Long distance locavore: Linguine with foraged chanterelles from Seattle, cooked in Chicago

Mushrooms, shallots, sage, cream and Parmesan combine to make a rich, satisfyingly “meaty” vegetarian meal. Recipe for Sautéed Chanterelles with Cream and Linguine Fini below.

The day before Marion cooked these chanterelles in our Chicago kitchen, they were in a stall in Seattle’s Pike Place Market. Not much more before that, they had been in a nearby forest. We were in the market on the last morning of our first visit to the Pacific Northwest. Our luggage was already overstuffed with food purchases, many in glass containers padded with laundry in the hope they would survive the flight home. But when we saw these mushrooms, we knew we had to squeeze some into our carry-on bags. I’ll turn the kitchen over to Marion now and let her tell you what she did with them.

In another earlier life, I used to gather chanterelles in the wild all summer. It was such an everyday thing that I took it totally for granted. It was part of the season, like swimsuits and the beach. Continue reading “Long distance locavore: Linguine with foraged chanterelles from Seattle, cooked in Chicago” →

“Please, sir, may I have more mushrooms?”

Last week, I explored other food blogs in search of inspiration. Now with a surplus of mushrooms in the house, I’m digging into the Blue Kitchen archives for some ideas.

Chicken and Mushrooms with Farfalle. This dish came together quickly after a last minute smash-and-grab run through the grocery store, improvising the meal in my head as I snatched ingredients. The post is as much about the process of improvisation as it is about the specific recipe. But thanks to a little dried tarragon and some cheap brandy, the end results tasted far more elegant than they deserved given how rapidly the ingredients went from store shelf to table.

In praise of the basic button. Yeah, I know. I used three fancypants mushrooms for my pizza. But two recipes here—Sautéed Mushrooms with Garlic Butter, in which humble buttons mascarade as escargot in an elegant first course, and Julia Child’s Sautéed Mushrooms, which beautifully elevate mashed potatoes—prove that the button has a few tricks up its sleeve. And they’re packed with antioxidants; bet you didn’t know that [me either].

Crêpes with Poulet aux Champignons Filling. Oh, la! Crêpes are fun to make and really fun to eat. And this chicken and mushrooms filling with white wine, garlic, herbes de Provence and cream does them justice. Just toss a small salad, open a bottle of wine, put on some Edith Piaf and you’re set.

The Joy of Cooking, at 90 miles an hour

Chicken and Mushrooms with Farfalle comes together quickly with a flavor boost from tarragon and brandy. Recipe below.

Quick, what comes to mind when I say cooking? I’m guessing you’ve probably started fantasizing about standing in a warm, pristine kitchen on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon and luxuriating in playing with ingredients, preparing for an intimate dinner party for friends or a leisurely family dinner. Things are marinating. Whole heads of garlic are roasting in the oven. Maybe you’re sampling a little wine as you cook.

I don’t know about you, but for every moment I have like this, I have probably a dozen or so when we’ve finally made it home from work and are ravenous. And chances are, we’re hoping to run an errand or get to the library or the gym or something after we eat. So we’ve got maybe 3.2 seconds to get dinner pulled together. Sure, we can throw in the towel and grab some carry-out [and there are plenty of times we do], but when we rise to the occasion and get something good on the table quickly that we’ve made ourselves, it feels pretty good.

The challenge here is to embrace the moment for what it is and savor this kind of cooking experience as much as the extravagant weekend celebration of food. Maybe it’s my over-caffeinated approach to life—my Brooklyn buddy has likened me to a border collie [you have to know the breed to get the comparison]—but I’ve actually come to often prefer the high-speed kitchen.

Here’s a quick and delicious dish I pretty much invented in one of those 90-mph moments. No, you won’t get it on the table in 3.2 seconds [hey, I work in advertising—hyperbole is my stock in trade], but if you’ve already got the ingredients on hand, chances are you can beat the pizza delivery guy. Continue reading “The Joy of Cooking, at 90 miles an hour” →