A forest treasure…
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freshly picked ceps
I’ve come home yesterday with some jewels – beautiful freshly picked ceps, or porcini mushrooms to Italian aficionados. And NO I’m not going to tell you where I found them (professional trade secret), but I will disclose what I’m going to do with them. There’s almost a kilo so I’m going to split them in three delectable piles to make three different dishes…
First on my list is good old-fashioned, simply buttery mushrooms-on-toast – well, kind of. But before cooking them, I have to clean them to drive out any hidden bugs. I do this by splashing a tablespoon or so of boiling water over each, then patting them dry with kitchen paper. Then I carefully brush off all the soil and leaves. Next I trim the first third and slice them thinly lengthways.
For this recipe (if you can call it that) I need:
- a handsome knob of butter
- a splash of olive oil
- a crushed clove of garlic
- fleur de sel (salt) and freshly ground black pepper
- some chopped parsley
I melt the butter with the olive oil in a fryingpan and raise the heat until it foams. I toss in the sliced mushrooms with the crushed garlic and stir until the juices start running (perhaps 2 minutes). I season with salt and pepper and sprinkle generously with parsley, transfer the mixture to a warmed plate and dive in (with the help of a few pieces of crunchy crusty French bread and a glass of deep earthy Minervois… Oh that heavenly smell! Not to mention the meltingly rich flavour…
I’m ‘preserving‘ the second lot of ceps for a later date. For this I need:
175ml fruity olive oil
350g (cleaned) mushrooms
2 shallots, sliced thinly
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
few sprigs of fresh thyme
3 ‘meaty’ plum tomatoes, skinned and diced
a handful of black olives
a glass of white wine
juice of 1 lemon
fleur de sel and freshly ground black pepper
Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large pan, add the mushrooms, shallots and garlic and fry for 3-4 minutes until golden. Add the tomatoes, olives and white wine and bring to the boil. Simmer for another 2 minutes, then add the rest of the oil, the lemon juice and season. Allow to cool and either eat straightaway or transfer to a jar. Keep in the fridge and use within a week. (And eh, eat with lots of crusty bread to mop up the juices!).
The final few mushrooms will be used up in an unctuous risotto tomorrow night! But that is another story… Meanwhile, just enjoy this autumn picture of the river Cesse, taken just behind me house…
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autumn view of the river Cesse behind my house
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
