Posted on by Myfrenchkitchen

Wild mushrooms with lemon and nutmeg

It is time! For wild mushrooms! One of our favorite meals in autumn. We prefer it pretty simple, with either an omelette or a risotto or, as in this case, a crusty baguette. Bolets and girolles are sautéed in olive oil, a little knob of butter and served with lemon juice, nutmeg and a persillade(mix of shallots, garlic and parsley. It speaks of autumn and forest and cool days. And what else is autumn about after all.

I dont give exact quantities because it depends on the type of mushrooms you have and on your appetite. I used about 200g.

Bolets and girolles wild mushrooms

Recipe:

  • About 200g mix of different wild mushrooms like girolles, chanterelles, trompettes de mort, bolets, cepes and whatever safe edible ones you can find in the woods or on the market.
  • 1 onion or two shallots
  • A bouquet of fresh parsley
  • 1 big clove of garlic
  • juice of half a lemon
  • nutmeg
  • salt and pepper
  • olive oil
  • knob of butter
  1. Clean the mushrooms with a brush or rinse under running water and dry immediately with a dry towel.
  2. Melt the butter along with olive oil in a pan.
  3. Add the mushrooms and sauté until the mushrooms are almost tender and caramelized.
  4. Chop the onion or shallots and garlic and add to the mushrooms. Sauté for another few minutes until soft and translucent and the mushrooms caramelized.
  5. Add the chopped parsley, lemon juice and grated nutmeg to taste.
  6. Season with salt and pepper.
  7. Serve warm with crusty baguette and butter.

Serves 2 people

Girolles washed and dried with a dry towel and the bolets cleaned with a soft brush while the stems are scraped with a knife.

Pinch of salt:

  1. Mushrooms shrink a lot when cooked, so get more than you think you need..
  2. Don’t soak mushrooms in water, they absorb water very quickly and get soggy. I prefer to use asoft brush.
  3. Make sure you pick edible safe mushrooms when you go pick in the woods, or take to your pharmacist for identification.
  4. Serve sautéed wild mushrooms with an omelette or a risotto or top off a mushroom soup with a mix of wild mushrooms.
  5. A venison pie is delicious with wild mushrooms.
Posted on by Myfrenchkitchen

Orzo risotto with spinach

Orzo, also known as risoni, or in french, langue d’oseau is a form of pasta, shaped like a grain of rice. It is a staple in our house and everybody loves it, especially when we make it risotto style. We always prefer eating risotto on its own with a vegetable or a salad. I served this orzo risotto with a plain fresh tomato salad with sliced spring onions. It is what I had in the fridge…the tomatoes were not in the fridge though, never keep tomatoes in the fridge!

Recipe

  • I small onion
  • 2 TBSP olive oil
  • 1 cup orzo
  • 2 cups of hot vegetable stock
  • 1 TBSP of butter
  • 1 TBSP of créme fraiche
  • 1 TBSP parmesan cheese
  • 2 large handfuls of washed and drained spinach leaves
  • freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Slice the onion finely and sauté in the olive oil until translucent.
  2. Add the orzo and sauté for a minute or two.
  3. Add a ladle of hot vegetable stock and simmer over medium heat until dissolved, while stirring all the time. Repeat the process until all the stock has been used or until the orzo has become al dente. Take care not to cook the orzo until dry, because with standing time it will become more dry and might then become sticky and clumpy. You want the risotto creamy and runny.
  4. Add the butter and créme fraiche when the risotto is still creamy and still has some liquid. Remove from the heat. See image below.
  5. Stir in the parmesan cheese.
  6. Add the spinach, a drizzle of lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Mix gently.
  7. Serve on its own with some more grated parmesan cheese and a fresh tomato salad or serve with roasted chicken.

Serves 4

Pinch of salt

  • Use a large shallot instead of an onion.
  • Like with risotto, you can serve this with any vegetable you choose, steamed asparagus, roasted butternut for autumnflavor, plain with saffron, broccoli, or roasted sweet potato.
  • Add fresh herbs of your choice at the end of the cooking process.
  • Keep the risotto creamy by removing it from the heat until it is still runny and still has some liquid, or else it will become sticky and clumpy if you cook it until dry.
  • Serve the risotto as soon as possible. The longer it stands the drier it becomes.
  • Constantly stir the risotto to keep it from sticking to the bottom.
  • The cooking time is more or less about the same as for risotto, 20 minutes.

à bientôt

Ronell