Duxelles

Duxelles - they're all the rage right now (apparently!).  They've turned up in two of the cooking magazines I get and I was reading about them in two different cookbooks recently.  So, what are they?

Lots and lots of mushrooms.

Duxelles is a prepared mushroom dish that you can use as a flavoring, topping or taste-booster in other dishes.  Like salt, stock, anchovy paste or other enhancers, it's an addition that boosts other flavors - and something we've never tried before.

So, into the food processor went all the mushrooms...

And out came this giant quantity of spongy, chopped mushrooms.  We cooked them with olive oil, some onion, garlic and leeks until all the liquid was evaporated - that took some time!

Then we used them in a salmon dish and a potato gratin.

Comparing the two we had a clear winner.  Including the duxelles with the potato dish gave the potatos deeper flavor.  With the salmon, they were a good note, but a little lost in the saucy fish-flavored broth that collected while the dish cooked.

Lucky for us, the recipe made a significant quantity of duxelles, so we've got two freezer bags we'll be using for upcoming recipes to see how we can use this treat best.

If you want to make some of your own, here's a recipe:

Duxelles

Process 1 lb of white mushrooms in the food processor until finely chopped.  Only put about 6 mushrooms in the food processor at a time, working in batches, pulse about 15 times until the mushrooms are chopped, but not pureed. 

Heat a teaspoon of olive oil in a pan and add:

1/4 cup chopped onion and 1 clove minced garlic, a dash of salt and pepper.

Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until most of the liquid has evaporated.  About 25 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup minced parsley.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

The recipe can be multiplied to produce extra for freezing.

We used about 1/2 cup duxelles in the gratin.

Turnips

Remember those baby turnips from the farmer's market I mentioned last time?

I had eaten perfect baby turnips last year in a little restaurant off an alley near Place Vosges in Paris and they were just about this size.  Why not recreate that moment, never mind the lack of rough-hewn stone walls, old wood, creaky floors and the haughty insistence of the host that we really needed a reservation but, since we were so early he'd see what he could do..., I opened Mastering the Art... and we were off!  It couldn't have been simpler.  We chopped the greens off, trimmed the tops and bottoms and washed them up.

No peeling, no blanching (because they were so small), they went right into the pot with enough chicken broth to nearly cover them and some butter (don't tell Julia, but I used 1/4 her recommended amount!)

They simmered for about 20 minutes, I cut them into halves and put them in little dishes: voila!

We ate them with a salad topped with the cranberry-shitake chicken mix and olive-oil drizzled avocados.  I was hoping the kids would hold true to stereotypes and dislike the turnips but they gobbled them up.  Sweet, tangy, buttery and brothy - they were delicious!  A grind of pepper suited me, but they didn't need anything else.

Bon Appétit!

Mushroom-Cranberry Chicken Wraps

We went to an outdoor concert this weekend and I wanted to make something we could put in a wrap, then use another way for dinner on Sunday.  Inspired by a similar recipe, we created this chicken saute. 

Slice three chicken breasts into 1 inch strips and season lightly with pepper and salt.

Saute in a non-stick pan, lighly sprayed with canola oil.

When the meat has cooked through, remove from the pan.  Deglaze with 2 TB of white wine or a flavorful vinegar (balsamic or brown rice, for example), add 6-8 fresh shitake mushrooms (sliced into thin ribbons) and a scant 1/4 cup dried cranberries. 

Cook over medium-low heat until the mushrooms are done, about 6 minutes.  Mix the chicken back in.

We took some whole-wheat flour wraps and added mayo and lots of lettuce, the chicken mix and wrapped them up.

After the concert, we found some amazing little turnips at the farmer's market - but we'll save those for tomorrow's post!