Porcini and Beef Stroganoffishy

So I don't really know what to call this, it is kind of like a stroganoff but I'm not sure it truly is, so it gets to be called Stroganoffishy (my wife loves to make up words like Dr. Seuss so I figured I'd give it a try).  I went out this evening to pick mushrooms while my wife and her friend (she knows who she is) went to pick huckleberries.  I love summer because it is light so late it feels like you can do so much in a day.  The two of them thought I wouldn't pick very many because it was a new spot and there are a lot of huckleberry bushes on the ground which can make it hard to see mushrooms (although it is nice to eat hucklberries while looking for mushrooms).  I parked my truck and walked in to some woods to search and my searching was heavily rewarded.  I found roughly 40 lbs of Porcinis, most of them young fresh grade A Porcinis, by the way I learned another name for them, Penny Buns.

Our Harvest

So I found a bunch.

These 3 were growing together.

This guy was 5 lbs.  Not me the mushroom.

So we sat out on the lawn of my wife's friend's (can you do two possessives in a row) house and talked then I remembered that I had read that Porcinis were good raw too, so I took a bite and I instantly realized why these meals I'd been making were so good.  It wasn't me it was the Porcinis, oh man they are tasty.  My wife's friend (not sure if they want me using names) was scraping the last little bit of Porcini to off the dirt.  

The meal:

1 lb flat iron (I recommend flat iron because it is very tender and very flavorful)

1 lb Porcini (cubed)

1 onion minced

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp butter

Salt and Pepper

Thyme

Can of Beef Broth (like 2 or 3 cups)

4 tbsp flour

1 cup Cream

Cut the flat iron in to strips about 1/2 x 1/2 inch.  Season with salt, pepper, and thyme.  Brown in the butter and olive oil.  Cook the onion and porcini until they are tender.

Add the flour to the skillet and stir it in.  Then add the beef broth and cream and let it simmer for about 5 minutes more or until thickened.

Serve over some mashed potatoes, rice, or your favorite noodle, and you have a nice tasty meal.

Chanterelle and Crab Stuff Halibut

I have made beef, quail, chicken and meatless dishes thus far so I thought I should make a fish dish.  I've had halibut in Alaska fresh off the boat and this recipe may be better than that, I'm really excited to share this one.

Stuffing

2 tbsp Butter
1/2 lb Chanterelles cubed
1/2 lb crab meat
Salt and Pepper

Sauté the chanterelles in the butter until they are tender.   Then add the crab and sauté for a minute or two more.  Season with salt and pepper.

Fish
4 halibut filets
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cut open the halibut to create a pocket in the center of the filet.  Add the chanterelle and crab to the center, season the halibut with salt and pepper and place in a 450 degree oven.  Cook for about 20 minutes or until the halibut is flaky (I really don't know how to spell that word so I hope it is right).

I took the extra crab and chanterelle and made a holladaise sauce out of it. Tastes sooooo goooood. 

Porcini Ravioli

So tonight I had some porcinis left over from some other things I've made.  I tried to come up with a way to use them as the "meat" in a meal, they are known as the poor man's steak, which is really ironic because fresh porcinis go for about $25/lb, I could buy some real good beef for a lot less than that.  So I thought I'd try to come up with something.

Ravioli Pasta:

2 cups flour

4 eggs

Basil

Mix the flour and basil well, I don't tell you how much basil because you should put as much or little (honestly who only puts a little) as you want.  Crack the eggs in to the flour mixture and mix with your hands. Once the dough sticks together knead it on a floured surface until it is smooth and tacky but not sticky.
Divide it in half.

Stuffing:
2 lbs Porcinis
2 tbsp minced Garlic
Salt and Pepper
Basil
Thyme
Rosemary
2 tbsp Butter
2 tbsp Olive oil
Parmesan

Melt the butter in to the olive oil.  Dice the porcinis in to small cubes.  Saute the porcinis in the olive oil and butter.  Add the garlic, salt, pepper, basil, thyme, and rosemary.  Cook all this until it is soft.

Roll out both of the halves of the pasta in to 1/4" thin sheets.  Spoon some of the porcini mixture on to the bottom sheet of pasta, be sure and leave about an inch between each spoonful.  Cover each lump of porcini with a pile of grated parmesan.

Cover the bottom sheet and porcini piles with the top sheet.  If you have a ravioli cutter, I couldn't find mine, stupid moving, use it to cut the raviolis.  If you don't have a ravioli cutter use your fingers or a fork to seal in between each ravioli.

Here is what they look like using a fork.

Boil the raviolis in water with a touch of salt.

Sauce:
The rest of the porcini stuffing
1 pint cream
Parmesan
Salt and Pepper

Return the stuffing to the stove and add the cream and parmesan, cook until it thickens.  Add salt and pepper to tastw.  Serve this over the raviolis.  This is the final product.

Beef Tenderloin and Chanterelle Hollandaise Sauce, oh yeah and Huckleberry Ice Cream (nah nah)

So since I am a meat scientist and do work with beef I figured I better make a beef blog soon, just in case my boss ever reads this, don't want to get in trouble.  This idea was something I was tossing around and my wife suggested beef tenderloin, I guess her tastes have gotten more expensive living with me.   I didn't argue at all though, because who doesn't love beef, after all it is "What's for Dinner".  OK that's enough promotion now about the recipe.

If you aren't familiar with Chanterelles, they are a beautiful egg yolk yellow mushroom that grows in symbiosis with conifers.  They are known in German as Pfifferling (literaly peppery).  They do have a nice peppery after taste to them and are probably one of our favorite mushrooms, so tasty.

 Here is the recipe:

Beef
1 lb beef tenderloin (cut in to at 1.5" steaks, assume 1/2 lb per adult)
Salt and Pepper (nothing else on the steak)

Salt and pepper the steak and let it rest to come close to room temperature on the surface.  Not more than 10 or 15 min.  Light your grill, that's up to you, I use a charcoal Weber because my ceraminc grill isn't set up at our new place.  Once the grill is hot (as hot as it gets) place the steaks on the grill, count to 120 then turn the steaks one quarter turn, count to 120 again.  Flip the steaks over and do the same (120 turn 120).  Then move the steaks to a cooler side of the grill and let them cook for about 10 minutes to get them to cooked to medium rare, if you cook your steaks to any other end point STOP IT NOW, don't ruin another steak medium rare is it.  Let the steaks sit on a plate for about 10 minutes before eating.

Hollandaise Sauce
1/4 lb Chanterelles sliced
1/4 lb Butter
4 egg yolks
1/2 c lemon juice
Salt
1 tbsp water

Melt the butter and saute the chanterelles until they are tender, turn this to low.  Whisk the egg yolks, lemon juice, salt and water.  Slowly, very slowly, add the egg and lemon mixture to the butter and chanterelle, whisk this as you add it.  Stir for a few minutes until it thickens.

Serve the hollandaise sauce over the steak, add some sweet corn, if you don't have sweet corn where you live then maybe you should move.  My wife said this was so good it was like eating dessert, then she remembered the huckleberry ice cream and got excited to get like two desserts.

Ice Cream
1 pint heavy cream
1 pint whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
Drop of Vanilla
1 cup of huckleberries

Mix the milk, cream, sugar and vanilla.  Freeze in your ice cream maker.  When the ice cream starts to get firm add the huckleberries.  If you aren't lucky enough to get huckleberries then tough, just kidding, use raspberries, blackberries, or blueberries.

After adding the berries continue freezing the ice cream until done.

Oyster Mushroom and Chicken Alfredo..ish

Ok so two recipes in two days this is a record.  Actually my wife has pushed me to do more of them.  Plus I get to eat mushrooms and who can complain about that.

Tonight I decided to tackle oyster mushrooms,  one of my favorite, and the first I started hunting.  I love to scramble them with crayfish tails and eggs, oh man is that good.  But alas no crawfish tonight, not even any shrimp in my freezer, kind of a sin huh.

So with no shellfish to cook with my oyster mushrooms I turned to trusty old yard bird.
Here it is:

1/2 lb Oyster mushrooms
2 tbsp Butter
2 tbsp Minced Garlic
1/2 lb Chicken tenders
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch of Thyme
Pinch of Rosemary
Pinch of Oregano
2 tbsp of Basil
1 cup Cream
4 cup Tortellini

So melt the butter in a saucepan,  cube the oysters and sautée in the butter with the garlic.  Cube the chicken and season with the salt, pepper, thyme,  rosemary,  oregano, and basil.  Cook the chicken with the mushrooms.

Boil 2 quarts of water with a drop of olive oil, add the tortellini and boil for about 10 minutes or until it's tender.

Once you start the tortellini add the cream to the mushroom and chicken mixture.  Let the cream simmer until the tortellini is ready, then serve the chicken mushroom concoction over the tortellini, and viola.

Wild Mushroom and Quail

So it has been a long time since I have done anything on this blog, 4 years to be exact.  Man where does the time go.  Well some updates I got married and we had our first child, that's why it's been so long (that's my excuse).

Recently my wife and I have started hunting wild mushrooms.   We've actually done it for a while, but usually only when camping.  Now we go just f,or mushrooms. Were we live there are about 6 or 7 wild edible mushrooms (hundreds of inedibles so be careful).  We focus on about 5 of them King Boletes (also known as Porcinis, Cepes,  Steinpilz, and several other names), Oysters, Chanterelles (Pfifferling), Morels, and Shaggy Mane.  Obviously I only get them in season so the recipes for them will come when I have them, except the ones I dry.

So without further adieu here is the newest recipe.

Sauce:

1 lb Porcinis
3 tbsp Butter
1 tbsp mince Garlic
3 cups Chicken Broth
Pinch of Thyme (because I can)
Salt and Peper to taste
Cornstarch

Start by melting the butter in a heavy saucepan, I personally like cast iron.  Cube the Porcinis into 1/2 in squares.   Sautée them in the butter with the garlic, thyme, and salt and pepper.  Once the porcinis are tender add the chicken broth.  Let this mixture come to a light boil then add about 2 or 3 tbsp cornstarch to 1/4 cup water and whisk it together then add it to mushroom mixture to thicken the sauce.

Poultry:
12 quail (6 Cornish Game Hens, or Grouse,  or 2 chickens)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Thyme ( again because I can)

Preheat oven to 500

Put the birds in a casserole dish, salt and pepper them liberally,  sprinkle some thyme on each bird as well.  Covery them with the mushroom sauce and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes,  be sure and check the birds for doneness with a meat thermometer (160°F).

I serve this on some mashed potatoes,  which I'm sure you can handle.

This is what it looks like.

Seared tuna and an apple and avacado salad.

Let's be honest here, the tuna out of a can just doesn't do the tuna species justice. I was out in Astoria Oregon with my dad a few years ago and we had fresh grilled tuna sandwiches and grilled oysters, I thought I was in heaven, it was so goood. My favorite little restaurant in Port Aransas, Tx serves a nice little seared tuna so I decided to give it a shot.


The secret is to start with good tuna. I'm in Kansas now so it's hard to find fresh tuna so I used vacuum packaged and frozen tuna, but if you are on a coast use the freshest you can get.

I coated the tuna with a simple rub of kosher salt, black pepper and parsley.
Then I seared it on high for about 1 1/2 mins on each side in a pan with EVOO, rice vinegar and a drop or two of soy sauce. Then thin sliced it to serve it with the meal. I personally add a drop of wasabi behind each slice but I love wasabi so don't put it if you can't handle it.

The apple and avacado salad was a lot better then I expected. It is one gala apple and one avacado sliced and stacked and topped with some blueberries and a homemade blueberry-pomegranate vinaigrette, that I adapted from my dad's recipe.

Blueberry pomegranate vinaigrette

1. 1/2 cup blueberries
2. 1/2 cup pomegranate juice (POM the real stuff works best)
3. 1/4 cup EVOO
4. 1/8 cup Red Wine Vinegar
5. Basil
   
6. Salt
   
7. Pepper
8. Garlic

Blend the blueberries and pomegranate juice together to make a mixture. Then reduce it to a thick sauce on the stove (in a pot of course). Then add the other ingredients and blend it together. I store mine in a tuberware in my fridge and use it on a lot of salads.