Mushroom season appears to well and truly upon us. From the hippies down the road to friends across the country I am getting asked about recipes for mushrooms. To the hippies down the road I say just eat them and what you can’t eat now store in honey for a later date, and here’s a couple of recipes for some other friends, too.

 

Amanda is lucky enough to live up in a shack in the mountains next to an inbred old man who picks wild mushrooms everyday and sometimes brings her some so he can enjoy her company for a few minutes. She entertains him with stories of a world outside of the forest. A world that has motorised chariots for the common man to ride in. A world in which carnies are allowed to walk freely down any street, and drink at any bar. What a magical world indeed…

 

Amanda is also a bit of a renegade when it comes to following a recipe, so in the true spirit of the challenge, follow the recipes very loosely…

 

Mushroom and thyme soup

1kg mixed mushrooms

1 brown onion, diced

2 rashers of bacon or speck, diced

2 cloves garlic

1 Tbls chopped fresh thyme

red wine to deglaze

500nl cream

500ml stock

• Sauté onion, garlic and bacon until soft
• Add mushrooms and increase the heat slightly. Cook out until liquid is nil and mushrooms look like they may possibly start to stick to the bottom of the pot
• Deglaze with red wine
• Add everything else, plus some salt and pepper
• Blitz and eat

 

Mushroom and taleggio bruschetta

a couple of handfuls of mushrooms, sliced if big

2 pickling onions or eshallots, sliced into cm thick rings

balsamic or sherry vinegar

baby spinach

2x 50-100g slices taleggio, depending on how much you love that shit

chopped parsley

sliced sourdough (olive and thyme is good) to turn into toast, grilled or however such is your way

• Simple as
• Fry the eshallots in 1 Tbls butter with a splash of oil. Hold their shape if you can. When they start to colour deglaze with a splash of whatever vinegar you went with. Remove from the pan and set aside for a second
• Fry off mushrooms in butter and oil
• When mushies are close to ready throw eshallots back in for a minute or two
• Just before serving add the taleggio, parsley and spinach
• Serve on the toast shortly after

 

 

Duck broth with mushrooms

Duck and mushrooms are a match made in heaven. I see these guys hanging out every Friday night at the pub. And if the duck isn’t hanging out with the mushrooms it’s with the beetroot. Dirty tart…

All you need here is a good duck stock, or even quail would work excellently.

 

1lt stock/ soup/ broth infused with 2 star anise, 1 strip orange peel, 50ml light soy, 50ml shao-xing cooking wine, a splash of black vinegar (chinkiang)

2 cups mixed mushrooms, chopped if big

100g silken or momen tofu, diced

2 shallots/ spring onions, sliced

a splash of sesame oil

• Put all ingredients into a pot, simmer for 10 minutes
• Check seasoning
• Do it

 

 

 

Go Amanda. Go now and cook stuff with mushrooms….