Mushroom Bourguignon from NY Times

  • 6 tablespoons butter or extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
  • 2 pounds mixed mushrooms, such as portobello, cremini, white button, shiitake or oyster, cut into 1-inch chunks (about 10 cups)
  • 8 ounces peeled pearl onions (2 cups), larger ones cut in half
  •  Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 large leek or 2 small leeks, white and light green parts, diced (1 1/2 cups)
  • 2 carrots, thinly sliced
  • 3 garlic cloves (2 minced, 1 grated to a paste)
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 2 ½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 ½ cups dry red wine
  • 1 ½ cups beef, mushroom or vegetable broth
  • 1 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce, plus more to taste
  • 3 large fresh thyme branches or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 3 to 4 ounces chanterelle or oyster mushrooms, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
  •  Smoked paprika, for serving
  •  Polenta, egg noodles or mashed potatoes, for serving
  •  Chopped flat-leaf parsley, for serving
  1. Add 2 tablespoons butter or oil to a large Dutch oven or pot and set it over medium heat. When the fat is hot, stir in half the mushrooms and half the pearl onions. (If it doesn’t all fit in the pot in one layer, you might have to do this in three batches, rather than two.) Without moving them around too much, cook the mushrooms until they are brown on one side, about 3 minutes. Stir and let them brown on the other side, 2 to 3 minutes more. Use a slotted spoon to transfer mushrooms and onions to a large bowl or plate and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Repeat with another 2 tablespoons butter and the remaining mushrooms and pearl onions, seasoning them as you go.
  2. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add another 1 tablespoon butter or oil to pan. Add leeks and carrot and sauté until the leeks turn lightly golden and start to soften, 5 minutes. Add the 2 minced garlic cloves and sauté for 1 minute longer. Stir in tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. Stir in flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute, then add wine, broth, 1 tablespoon tamari, thyme and bay leaf, scraping up the brown bits at bottom of pot.
  3. Add reserved cooked mushrooms and pearl onions back to the pot and bring to a simmer. Partly cover the pot and simmer on low heat until carrots and onions are tender and sauce is thick, 30 to 40 minutes. Taste and add more salt and tamari if needed. Stir in the grated garlic clove.
  4. Just before serving, heat a small skillet over high heat and add 1/2 tablespoon butter or oil. Add half of the sliced chanterelles or oyster mushrooms and let cook without moving until they are crisp and brown on one side, 1 to 2 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side. Transfer to a plate and sprinkle with salt and smoked paprika. Repeat with remaining butter and mushrooms. Serve mushroom Bourguignon over polenta, noodles or mashed potatoes, topped with fried mushrooms and parsley.

Butternut Squash Polenta With Sausage and Onion nytimes

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  • 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, more as needed
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 cup fine polenta (not quick cooking)
  • 5 ounces seeded and peeledbutternut squash, coarsely grated (1 cup)
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  •   Black pepper, as needed
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, more as needed
  • 1 ½ pounds sweet or hot Italian pork sausage, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
  • 2 teaspoons minced rosemary
  • 1 teaspoon fennel seeds (optional)
  • 2 small onions, peeled, halved, and sliced into 1/4-inch half moons
  •   Rosemary sprigs, for garnish (optional)
  1. In a large pot over medium-high heat, combine 4 1/2 cups water, the salt and the bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Slowly whisk in polenta. Stir in squash. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring frequently, until polenta and squash are very tender, 20 to 30 minutes. If the mixture gets too thick while cooking, add a little more water to the pot. Stir in butter and black pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
  2. While polenta cooks, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage, rosemary and fennel seeds if using. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is golden and cooked through, 7 to 10 minutes. (Do this in batches if necessary, adding oil if the pan looks dry.) Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate.
  3. Add more oil to the skillet if it looks dry, then add onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender and golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Return sausage to pan and stir to heat through. Spoon polenta into bowls and top with sausage and onion, garnished with rosemary if you like.

creamy polenta with fricassee of mushrooms Scott Connant

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Creamy Polenta:
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups milk
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
3 ounces cornmeal, preferably coarse ground (about 2/3 cup)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons freshly grated grana padano or Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 teaspoon chopped fresh chives, optional

In a heavy-based saucepan, combine the cream and milk and heat over medium-high heat just until small bubbles begin to appear on the surface. Add the salt, and whisk the cream and milk until quite frothy.

Add the polenta and continue to whisk the mixture as it comes to a boil. Continue whisking for an additional 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to very low, cover the pan, and cook the polenta, stirring every 5 minutes or so (switch to a wooden spoon), until the cornmeal is completely cooked and quite tender, 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours. It may seem very thin initially, but it will gradually thicken. As the polenta cooks, a skin will form on the bottom and sides of pan (if you are not using a nonstick pan), which is proper and which gives the polenta a slightly toasty flavor.

Mushrooms:
1/4 cup olive oil
2 medium shallots, thinly sliced
8 ounces mixed domestic and wild mushrooms, sliced or cut into naturally occurring pieces (about 2 cups)
Crushed red pepper
1/2 cup homemade chicken reduction, recipe follows, or purchased chicken reduction, diluted with water until a little thicker than chicken stock Use veggie stcok
1 tablespoon snipped fresh chives
1 teaspoon preserved truffles (optional)

In a large saute pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook, stirring, until the shallots just begin to color on their edges. Add the mushrooms and crushed red pepper to taste and cook until the liquid is released. Add the chicken reduction, bring to a boil, reduce to a bubbling simmer and cook until the liquid is reduced by half. (You can prepare the mushrooms ahead up to this point; reheat them over medium-high heat just before serving.)

Just before serving, stir in the butter, grana padano or Parmigiano-Reggiano and chives if using. The polenta should pour from the spoon as you serve it and will thicken as it cools. If necessary, you can thin the polenta with a little milk just before serving. Divide the polenta among heated bowls or plates.

Just before serving, reheat the mushrooms if necessary. Toss the mushrooms with the chives and preserved truffles. Spoon some mushrooms and some of the cooking juices over each serving of polenta.

farinata — margaret roach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

½ lb. kale or cabbage or mix
6 cups water or vegetable broth (if the broth is salted, or you like a lot of Parmesan, adjust salt below)
1 teaspoon sea salt
¾ cup polenta (cornmeal)
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2-3 cloves minced or grated garlic, or to taste
¼ to ½ cup olive oil (with extra for garnish)

steps:

Wash and chop the greens; I use a coarse chiffonade cut (above photo), removing the toughest stem bits first.

Meantime, bring salted water (see above note) or stock to a rolling boil.

Reduce heat, cover, and simmer the greens until barely tender, just a few minutes, in the water or stock.

Gradually whisk in the cornmeal.

Cook on simmer until creamy, about 10 minutes.

Fold in the garlic, cheese and the oil; remove from heat.

Serve immediately in bowls garnished with more oil and pepper. Serves three (or two with seconds).
from a way to garden blog