Six Seasons
Page 29
» Serves 4 as a first course
Extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves—2 smashed and peeled, 1 halved
1 pound wild mushrooms, such as maitake, chanterelle, black trumpet (or a mix of creminis and wild), wiped clean and dry, cut into chunks if large
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
4 thick slices country bread
Mushroom Butter (optional)
Bottarga, for grating
Lemon wedges
Heat a large skillet over medium heat, add a glug of olive oil and the smashed garlic, and cook slowly to toast the garlic so it’s very soft, fragrant, and nicely golden brown—but not burnt—about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, increase the heat a bit, season with salt and pepper, and sauté the mushrooms until their juices have rendered out and then been reabsorbed, 5 to 8 minutes, depending on your mushrooms.
Now the mushrooms will be able to brown and crisp a bit, so cook until that happens, another 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the butter, parsley, and lemon zest, and shake the pan to incorporate. Taste and adjust the seasoning (keep in mind that the bottarga will be salty).
Grill or toast the bread, rub one surface of each piece with the halved garlic, then spread on a thin layer of mushroom butter (if using). Spoon the sautéed mushrooms on top and grate the bottarga generously over everything. Serve with a lemon wedge.
Roasted Mushrooms, Gremolata-Style
A light hand with the seasonings lets the forest-y mushroom flavor lead the way. I use this as a side dish or as a topping for grilled fish, braised meats, or meatballs. The basic roasted mushrooms without the gremolata seasoning are even more versatile.
» Serves 4 as a small side dish
1½ pounds mixed mushrooms (a combination of cremini and wild or wild-cultivated)
Extra-virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves—2 smashed and peeled,2 chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Grated zest and juice of ½ lemon
2 tablespoons Dried Breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed, drained, and chopped
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
Heat the oven to 400°F.
Brush or rinse off any bits of debris from the mushrooms and trim off any dried stems or spoiled bits. If using shiitakes, discard the stems. Cut or tear the mushrooms so they are all approximately the same size.
Pile the mushrooms into a bowl, then add a glug of olive oil and the smashed garlic. Season generously with salt and pepper and toss everything really well, massaging the oil and seasonings into the mushrooms.
Spread them in an even layer, no overlapping, on one or two baking sheets. Roast until they are browned and crisp around the edges; either flip them or otherwise scoot them around the baking sheets during roasting to promote even browning. Depending on the moisture content of your mushrooms, this should take between 10 and 25 minutes.
Toss the roasted mushrooms (and roasted garlic) with the chopped garlic, lemon zest and juice, breadcrumbs, capers, and parsley. Taste and adjust with more salt and pepper.
MORE WAYS:
Make an instant stroganoff: Sear a tender steak such as rib-eye or tenderloin. Thinly slice, return to the pan with the gremolata-style roasted mushrooms, add crème fraîche and a bit of broth, and simmer to marry the flavors. Serve over gloriously buttered egg noodles.
Fill an omelet: Pile the plain roasted mushrooms, dollops of goat cheese, and fresh dill and parsley into the center of an omelet before you fold it.
Toss with pasta: Cook pasta, scoop out some pasta water, and fold the cooked pasta together with plain roasted mushrooms, minced garlic, chopped parsley, a touch of butter, and lots of grated cheese. Use the pasta water to make everything creamy. Finish with lots of cracked black pepper.
In the kitchen Gremolata is the name for an Italian seasoning that includes grated citrus zest, chopped garlic, and fresh herbs, usually parsley. It’s a good tool to have in your flavor toolbox.
Mushrooms, Sausage, and Rigatoni
As a kid, I used to pick off the mushrooms from the mushroom and fennel-sausage pizza that would hit the family dinner table. So while I didn’t eat the mushrooms back then, I was imprinted by the flavor combination. Get all your ingredients prepped before you start cooking this dish so that by the time the pasta is cooked, you are ready for action.
» Serves 2 or 3 as a main dish, 4 as a first course
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ pound rigatoni
½ pound fresh garlic sausage, bulk or with casings removed
Extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
1 pound wild mushrooms, such as maitake, chanterelle, black trumpet (or a mix of creminis and wild), wiped clean and dry, cut into chunks if large
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
¾ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
½ cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese
¼ cup Dried Breadcrumbs
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt until it tastes like the sea. Add the pasta and cook according to the package directions, but start tasting a minute or so ahead of time to be sure you don’t overcook it. With a ladle or a measuring cup, scoop out about a cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta well.
Meanwhile, shape the sausage into 3 patties and heat a large skillet or Dutch oven (it needs to be big enough to hold all the ingredients in the final phase) over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook, flipping occasionally, until browned on the surface and just cooked on the inside. Break into bite-size chunks with a spoon. Take care not to let the juices on the surface of the pan (called the “fond”) get too dark. Scoop out the sausage and set it aside.
Pour the sausage grease out and set the pan over medium-low heat. Add ¼ cup olive oil and the smashed garlic and cook slowly to toast the garlic so it’s very soft, fragrant, and nicely golden brown—but not burnt—about 5 minutes.
When the garlic is good, increase the heat to medium-high and drop in the mushrooms. Season generously with salt and pepper and sauté until the mushrooms are fragrant and getting browned around the edges, 6 to 12 minutes depending on the variety and size and moisture content of the mushrooms. (Take care that you’re not letting the garlic get too brown during this phase; if so, just pluck it out.)
Pull the pan from the heat and drop in the butter, along with a few spoonsful of the pasta cooking water. Shake the pan around a bit to incorporate it and begin making a creamy emulsion. Add the pasta and the sausage to the pan, toss again, add the cheeses and a bit more pasta water, and toss more, adding more pasta water if needed to keep everything lovely and creamy. Taste and add more salt or pepper if needed. Top with breadcrumbs and serve the pasta right away.
A walk in the woods yields a basket of black trumpet mushrooms.
At the market Some “wild” mushrooms are now cultivated, but they still have deep woodsy flavors and interesting shapes and textures. Look for maitakes, shiitakes, and oyster mushrooms.
Sautéed Mushrooms and Mussels in Cream on Sliced Steak
My version of surf and turf. The mushrooms and mussels alone are delicious—double the recipe and skip the steak to make this pescatarian.
» Serves 4
1 pound rib-eye or New York strip steak, preferably grass-fed but as nicely marbled as you can get
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 garlic cloves, roughly sliced
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 small handful mixed hearty herb sprigs, such as sage, thyme, rosemary, a
nd savory
1 pound wild mushrooms, such as maitake, chanterelle, black trumpet (or a mix of creminis and wild), wiped clean and dry, cut into chunks if large
½ teaspoon dried chile flakes
1 pound mussels, rinsed well and debearded
¾ cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Generously season all sides of your steak with salt and black pepper. Do this as far ahead as you can, up to a day in advance, keeping the steak in the fridge.
Take the steak out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before cooking. When you’re ready to cook, blot the steak dry with paper towels.
Heat a heavy skillet over high heat until it’s very hot. Add the steak—don’t use any oil. Turn the heat down to medium-high or medium, so that the steak is browning nicely but not getting too crusty or dark. Cook until it’s about half done, 3 to 4 minutes depending on the thickness and temperature of your steak.
Add the butter, garlic, and 1 tablespoon olive oil to the pan. Cook, basting the steak by spooning the hot butter and juices over the top. After another minute or so, flip the steak, add the herbs, and keep basting away, letting the herbs and butter get all flavorful together.
When the steak is medium-rare, 8 to 10 minutes total for a 1-inch-thick steak, transfer it to a cutting board and let it rest while you cook the mushrooms.
Take the herbs out of the pan (but keep the fat)and discard or compost them. Bring the heat back up to medium-high. Add the mushrooms and chile flakes and sauté until the mushrooms are slightly wilted and crispy, about 8 minutes, shaking the pan a bit.
Add the mussels (yes, in their shells). Cook, shaking and tossing the pan so the mushrooms don’t burn and the mussels get even heat, until the mussels open, about 10 minutes, then pour in the cream. Fold the mussels and mushrooms together until they are nicely cloaked in cream. If there are mussels that just won’t open, toss them out.
Add the lemon juice. Taste a mushroom and adjust the seasoning with more salt, black pepper, or chile flakes as needed.
Slice the steak, arrange it on a platter, and pour the mushrooms and mussels over the top. Serve right away, with a bowl for discarded mussel shells.
In the kitchen Mussels are easy to cook with because they don’t need much prep. Just give them a rinse and then scrape or cut away the small tangle of fibers, called the beard, that attaches them to their home.
Crispy Mushrooms with Green Herb Mayonnaise
Frying a mushroom seals its woodsy flavor and fleshy texture inside a crisp shell—exactly the kind of contrast that keeps you coming back for more. I often eat these simply with lemon and grated cheese, but a bowl of potent herb mayonnaise elevates the experience.
» Serves 4 to 6 as an appetizer
Vegetable or olive oil, for deep-frying
½ cup cornstarch
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sparkling water
¼ teaspoon dried chile flakes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound wild mushrooms, such as maitake, chanterelle, black trumpet (or a mix of creminis and wild), wiped clean and dry, cut into bite-size chunks
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, for grating
4 big lemon wedges
Green Herb Mayonnaise
Arrange a double layer of paper towels on a tray or baking sheet and set it near your stove. Pour 2 inches of oil (vegetable oil or a mix of olive and vegetable) into a saucepan, making sure there are at least 3 inches of headroom (because the oil may bubble up a bit during cooking, and you don’t want any spillovers—dangerous!). Slowly bring the oil up to 375°F on a thermometer. (Or fry a small piece of bread: When it takes 60 seconds to get nicely crisp and brown, but not burnt, your oil is just about right.)
As the oil is heating, whisk together the cornstarch and flour in a bowl. Whisk in enough sparkling water to make a thin batter. Season with the chile flakes and some salt and black pepper.
When the oil is ready, dip a mushroom into the batter, let the excess drip off, and carefully immerse it in the hot oil. Take care to not add too many at once because that will cause the oil temperature to drop and the mushrooms will get greasy. (To make things go faster, you can use a wire mesh spoon, called a spider, to add a bunch of the mushroom chunks to the batter, tapping to encourage the excess batter to drip off.) Fry until the coating is puffed and very light golden (these will not get deeply colored) and the mushrooms are cooked through (it’s important to have your wild mushrooms thoroughly cooked). Transfer to the paper towels to drain and give a quick seasoning of salt and black pepper.
Once all the mushrooms are fried, take the oil off the heat and arrange the mushrooms on a serving plate. Shower with the Parmigiano, and serve right away with lemon wedges and a bowl of the green herb mayonnaise for dipping.
Season Six
Winter
Expectations are low for fresh produce in the dead of winter. Yet the range of what’s available in the cold months is stunning: roots, potatoes, the whole crazy world of winter squash, and, of course, cabbage.
The winter flavor palette is subtle, however. Gone are the assertive green flavors of early-season vegetables. What winter brings is a lot of earthiness, mellowness, and, believe it or not, sweetness.
Many winter-hardy vegetables gain a boost of sweet once the weather dips below freezing. When a plant’s starches turn to sugar during a frost, it’s called cold-sweetening. For roots like beets, carrots, and parsnips, and brassicas like broccoli, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts, the sugar acts like antifreeze, protecting their cells from damaging ice crystals. For the rest of us, that first frost is a delicious call to the kitchen.
Recipes of Winter
Steamed Cabbage with Lemon, Butter, and Thyme
Roasted Cabbage with Walnuts, Parmigiano, and Saba
Battered and Fried Cabbage with Crispy Seeds and Lemon
Comforting Cabbage, Onion, and Farro Soup
Cabbage and Mushroom Hand Pies
Celery Root with Brown Butter, Oranges, Dates, and Almonds
Mashed Celery Root with Garlic and Thyme
Celery Root, Cracked Wheat, and Every-Fall-Vegetable-You-Can-Find Chowder
Fried Celery Root Steaks with Citrus and Horseradish
Kohlrabi with Citrus, Arugula, Poppy Seeds, and Crème Fraîche
Kohlrabi Brandade
Onion and Pancetta Tart
Onion Bread Soup with Sausage
Braised Beef with Lots and Lots of Onions
Parsnips with Citrus and Olives
Parsnip Soup with Pine Nut, Currant, and Celery Leaf Relish
Parsnip, Date, and Hazelnut Loaf Cake with Meyer Lemon Glaze
Fried Potato and Cheese Pancake
Crushed and Fried Potatoes with Crispy Herbs and Garlic
Mashed Rutabaga with Watercress and Watercress Butter
Rutabaga with Maple Syrup, Black Pepper, and Rosemary
Smashed Rutabaga with Apples and Ham
Half-Steamed Turnips with Alla Diavola Butter
Roasted Turnips with Caper-Raisin Vinaigrette and Breadcrumbs
Turnip, Leek, and Potato Soup
Freekeh, Mushrooms, Turnips, Almonds
Raw Winter Squash with Brown Butter, Pecans, and Currants
Winter Squash and Leek Risotto
Fontina-Stuffed Arancini
Delicata Squash “Donuts” with Pumpkin Seeds and Honey
Roasted Squash with Yogurt, Walnuts, and Spiced Green Sauce
Pumpkin Bolognese
Cabbage
Cabbage is often in the shadows of its sexier brassica-family kin, such as kale and Brussels sprouts, but cabbage has many talents, especially in winter months when the cold weather has enhanced its natural sugars.
East meets West. Cabbage can be divided in
to two main categories: European and Asian. European cabbages include green cabbage (also called white), red or purple cabbage, and savoy. The most common Asian varieties are napa and bok choy. The differences relate more to texture than flavor, though the Asian cabbages are less sweet.
Hefty and plentiful. A head of European cabbage should feel heavy and dense, and the outer leaves shouldn’t be too torn or yellowed. Asian cabbages will be lighter and leafier. One head of cabbage yields a lot, so plan on having it around for a while. Fortunately, they are good keepers, loosely wrapped in a plastic bag in your fridge.
It can take a punch, and the heat. Whatever variety you choose, raw cabbage makes a crunchy and refreshing salad or slaw that can stand up to a big range of bold flavors—think chiles and limes, or fish sauce and sesame oil. It also cooks up juicy with a slight bite when steamed, and takes on a sweetness when grilled or pan-roasted until browned, or just simmered low and slow in soups or stews.
Coring round cabbage. Ever accommodating, cabbage doesn’t need much prep. For most preparations, start by quartering the cabbage through the base. Slice the triangle of core away from the leaves. Now you’re ready to cut through the leaves to make slices from angel-hair fine to thick, depending on your recipe, or simply use the leaves whole. If some leaves have thick, hard ribs, simply shave them off with a paring knife.
In the field As temperatures drop, many vegetables prepare to survive the freeze by converting their starches into sugars. More sugar lowers the freezing point and hence helps them survive. The consequence of their survival tactic is of course a boon for the cook. All root vegetables, fall artichokes, and many brassicas such as cabbages and leafy greens grow sweeter after a few rounds of winter frost.