Mushroom Bolognese

When one thinks of a Bolognese, it is a sauce made with onions, celery, tomatoes and cheese, with meat.  Beef, pork or lamb.  One never thinks of a vegetarian Bolognese and a vegan Bolognese gives me the shivers.  A true Bolognese has been on my short list of dishes to make.  However, because Clare does not eat beef, pork or lamb, that dish has to wait for a night when I am only cooking for myself.  

In the meantime, I decided that I would make a Bolognese recipe that Clare would eat.  I found a recipe by Sarah Grueneberg, a Top Chef contestant, which provided a good starting point.  The one thing that caught my attention was the use of a variety of ingredients at the outset ... not just onions, carrots and celery (which are usually found in Bolognese sauces), but also parsnips and turnips.   Grueneberg's recipe also calls for the use of dried porcini mushrooms and king oyster mushrooms.  The latter mushrooms are chopped with the vegetable mixture, while the former provide the "meat" in the dish.

I decided to alter the dish in a few ways.  First, there was the mushrooms.  Rather than use porcini and king oyster mushrooms, I used a combination of portobello, oyster and shiitake mushrooms.  I decided to use half with the vegetable mixture and keep half sliced to serve with the pasta.  The substitution of these mushrooms for the porcini created another issue.  This led to the second substitution.  Grueneberg relied upon the water from rehydrating the porcini for the sauce.  I needed something in place of that liquid.  This was not really a problem at all.  I used about 1 cup of vegetable stock in place of the porcini water.

The third substitution involves the pasta.  Grueneberg uses spaghetti in her recipe.  When it comes to a Bolognese, I think that a flat pasta is better, because it shows off all of the elements in the sauce.   Fettuccine would work well with this recipe; however, if you can find pappardelle, that is the pasta of choice.  Its wide flat noodles provide the most space for the Bolognese sauce to cling to the pasta. 

Finally, the recipe calls for the use of 1/2 cup of wine.  Given that I was making a Bolognese sauce, a wine from Emilia-Romagna -- the region where Bologna is located -- would have been the ideal choice.  I could not put my hands on a non-sparking wine from the region, such as a Sangiovese di Romagna.  So, I went with a Sangiovese wine that is a lot easier to find ... a Chianti Classico from Tuscany.

MUSHROOM BOLOGNESE

Adapted from a recipe by Sarah Grueneberg 

and available at Food & Wine
and some other recipes

Ingredients:
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
1 medium carrot, coarsely chopped
1 celery rib, coarsely chopped
1 medium parsnip, chopped
1/2 small turnip, chopped
3 ounces of shiitake mushrooms, sliced
4 ounces of portobello mushrooms, sliced
3 ounces of oyster mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup dry red wine (preferably Sangiovese)
1/2 cup vegetable stock
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
Pinch of crushed red pepper
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon minced rosemary
1 1/2 pounds of pappardelle (or fettuccine)
4 tablespoons of unsalted butter

Directions:

1. Prepare the vegetable base.  Pulse the onion, carrot, celery, parsnip, turnip and one-half of the mushrooms in a food processor until finely chopped  In a large pot, heat the oil.  Add the vegetables, season with salt and pepper and cook over moderate heat until softened, about 20 minutes. 

2. Make the Bolognese sauce.  Add the sliced mushrooms and cook until fragrant, about 5 to 10 minutes.  Add the wine and red pepper, and cook until the wine evaporates.  Add the vegetable stock, cover partially and cook over low heat, stirring until thick, about another 25 minutes.  Add the cream, rosemary and 1/4 cup of grated cheese and simmer for 5 minutes. 

3. Cook the pasta.  Heat a pot with salted water until it boils.  Add the pasta and cook according to the directions on the package.  (Generally, dried pasta takes several minutes while fresh pasta only takes about 1 to 2 minutes.)

4.  Finish the dish.  Add the warm pasta, butter and 1 cup of water to the sauce and toss, stirring until the pasta is well coated.  Serve immediately.

ENJOY!

Portobellos with Arugula and Parmigiano

According to Mario Batali, this dish -- Portobellos with Arugula and Parmigiano -- was one of the first dishes that he put on the menu at his restaurant, Pó, in New York City.  The recipe can still be found on the menu.  

This dish was the first dish in a three-course dinner featuring recipes by Mario Batali.  The common theme was that all of the recipes feature the use of the grill.  This recipe comes from Mario Batali's book Italian Grill.

The recipe itself is very versatile.  For example, the recipe calls for the use of anchovy paste, which I did not have when I made this dish.  I still think that the recipe worked out well even without the paste.  The combination of the grilled mushroom, the balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and the lettuce makes for a light and tasty salad.  The addition of Parmigiano Reggiano completes the dish.  If you do not have any Parmigiano Reggiano, you can substitute Parmesan cheese, which will work just as well.

PORTOBELLOS WITH ARUGULA AND PARMIGIANO

Recipe from Mario Batali's Molto Italiano, at p. 28

Serves 6

Ingredients:

6 large portobello mushrooms, stems removed

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon of anchovy paste

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled

Generous 4 cups trimmed arugula, washed 

    and spun dry

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Coarse sea salt

Ground black pepper

Parmigiano Reggiano, shaved

Directions:

1.  Grill the mushrooms.  Preheat the gas grill or prepare a fire in a charcoal grill.  Place the portobellos on the grill and cook, turning two or three times, until slightly softened, 5 to 8 minutes.  Transfer to a platter, arranging the mushrooms gill side up.

2.  Prepare the mixture.  In a small bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup of the oil oil, the anchovy paste, vinegar and thyme.  Spoon the mixture evenly over the portobellos and let stand for 30 minutes. 

3.  Prepare the arugula.  In a large bowl, toss the arugula with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and lemon juice.  Season with coarse see salt and pepper.

4.  Plate the dish.  Divide the arugula among six plates and top each with a mushroom.  Using a vegetable peeler, shave the Parmigiano Reggiano over the salads.  Serve immediately.

PAIRING THIS RECIPE

At our wine dinner, this dish was paired with the Sobon Estate Roussanne (2011).  The wine has floral aromas, with elements of butterscotch and pear. While the wine is normally paired with seafood and poultry dishes, it worked very well with the salad.  The richness of the wine worked well with the extra virgin olive oil in the dish, along with the mushroom and Parmesan cheese. 

ENJOY!

Roasted Garlic Hake over Heirloom Tomato Parsley Salad

For those who read my blog on a regular basis, you know that every once in a while I will try to make a dish completely based on my creation without any recipes.  This time I took several elements to create what is, at least for me, a fairly complex dish.  And, while I still have to work on presentation, I think that I am on the right path.

This dish starts with large portobello mushroom caps, which serve as the "dish" for the Heirloom Parsley Salad.  The hake, which is a flaky fish similar to cod, is then laid over the top of the salad.  The dish is finished with some shaved Parmigiano Reggiano.  For a dish that I thought up as I walked through the produce and seafood sections of a Whole Foods, it turned out very good.

ROASTED GARLIC HAKE OVER TOMATO HEIRLOOM PARSLEY SALAD

A Chef Bolek Original
Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 large portobello mushroom caps

1 package of small heirloom tomatoes, deseeded and diced.

1 head of garlic

1/2 bunch of flat leaf parsley

1 scallion, diced

2/3 to 3/4 pounds of hake

Ground pepper, to taste

2 tablespoons of flat parsley leaves

Salt, to taste

2-3 tablespoons of olive oil

Directions:

1.  Prep the mushrooms and garlic.  Clean the portobello caps and remove the stem and remove the gills.  Cut the garlic head in half horizontally.  Place one half on each cap.  Wrap in foil and add to an oven preheated to 400 degrees.  Let cook for ten minutes and remove.  Remove the garlic and cover the caps.  Return the garlic to the oven, wrapped in in foil for at least another ten or fifteen minutes.

2.  Prepare the salad.  While the caps and garlic are in the stove, prepare the heirloom salad.  Add the diced heirloom tomatoes and diced scallions in a bowl and mix well.

3.  Prep the roasted garlic. Take the roasted garlic and remove about four or five cloves.  Dice and then mash the cloves.

4.  Cook the fish.  Heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the roasted garlic and saute for a couple of minutes.  Then add the hake.  Saute for about five minutes and flip. Saute for about three to four minutes more until the fish is opaque and begins to flake.

5.  Prepare the dish.  Start with the mushroom cap.  Place the flat parsley leaves on the mushroom cap.  Spoon the heirloom salad on top of the parsley.  Place a piece of the hake at a diagonal with the cap.  Then top the exposed heirloom salad with some Parmigiano Reggiano.

For something that I created on the spot in a store, this recipe turned out well.  Like I said above, I still have to work on the presentation, but both Clare and I enjoyed this dish.  Maybe my "Iron Chef" skills are improving.  Until next time ...

ENJOY!

Portobello Peppercorn Crusted Ribeye

Whenever I buy beef, I try hard to buy grass-fed beef.  Grass-fed beef has less total fat and saturated fat than grain-fed beef.  Not only is it lower in fat, it is lower in calories. Grass-fed beef also has more Omega 3 fatty acids, conjugated linoleic acid, and Vitamin E, all of which are part of a healthy diet.  So, for those like me who love to eat meat, grass-fed beef is the best way to enjoy beef. 

My favorite cuts of beef are the porterhouse, N.Y. strip and the ribeye.  So, when I saw grass-fed ribeyes at my local Whole Foods, I bought one.  The general rule -- or so I'm told -- to cooking cut s like porterhouses, strip steaks and ribeyes is to use just salt and pepper, but no rubs.  The reason to forgo a rub is that you want to be able to enjoy the flavor of the beef, not the spices.  But, every once in a while, I defy convention and experiment with a rub that I think would pair well with the meat.

For this experiment, I wanted to use dried mushrooms.  You can get dried mushrooms in mushroom form or in a powder.  A mushroom powder would work fine, but I wanted to try it with dried mushrooms in mushroom form.  The next question is which type of mushroom to use.  You can use porchini, but they are a little expensive.  Dried shiitakes may be a little cheaper.  But dried portobello mushrooms are definitely cheaper and, because it would be the primary ingredient in my rub, I would need more mushrooms.  I also added a healthy tablespoon of black peppercorns , along with dried thyme, garlic powder, sea salt and some olive oil.  My plan was to make a rub that was just "wet" enough to stick to the meat and impart just enough flavor to make it interesting without overwhelming the meat.

So, with a food processor, a little time and a big grass-fed ribeye, I proceeded with my experiment and the result was ... very, very tasty.

PORTOBELLO PEPPERCORN CRUSTED RIBEYE

A Chef Bolek Original

Serves 1 (if it is me), Serves 2-3 (for everyone else)

Ingredients:
1 ribeye (between 3/4 pound to 1 pound)
1 package of dried portobello mushrooms
1 tablespoon of black peppercorns
1 tablespoon of dried thyme
1 tablespoon of garlic powder
1 tablespoon of sea salt (feel free to use less)
4 tablespoons of olive oil

Directions:

1.  Grind the mushrooms.  Put the dried mushrooms in a food processor and grind the mushrooms on the food processor setting until you have as small of mushroom pieces as you can get.

2.  Add the spices.  Add the peppercorns, dried thyme, garlic powder and sea salt.  Continue to use the food processor setting to grind everything and mix everything together.  Run the food processor on pulse a few times more to ensure everything is mixed thoroughly.

3.  Add the olive oil.  Continue the food processor on the mix setting and pour the olive oil slowly.  If you are not getting a paste like rub, use the pulse setting a few times more times.  With each pulse, the mixture should absorb more olive oil.

4.  Apply the rub to the ribeye.  Take the rub and apply it liberally to all sides of the ribeye.

5.  Cook the ribeye.  Place the ribeye under the broiler.  After about eight to ten minutes, flip the ribeye.  Some of the extra mushroom rub may smoke while the ribeye is under the broiler, but that is okay.   Cook the ribeye for about eight to ten more minutes or until your desired level of doneness. 

I have to say that this experiment was a success.  The dried portobello mushrooms imparted a very earthy flavor to the steak. In addition to the mushrooms, you can also taste the pepper and the salt.  The thyme and garlic powder get a little lost in the mushroom rub, but that was okay for me.  If you truly want to taste the garlic, I would add about 1/2 to 1 additional tablespoon.   I was just happy to sit down to a nice big ribeye with a great, off-of-the-cuff rub that I was able to think up on my own. 

ENJOY!

For more about the health benefits of grass-fed beef, check out Eatwild.com.