I have been neglecting my blog recently, and I feel I should refocus my attention on it. I guess not having too much time is the reason, but maybe because as we say “j’ai la tête ailleurs” (I have my head somewhere else).

I made this recipe a while ago but then never finish writing it. I think I know where the problem is…the writing. Sometimes my recipe has no story behind it, just me wanting to test new combinations and that is it. I will not pretend that by some magic lightning, I got a magic inspiration about this recipe and a very interesting story to share. This recipe is one of those with no story.

I love celeriac, love mung beans, love wild mushrooms, love tarragon, so here we are.

I really enjoyed the whole combination, which made me feel very well nourished and happy. I always make sure that whatever I eat makes me happy.

Celeriac is a French staple vegetable, we eat it in the traditional céleri rémoulade. My mom used to boil it, slice it and serve it cold with a vinaigrette. You can do all kinds of things with celery root, purées and soups are delicious.

Ingredients for 2-3

For the celeriac

• 1 medium celeriac, peeled and sliced crosswise in 1.5 com thick slices
• olive oil for coating
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• salt and pepper

For the mung beans fricassée

• 1 cup mung beans
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 shallot, sliced
• 1 leek, minced
• 1 carrot, peeled and diced
• 1.2 cups mixed wild mushrooms
• 2 tbs vegetable broth
• 2 tbs toasted walnuts, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tbs parsley, finely chopped
• salt and pepper

For the tarragon oil

• 1/2 bunch tarragon
• olive oil
• salt

Instructions

For the celeriac

Place celeriac slices on a tray. Coat with the listed ingredients and broil under broiler (far from broiler) until both sides are golden brown. The slices need to be firm and not overcooked to be able to maintain their shape.

For the mung bean fricassée

Cook mung beans in water until cooked about 15 min. They need to keep their shape, and not mushy. They can get easily mushy if overcooked and will lose their pretty shape. When cooked, drain and set aside.

In a pan, heat up olive oil, add shallot and let it soften for a few minutes. Add the carrots, mushrooms, leeks and broth. Cover and let cook at medium heat until vegetables are cooked. Add mung beans and stir well for a few minutes. Add garlic, parsley and nuts, and mix well until the strong garlic flavor fades away.

For the tarragon oil

Place tarragon and olive oil in a mixer and blend until obtained a nice green oil. Adjust with salt.

Place one slice of celeriac in a plate. Add 2-3 tbs mung bean mixture on top and top it with another slice of celeriac. Spoon one tbs of tarragon oil around and heat hot.

]]> http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2017/10/roasted-celeriac-with-mung-beans-forestiere-fricassee-and-tarragon-oil/feed/ 2 http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2017/04/encore-vegan-jeanette-of-wild-mushrooms-cauliflower-and-garlic-herb-paste/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=encore-vegan-jeanette-of-wild-mushrooms-cauliflower-and-garlic-herb-paste http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2017/04/encore-vegan-jeanette-of-wild-mushrooms-cauliflower-and-garlic-herb-paste/#comments Tue, 11 Apr 2017 02:13:56 +0000 silvia http://www.citronetvanille.com/blog/?p=18528 Encore vegan – Jeanette tapissée aux herbes et garnie de champignons sauvages et choufleur

I am not sure how to call this…it’s not a pizza, not a tart, not a galette, and not sure it fits into the flat bread category. So I decided to call it a Jeanette. Jeanette is a female’s old fashioned name, that I thought could as well fit in the food world (actually in mine it does) so here is a Jeanette. The crust is made out of whole wheat einkorn flour, topped with a garlic-herb paste, wild mushrooms, cauliflower. Originally, I had a in mind a vegan tarte flambée (flammekueche), one thing leading to another, then Jeannette was born.

Einkorn flour does not have the same texture than regular flour, therefore you will get a different type of dough. When mixed with yeast, einkorn flour will not rise as much as regular flour, and you will not get a airy and fluffy dough. It’s more dense  (which I like). So you your dough does not rise as much, don’t throw it away, it’s normal.

This became a favorite in the house and I make it once a week now!

Ingredients

For the crust

• 1 1/4 cup einkorn whole wheat flour
• salt
• 1/2 cup lukewarm water
• 1/2 tsp dry yeast

for the herb paste

• 1 cup of mixed herbs (cilantro, oregano, chives, parsley, etc…)
• 3 garlic cloves
• 4 tbs + olive oil
• salt and pepper

For the topping

• 1 small cauliflower, broken into florets
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1.2 cups mixed wild mushrooms
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 onion, sliced very thinly
• chili flakes (to taste)

Preparation

For the dough

In a mixing container, add flour and salt and mix well. In a cup add water to yeast and let it sit for about 10 minutes until yeast starts to activate. Mix and pour into flour. Using your hands knead the dough until you obtain a smooth ball. Set aside, cover with a towel and let it rise for about one hour.

For the herb paste

Mix all ingredients in a mixer and set aside

For the topping

Bring a pot of salted water into a boil. Add cauliflower. Boil for about 3-4 minutes, then remove from heat and drain.

In a pan, heat olive oil, add mushrooms and let cook at medium heat until water evaporates (about 5 minutes). Adjust with salt and remove from heat.

On a flat surface spread dough thinly (about 3 mm) with rolling pin. If too sticky add flour. Lay dough on a pizza pan, as if you are making a pizza. Spread herb paste all over the dough. Add mushrooms, then cauliflower and finally the onions. Sprinkle some chili flakes and oregano, salt and pepper.

Pre heat oven at 400F and place the Jeannette on rack closer to the flame/heat. Cook for about 10-15 min, ensuring the bottom is not burning. It needs to be crunchy and golden brown.

Remove from oven and sprinkle with some olive oil. Serve hot

It looks like artichokes are back, so hard to resist. This crumble is composed of five different kinds of vegetables that have a different kind of textures and colors. The more colors the better. I am not “kale obsessed”, it’s just that I bought a huge bag of it, so I need to use it before it turns bad. Spinach or chards would have worked as well.

I kept the crust vegan using olive oil instead of butter, but using butter is fine too. As far as recipes are concerned I am flexible and not a “food nazi”. Sometimes I like to keep dishes vegan, even if I am not a vegan. I love wild mushrooms of any kind, I found this bag of a nice medley and that was perfect.

If you have a bunch of root vegetables, leafy greens and mushrooms and don’t know what to do with them, this crumble would be the solution. You get to eat your five vegetables in a delicious combo.

This can be served with a green salad. I used endives for their slight bitterness which definitely balances out the sweetness of the carrots and yams.

Let’s go green! It’s the color of the future.

For the yams purée

• 1.5 large yams, peeled and cubed
• 3 carrots, peeled and sliced
• vegetable broth
• 1 tbs coconut cream
• salt and pepper

For the mushrooms/kale

• 2 tbs chopped onion
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 pack mixed wild mushrooms
• 3 cups baby kale
• 3 tbs vegetable broth
• salt and pepper

For the artichokes

• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1lb baby artichokes
• 2 tbs white wine
• salt and pepper

For the crumble topping

• 60 g (or 1/2 cup) oat flour
• 4 tbs finely chopped walnuts
• 4 tbs oats
• 1/3 cup, olive oil (or butter)
• 1 tsp thyme
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the yams purée

In a pan, cook yams and carrots with broth at medium heat until the vegetables are tender, have absorbed the liquid and cooked all the way through. Add salt and pepper. Remove from heat. Add coconut cream and mash with a potato masher. Add more broth if too thick.

For the mushrooms/kale

Heat olive oil in a pan. Add onions and cook until translucent. Add mushrooms and broth. Cover with a lid and cook until the mushrooms are cooked and broth absorbed, about 7-10 minutes. Add baby kale and stir until wilted. Adjust with salt and pepper.

For the artichokes

Start trimming the artichokes by removing the “green leaves” all around and trimming the top. All the “green” part of the leaves needs to be removed. The only part that is left is the heart. Cut it in two or in quarters depending on the size of the artichoke. Place artichokes in a bwol filled with cold water and lemon juice, to prevent discoloring. Heat olive oil in a pan. Add garlic and stir until fragrant (do not burn the garlic). Add artichokes, stir well, then add wine, salt and pepper. Reduce heat, cover with a lid and cook until artichokes are tender and cooked.

 For the crumble

In a bowl, mix all ingredients except the oil (or butter). Add olive oil at the end and using your fingers turn into a crumbly dough with some texture.

In two or three deep dishes, divide the mixtures. Start first with some yams puree, then a layer of the mushrooms/kale and finish with the artichokes. Top with crumble mixture. Cook in a pre-heated oven at 370F for about 20 minutes or until top is golden brown.

I had two corn cobs that I had no inspiration on how to prepare, so after going through Plenty the book of Yotam Ottolenghi, I came across an interesting idea…using fresh corn to make polenta. Why not? This intrigued me so I decided to use his idea to prepare the polenta (except that I did not add feta in the polenta), then made a sauce with wild mushrooms, pancetta and tomatoes, a more traditional sauce, that of course could be used on regular polenta (his recipe is made with an eggplant sauce).

The flavor is quite surprising, the corn being sweet, when it’s crushed its sweetness is amplified, so in that sense, it’s different from regular polenta made with corn flour. I liked the texture but I thought the sweetness of the corn was a little too much for me, since sweetness is not my “element”. I think it’s worth trying and definitely a lighter alternative to regular polenta.

Ingredients for 2

• 2 corns on the cob
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2 tbs pancetta, chopped (optional)
• 1/2 shallot, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tsp parsley, chopped
• 1 tsp basil, chopped
• 2 tomatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 cup of mixed wild mushrooms, cut roughly
• parmesan shaved
• truffle oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Start preparing the polenta. Cut the corn from cob and cook in water for about 10 minutes (the water needs to cover the corn). Drain and keep water. Blend corn in a blender, adding some water if it gets too thick. Place back in the pan and cook for another additional 15 minutes, adding water if it thickens too much. Adjust with salt. Add 1 tsp butter at the end of the cooking process.

In a pan, heat olive oil, cook pancetta until crispy, then remove from the pan. In the same pan, add shallots and let them sweat. Add herbs and garlic and cook for a few minutes at low temperature until fragrant. Add mushrooms, salt and pepper and cook until water evaporates. Add tomatoes and cook for a few minutes until soft and no water is left in the pan. Add pancetta and mix well.

Pour some polenta in a deep plate, top with a few tablespoons of mushroom sauce. Add parmesan shavings and drizzle with truffle oil.

]]> http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2013/06/fresh-corn-polenta-wild-mushrooms-sauce-with-herbs-and-truffle-oil/feed/ 0 http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2013/02/for-kids-and-grown-ups-cod-hachis-parmentier-with-wild-mushrooms-and-sweet-potatoes/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=for-kids-and-grown-ups-cod-hachis-parmentier-with-wild-mushrooms-and-sweet-potatoes http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2013/02/for-kids-and-grown-ups-cod-hachis-parmentier-with-wild-mushrooms-and-sweet-potatoes/#comments Thu, 28 Feb 2013 05:00:26 +0000 silvia http://www.citronetvanille.com/blog/?p=15723 Pour les petits et les grands – Hachis parmentier de merlan aux champignons sauvages et patates douces

When talking about hachis parmentier, most French people think beef and potatoes which is the traditional dish. The English equivalent is “shepherd’s pie” (another version here). I like to keep traditional dishes traditional and not change them around, but I would call this a “variation” of the traditional dish.

I don’t eat red meat and sweet potatoes and yams are more nutritious than regular potatoes since they seem to have more fibers and vitamin A than regular potatoes, so a good reason to consume them. This parmentier would be a healthier variation of the traditional one…and as delicious if you like fish of course.

It’s not rare to find hachis parmentiers made with chicken or duck confit nowadays and most restaurants do serve variations too.

Ingredients for 4

• 1 lb cod, diced in about 1 inch pieces
• 1/2 lb yams, peeled and cubed
• 21.16 oz (or 600 g) mixture of sweet potatoes and yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1/2 lb wild mushroom mixture (shitakee, chanterelles, etc…), cut in medium sized pieces
• 2.11 oz (or 60 g) butter
• 3.38 fl oz (or 10 cl) milk + extra for cooking the potatoes
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1/2 small onion, finely sliced
• 2 tbs mixed chopped herbs (basil, parsley, chives, tarragon, etc…)
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2 tbs breadcrumbs
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Cook potatoes and yams in milk at low heat until tender.

Heat 1 tbs olive oil in a pan, add onion and let it sweat for about 10 minutes, add mixed herbs and cod, salt and pepper and let cook until cod is ready. In another pan, heat 1 tbs olive oil, add garlic and stir for a few seconds until fragrant. Add mushrooms at high heat and let cook for a few minutes.

Mash potatoes and put them back in the pot, add milk, butter, salt and better still stirring.

In individual buttered ramequins or a large buttered dish, place one layer of the fish mixture, top it with mushrooms, then with a generous amount of potatoes. Sprinkle with a thin layer of breadcrumbs and cook in a pre-heated oven at 270F for about 20-25 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

I made this post, essentially for Vincent (oui rien que pour toi!), our dear friend from Bretagne (Brittany) and originally from a small town of Malestroit who introduced me to lait ribot very recently. I had no idea what lait ribot was before that night. He was making something très Breton, like crunchy buckwheat galettes soaked in lait ribot, and I was so skeptical and curious at the same time. I thought “Lait quoi??” “lait ribot? c’est quoi ca?” (lait ribot, what’s that?). He said, “c’est breton, en Bretagne ca se mange comme ca”. So let’s eat it the Breton way!

When I tasted it, I loved it. It was love at first bite! Lait Ribot is a specialty milk from Bretagne, that’s why I never heard of it (in France, outside of Bretagne, it’s almost impossible to find) and is wildly used there to make crêpes, galettes and so many other dishes but it’s also consumed as a refreshing drink. It’s basically a fermented milk that you get after the fabrication of the butter (in French you can also call it petit lait, or babeurre, literally meaning beating the butter, or beated milk) and its consumption is retraced back to the Gauls! Every country has its own version of fermented milk, and in the US it’s called buttermilk.

If it was not for Vincent, I would not have bought buttermilk…so I owe him this one.

Call me ignorant but I had no idea lait Ribot was similar to buttermilk. I had no idea about the existence of lait ribot, and I had no idea what buttermilk was either. So pardon my ignorance…Usually when I see the word “butter” on a bottle, I don’t bother. I stay away from butter.

After drinking lait ribot and thinking about its use, I decided to try it in a quiche and substitute it to cream which would probably make the quiche less rich and of course lighter.

I made an olive oil wholewheat crust instead of a traditional pâte brisée which gave the quiche a wholesome and hearty flavor and texture. I usually love root vegetables with wild mushrooms, they complement each other very well.

The farmer’s cheese comes from my Greek grocery store, Taki the owner sells the most unique and unexpected products, this cheese looks similar to ricotta but is not salty, more tangy and lighter in calories. So needless to say that this quiche is very light…and so delicious! Ils sont forts ces bretons!

MERCI VINCENT!

Ingredients for 6 people

For the crust

• 4.23 oz (or 110 g) wholewheat flour
• water
• 4 tbs olive oil
• salt

For the filling

• 1 large shallot, chopped
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 lb mixed wild mushrooms such as chanterelles, shiitake, oyster’s mushrooms, etc…
• 4 medium size rutabagas
• 5 large tbs farmer’s cheese (or ricotta)
• 1 tbs mixed herbs (chives, parsley, thyme, etc…)
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 eggs
• 1 2/3 cups buttermilk
• 3 tbs Gruyère cheese, grated
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the crust

Place flour in a mixing container, add olive oil, water and salt and mix to form an homogeneous dough. Add enough water to allow the dough to form a ball, non sticky and smooth.

For the filling

Wash rutabagas and peel them. Boil them in water until tender. Cut in 8 mm slices crosswise. Set aside.

Clean and wash the mushrooms, Cut them in medium size pieces. Heat olive oil in a pan, add shallots and brown them. Add mushrooms, salt and pepper. Cook until the water evaporates. Set aside.

In a bowl, mix farmer’s cheese with herbs, salt and pepper using a fork.

Roll the dough and place in a non stick round tart pan. Spread the cheese mixture on the bottom. Add a layer of rutabagas on top of the cheese, then mushrooms.

In another mixing container, beat eggs and buttermilk, salt and pepper. Pour on top of the vegetable mixture. Sprinkle with gruyère cheese and cook in the oven for about 35-40 min at 370F or until the top is golden. Serve hot with an endive salad.

After a gloomy weekend with a terrible migraine, that immobilized me for few days in bed, I decided that I wanted to start the week as best as I could, and of course, when you cannot eat for a few days, the day you are back on your feet, you are starving. The great thing is that my fridge was filled with lots of various ingredients, so I had everything to make this delightful and vegetarian dish…without going to the store.

Polenta is quite a popular meal in Northern Italy, and they consume it as the French eat baguette. They grow lots of corn and they eat what they grow…so polenta is often on the table, and I have seen mainly the white kind, it’s thick, sliced like bread, and eaten as accompaniment to many cold cuts and radicchio (that’s the way I have eaten it at our friend’s place in Friuli). In Lombardia region (Milan), they eat it boiled with milk and at my parents, it’s prepared with a tomato and rabbit sauce, so to each region its own. No matter how you prepare it, polenta is always a delicious and nutritious meal to enjoy.

For this dish, you need as many different kinds of wild mushrooms as you can…I used morels, chanterelles, king oyster, beech mushrooms and shiitake, they bring a wonderful woodsy and nutty aroma to the fragrant polenta infused in rosemary broth. The polenta remains creamy and soft especially if you add mascarpone, and blends perfectly well with the crunchy texture of the mushrooms and smooth tomato coulis. The whole dish is a harmonious balance of sensations.

For the polenta, I used the fine grind, the coarse grind remains too grainy and is less delicate at the bite. Also, there are two kinds of polenta, the express one and the regular one. I always keep both in my pantry and depending on the time I have, I use either one. Polenta express cooks in 10 minutes whereas the regular one takes over one hour. Usually to make polenta crostini I use the express one, but for polenta-based dishes like this one, I use regular polenta.

Ingredients for 2-3

For the polenta

• 1/2 lb (or 200-250 g) fine polenta
• 1 tbs rosemary, chopped
• 2 tbs fresh parmigiano reggiano, grated
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 tbs mascarpone (optional)
  

For the sauté mushrooms

• 1/2 lb mixed wild mushrooms such as morels, king oyster, beech, chanterelles, shiitake, etc… mushrooms, washed and roughly cut
• 1 shallot, diced
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 3 tbs dry white wine
• 2 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

For the tomato coulis

• 3 large ripe tomatoes, seedless and peeled
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tsp oregano, chopped
• cayenne pepper
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the polenta

Bring broth to a boil, add rosemary, then add polenta gradually, stir and keep stirring until the polenta is cooked and has reached a semi-thick texture. Cooking time depends on which type of polenta you use. When the polenta is cooked, add parmesan and stir well. Add mascarpone at this time of process if you decide you want to add it.

For the mushrooms

Wash mushrooms. Pat them dry to remove excess water, and cut oyster king and morels (if too big) into about one inch pieces. Heat olive oil in a pan, then add shallots. Brown shallots and add mushrooms. Saute mushrooms and cook until the water is half evaporated then add wine salt and pepper. Stir well, let the wine reduce then add garlic. Cook for a few minutes, then remove from heat and keep warm.

For the tomato coulis

Heat olive oil in a pan, add garlic and stir to get the flavor out. Add oregano, tomatoes, cayenne, salt and pepper. Stir well and cook until the tomatoes have reduced. Mix the tomatoes using an immersion blender, then pass it through a sieve to obtain a smooth coulis.

Serve soft polenta in the center of the plate, place mushrooms around it, and end with tomato coulis.

When you have no time for cooking, this would be a dish to consider…of course if you have some wild mushrooms handy, even better. I had those beautiful yellow chanterelles and oyster mushrooms in my refrigerator with so many ideas on what to make with them, the only problem was the time. Today I didn’t have any for cooking elaborated dish, so I decided to make pasta, but not regular pasta, Malloredus. Malloredus are also called Sardinian gnocchi and are the most traditional pasta in Sardinia; its origin is traced back to Antiquity. You can make them by hand, and again if you have no time like me today, you can always have some handy at home (I always keep a bag in case I have some cravings for them)… and if you have an Italian grocery store close by, I’m sure you’ll find Malloredus. They are cute, and look like little worms or shells (yes a little worm can be cute). The particularity of Malloredus is that the remain crunchy, much more al dente that other pasta (and for me the more al dente, the better).

I usually use pancetta in the ragù, if you want to keep vegetarian, just don’t add it. Also, you need to use either canned Italian plum tomatoes, San Marziano fresh tomatoes, or really sweet organic plum and ripe tomatoes, or even heirloom otherwise your ragù might be too acid.

Fall is here, and fall is all about wild mushrooms. In my family, it is a BIG deal. Every year at this time, my dad goes mushroom picking, mainly porcini, but other kinds as well. Last year I was there around this time, and every morning, he would get up at 5 am, come back at 11 am with kilos of porcini. In about 3 weeks, he brought home about 70 kg of porcini (140 lb) can you imagine? My mom and I spent days cleaning them, and storing them (preserves, frozen, drying, etc…) at one point, I could not stand them any longer. We were just wondering between ourselves when he would stop bringing them home. I had porcini nightmares. Needless to say my parents house is filled with porcini. My dad used to go find truffles too, and had a dog trained for that purpose, now the dog ran away, so no more truffles! He grew up in Italy doing that, so he kept his hobbies all his life.

I remember one year, I was living in Boston and my parents came to visit us…it was their first trip to America. We took them to the New England countryside, and we ended up in Maine, there were beautiful mansions close by and a nice green field, so my dad had his mushroom radar out, and obviously saw some eatable mushrooms in between the grass, he was so excited. Happily, he started picking those mushroom to make a frittata in the evening. All of the sudden, we heard a voice coming from behind telling him “Hey dude, you won’t get high with those!”, seems like those guys thought we were looking for the hallucinogen ones. We were speechless (my parents didn’t speak English so they could care less), but I didn’t know what to respond since I was not expecting that, so we just nodded and smiled. Macche’ high!! io mi mangio la frittata stasera!

In France and Italy, it’s a very common thing to go mushroom picking, I used to go too but not getting up at 5 am. There are so many wonderful wild mushrooms (don’t know right names in English) and if you have doubts about them being comestible, (some of them can be mistaken for poisonous ones like the very well known Amanite Phalloide), you can always go to the pharmacy to have them checked. Pharmacies do that.

Ingredients for 4

• 300 g Malloredus pasta
• 1 lb mixed wild mushrooms such as chanterelles, girolles, porcini, etc…
• 2 cups Italian plum tomatoes, or 4 heirloom tomatoes, or San Marziano (put through a food processor)
• 3 tbs pancetta, chopped (optional)
• 2 tbs parsley
• 2 garlic cloves
• a pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
• Parmigiano Reggiano
• salt and pepper
• 2 tbs olive oil

Preparation

Was mushrooms thoroughly, pat dry and cut in pieces. Sauté them in olive oil. When browned remove from pan and set aside.

In the same pan, add pancetta, stir for a little while, then add garlic and parsley. Stir well to get the flavors out but make sure not to burn the garlic. Add tomatoes, salt and pepper and cook until the sauce reduces for about 20 minutes or more. Add mushrooms and cook for another 10 minutes. (If using dried porcini, you can use the water and add it to the tomato sauce and let it cook).

Cook Malloredus like regular pasta until desired consistency. Top with tomato ragu and sprinkle with parmigiano and a little of olive oil.

I have been wanting to make polenta for months now, I had this bag of polenta in my pantry, but did not have the other ingredients I needed to make what I had in mind, so I kept waiting.

Polenta has been a big part of my life, my mom used to make a huge quantity of polenta, spread it on a large wooden surface and served it with a rabbit and tomato sauce. Everyone would take a spoon and eat it from the wooden board.

Polenta prepared in Northern Italy like Lombardia or Friuli is white, it’s served sliced with prosciutto and radicchio. Basically, it replaces the bread in some households. Actually, In Milano, they cook it with milk, and top it with a mushroom sauce, more like a gravy. That is the way I ate it at my childhood friend whose parents were from Milano. I was used to the yellow polenta served with a mushroom, or rabbit tomato sauce. Two different way to prepare it.

Anyway, I found the most interesting mushrooms at the Berkeley Bowl yesterday, and I was so curious about those tiny but still chunky-legged mushrooms, that I just had to buy them. Trying new ingredients gives me some adrenaline rush, and for the particular purpose, that store is perfect.

To be really honest, I am unable to tell you the exact name of those mushrooms, the hand-written sign was unreadable, and I did some research on the web to try to find out their names and I am uncertain of what they’re called. I believe they’re shimeji. Some kind of Japanese mushroom, that has the shape of porcini mushroom but a smaller size. A Heavy stem and a small cap. It has a great flavor and I really liked the mixed flavors of those three different mushrooms.

Going back to polenta, you can buy the pre-cooked or the regular polenta that needs to cook slowly for an hour on medium or even slow heat, so if your wrist is not trained, since you have to stir for the entire hour, you will get a sore wrist and arm. If you are new to polenta and don’t have too much time for preparation and cooking, the pre-cooked kind would work fine. Unfortunately, I only had the regular one, so I had no choice than go the traditional way.

Big polenta eaters like in Friuli, have a special pot with a mechanical arm that stirs the polenta, so you just have to sit and wait.

You might not see it on the picture, but those crostoni have been carved in the middle so you can stuff them with the mushroom sauce.

Ingredients for 4

For the polenta

• about 4 oz. pre cooked or regular polenta
• 1 tbs rosemary, chopped
• 1 tbs parmigiano reggiano, grated
• 3 cups broth
• salt

For the mushroom sauce

• 4 slices pancetta, chopped + 4 slices whole (for decoration)
• 5 well riped tomatoes, chopped seedless
• 1 cup small shitakee, some sliced, some whole
• 1 cup oyster mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cup shimeji mushrooms
• 1 shallot
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tbs parsley
• chili flakes to your taste
• 2 tbs olive oil

For the cabbage

• 1/2 cabbage, shredded
• 1/4 yellow onion chopped
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

First start preparing the polenta. Bring broth to a boil, add salt. Add rosemary, then pour polenta. Stir non stop and cook at very low heat, add water if necessary. If using regular polenta, it needs to cook for at least 40 minutes, always stirring. If using pre-cooked polenta, cook for about 7-10 minutes, and keep stirring. Add Parmesan.

When the polenta is cooked pour in a small deep dish so that the polenta has a thickness of about 1.5 inch. Let it cool. When cooled, with cut circles of about 2.5 inches in diameter. With a teaspoon, remove some of the center of each polenta circle. Drizzle with some olive oil, and brown under broiler for about 5 minutes or until the top of the polenta is golden brown. This broiling part needs to be done at the end, when the tomato sauce and cabbage are almost cooked, or the polenta will get cold.

For the mushroom sauce

Heat olive oil in a pan, add mushrooms. Cook at medium heat, until the water has evaporated, add salt and pepper. Remove from pan and set aside.

In the same pan, add olive oil, add shallot, let it brown. Add chopped pancetta, and brown the mixture. Add garlic and parsley, stir well to get the flavors out, add tomatoes and chili flakes. Cook until the sauce has reduced but do not reduce too much, there needs to be some tomato juice left. Add mushrooms and adjust with salt and pepper.

For the cabbage

Heat olive oil in a deep pot, add onion, and brown it, add cabbage, stir and add wine, salt and pepper. Cover and cook at medium heat until the cabbage is cooked.

Grill whole pancetta slices in a non stick pan.

Serve in a plate with 2 tbs of cabbage on bottom, add polenta crostoni on top. Fill the center of polenta with mushroom sauce. Add 1 grilled pancetta slice on top. Decorate with whole shitakee around the plate.