter more supportable. It satisfies the need for healthy grains, fills the stomach, and awaits us on the stove at the end of the day.

I'd make any of these recipes from the new site called Food and Home.  (of course they come from my cookbook).  Take some time to navigate, browse, and enjoy this inviting site.

Delectable Dish from this Year's Fancy Food Show

Here are my tasting notes from the Winter Fancy Food Show in SF, which rocked the rafters for 3 blindingly busy days..

Thousands of new food products, from stinky-yummy artisanal cheeses to distinctly memorable mung bean chips, will soon flood into specialty food markets.  Snack bars were reintroduced as upscale protein, low cal, high energy meal replacements.  Bacon made its way into tapenades, salts, chocolates, and even soda, if you can stomach that. Piquillo almond glop; chocolate flavored tea; smoked duck, pork, and jerky.   For entertainment, there were frisbee-shaped rice snacks shot out from a cannon.

Coming soon to specialty gourmet stores and supermarkets: foil pouch packs of tapenade, fruit drinks, chestnut soup, bbq sauces, spicy/healthy nut snacks.  Looka brand pyramids of chocolate mousse topped with cream clouds and raspberry coulis.  Chai whipped into everything except truffle butter - ice cream, slushies, espresso, savory biscuits, and sweet biscotti.  Our booth's most popular item was artisanal, spiced-rubbed bacons, perched along the sofi Silver Finalist statue awarded the Herbes de Provence variety.

What Were They Thinking? items on my list are barley sparkling soda and green tree cooking oil, snack-sized packs of seaweed sheets.  

Be the first on your block to turn chocolate into breakfast, farro noodles into ramen, and aloe drinks - which will presumably soften up your skin when spilled.


Bon App!

Return of Carbon Steel?

A little-remarked kitchen tool, the carbon steel knife, surfaced in the Times today.  I thought it had been relegated to the dusty bottom shelves at Dehilleran, the ancient wholesale cookware emporium, sitting at the edge of a busy corner in Paris' former market, Les Halles.  

I bought my knives there during an internship at La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine, back in the early '80s.  Carbon steel knives, along with tin-lined copper pots, and copper egg white bowls, were part of every professional French kitchens' batterie de cuisine.  

My 2 chefs' knives, a tartineur (?) to spread frosting, and treasured but lost fish fillet knife, make me happy to be in the kitchen.   Why?  Carbon steel has a terrific edge.  It makes a clean, smooth cut, using less effort than stainless knives.  It excels at edging.  Its heft is quite accommodating to my little wrists. 

If you don't want to wash and dry knives right after cooking, or take a little elbow grease to remove rust from time to time, carbon steel isn't for you. 

Sick Day Crepes

There's always a call for "sick food" when a child is home for the day.  At our house, that means soup, green tea spilling over with honey, and crêpes.  Yes, crêpes.   If there's no Nutella lying around, or maple syrup from our undercover source, we use plain sugar.

While the crêpes are fresh, and as long as grocery shopping is on hold, might as well throw together some dinner.


Pepper-Spiced Bacon and Egg Crêpes

3 large eggs 

6 slices cooked Aux Délices des Bois Black Peppercorn and Garlic Bacon

Sea salt and ground pepper

3/4 c. grated goat or other cheese

Fresh chopped chives 

Cook crêpe on one side.  Flip.  Crack egg on it without breaking yolk.  When white is set, add other ingredients.  

Crêpes with Black Truffle Butter

Fill with a dollop of Aux Délices des Bois Black or White Truffle Butter.

Duck Confit Crêpes  

Shred duck from leg or drumette and fill.  Top with a dollop of fruit preserves - lingonberry, black currant, fig.

 

Of Fois Gras Omelets and Truffle Schmeers

Remains of the Eve

Our New Year's feasts flaunted the new economy, damned the diet, and took us to new heights of hedonism.  All the usual suspects made an appearance on the menu, yet the midnight champagne was more of a ritual than an '80s-style celebration.  I'll spare you the details but move on to the more leisurely use of leftovers.  In between kitchen damage remediation and fireside naps, we attempted to finish off the remains of the debauchery.

Porcini, truffles, truffle butters, foie gras and spice-rubbed bacons figured into post-feast meals. Think of these as a way to enjoy specialty ingredients without breaking the bank.

Everything Omelet - As the eggs begin to set, add sautéed porcini, minced fresh black or white truffle moistened with a few drops of  truffle oil, chopped chives.  Fold omelet in 3, and melt a pat of Aux Delices des Bois Fines Herbes Butter over the top.

Duck Confit Tortillas - Shred leftover duck confit from legs or smoked drumettes.   Try variations using Asian dressings and prepared sauces along with sliced scallions, cucumbers, and mint.


Crunchy Pan-Fried Potatoes - Duck Fat keeps extraordinarily well in the back of the fridge, and is perfect for a New Year's fat-reduction diet (it's lower in monounsaturated fats than any other cooking fat, with the possible exception of olive oil).   Simply saute leftover potatoes in it, throw in some chopped garlic and finish with bits of black truffle butter.

Foie Gras Salad  Toss mesclun with a vinaigrette of special evoo and fruit vinegar.  Lightly toast leftover baguette or whole wheat bread.   Saute the foie for a minute on each side (or use chicken livers more a more affordable alternative).  Set the foie on toast and serve with the salad.

Bacon Bits Dip  Those creamy, cheesy dips usually die after a day or two in Saran.  Convert to a spread by tossing with Aux Délices des Bois Herbes de Provence (or sub Black Peppercorn or Southwest Kick) Bacon.   Spread on a sandwich - thin-sliced roast beef or lamb, split cooked shrimp and tomato.  Mix with chopped sea scallops, smoked trout, or salmon for an impromptu appetizer.