Tag Archive | Mushrooms

Mushroon Chasseur Risotto (72p)

Feb16

Just found a couple more old. Here’s the first, to be followed shortly by Jack’s signature Carrot, Cumin and Kidney Bean Burger. That will be the last for now, I promise.

Facebook post 12 Oct 2016.

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Based on the Cooking on a Bootstrap recipe.

Chasseur, I learned from Wikipedia, is a thick sauce, typically made of mushrooms, onions and tomatoes, with a sprinkle of mixed herbs, served in generous amounts with meat dishes (‘hunters’ meats, like rabbit, pheasant, venison, etc.), or these days with rice, mashed potatoes or cous cous – what a bunch of wimps we’ve become!

I began with:half a punnet of mushrooms, 2 garlic cloves, 1 onion, a chicken stock cube and a big pinch of mixed herbs.

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The onion, garlic cloves and mushrooms went in put into a saucepan with 2 tablespoons of oil, at first on a high heat for 5 minutes to soften the onion. Then in went the tomatoes, herbs and crumbled stock cube. (Also 100ml red wine theoretically, but I’m allergic to the sulphites in wine so I added just water – I wanted to taste the dish without the wine anyway.)

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Jack’s recipe left it at that, but this looked more like lumpy soup than solid food, so after 40 minutes I threw in 100g long-grain rice to turn it into a risotto – it needed constant stirring for 20 minutes and quite a bit of extra hot water from the kettle to stop it going solid as the rice absorbed the juices. Served with one of my plus-sized slices of bread with butter, it was VERY filling.

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A real ‘winter warmer’. There was enough for four servings. The costing is a little complicated – adding for electricity, including re-heating for future meals, washing up, bread, butter and a cup of Earl Grey, something like 72 pence a meal..

How (not) to dry mushrooms

Feb16

Facebook post 15 Oct 2016.

My Polish ex-mother-in-law spent much of the autumn drying the mushrooms she’d collected in the forest in her kitchen. This was done by a humming electric device which blew warm air over them day and night. The electricity cost of such a device prohibitive for me, so tried to find another way, thinking how convenient it would be to have a supply of dried mushrooms.

Tried drying them on a tray on a storage heater, but they were still surprisingly soggy after 24 hours, so put them in the oven, but couldn’t get them to dry evenly – some still soft, some as dry and thin as onion skin – and the oven time was costing me money.

These remains spent another night on the storage heater, but they simply refused to dry out and the whole flat was beginning to smell mushroomy, plus I kept finding bits of mushroom stuck to various surfaces and objects.

I gave up at this point and lot went in the bin, the whole experiment having cost about £2.50 in lost mushrooms and electricity. If I used dried mushrooms frequently they perhaps I’d persevere. However, I’ll stick to fresh.

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Zapiekanka (76p)

Dec11

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For each serving:

  • Half a baguette
  • 100g mushrooms
  • 50g grated cheese

Zapiekanka (plural zapiekanki) is the archetypical street food sold all over Poland. Simple, filling (with good quality bread) and tasty. A small bread stick halved and buttered, with a layer of cooked mushrooms, some grated cheese on top and then grilled.

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I fried the mushrooms well, reducing them down on a medium heat until all the water had bubbled off. Don’t worry about the pan looking too full, the volume shrinks down like magic, leaving them with a rich flavour compared to the British habit of only half-cooking mushrooms. Sprinkled with cheese and grilled until it started browning. Zapiekanki are typically topped with ketchup, but I prefer a pinch of seasoning.

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This is the most basic version. One could elaborate at will, say with onion, bacon bits or capers, though this might upset purists – the food originated during the lean years of Communist rule. Mushrooms were always cheap or free, with people scouring the woodlands for them each autumn, just as they do today in this much afforested country.

I used Tesco ‘Everyday Value’ cheese, loose mushrooms and the cheapest baguettes. The cost of the meal, including electricity and cup of tea: 76p …  a little more than I’d expected, but at least under my £1 target.

Footnote: Looking out of the window while cooking, could see a rather impressive 22⁰ degree halo round the moon this night.

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