Create these delicious wintry mushroom dishes to keep the cold at bay
MUSHROOMS BAKED IN WALNUT BUTTER
Serves 4
Prep time 15 minutes
Cooking time 15 minutes
Difficulty Easy
Ingredients
- Zest and juice of ½ lemon
- Large handful parsley, chopped
- 120g crème fraiche
- Salt and pepper
- 4 large black mushrooms
- 4 garlic cloves, whole or crushed
- 1 cup walnuts, gently crushed
- 120g room-temperature butter
Method
1 Preheat the oven to 200°C.
2 In a bowl, combine the zest, parsley and crème fraiche. Season with salt and pepper and add a squeeze of lemon juice if desired. Set aside.
3 Lay the mushrooms out on a baking try and place a whole or crushed garlic clove in the centre of each mushroom.
4 Combine the walnuts and butter and divide evenly over each mushroom,on top of the garlic.
5 Bake mushrooms for 15 minutes,or until cooked.
7 Serve immediately with a generous dollop of the crème fraiche mixture and a twist of black pepper on top of each mushroom.
CHICKEN, LEEK AND MUSHROOM PIE
Serves 4
Prep time 30 minutes
Cooking time 1 hour
Difficulty Moderate
Ingredients
- 4 leeks, washed and chopped
- 400g punnet mixed mushrooms
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 5 ml smoked paprika
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 40g butter
- 60g flour
- 500 ml chicken stock
- 1 whole chicken, cooked, deboned and shredded
- 1 roll puff pastry
- 1 egg, beaten (for egg-wash)
- Double-thick cream (optional)
Method
For the filling
1 Preheat oven to 180°C.
2 Sauté leeks until soft. Add mushrooms and garlic and cook for 3–5 minutes until mushrooms are soft. Season with salt, pepper and smoked paprika.
3 Add butter and once melted, add the flour. Mix well.
4 Gradually add chicken stock until you have made a gravy of medium thickness. Simmer for a few minutes to cook the flour. Add the shredded chicken.
(NOTE If the sauce is too thick, add more stock. If too thin, thicken with a roux (equal quantities of melted butter and flour, combined)
For the pie
1 Unroll the pastry and cut in half, then place one half in a 20 cm pie dish. Poke holes into the bottom with a fork and allow to chill in the fridge for 10 minutes.
2 Dish filling into the pastry case and brush the sides of the pastry with the egg wash.
3 Place the other layer of pastry on top and press the edges down to seal; cut off the excess.
4 Brush with a final coating of egg wash.
5 Place on a baking tray and bake for 25–35 minutes, until golden brown.
(NOTE To make things more interesting, you can add hand-cut dough shapes of your choice on top of the pie as decoration)
MUSHROOM, BOK CHOY AND MANGETOUT STIR-FRY
Serves 4
Prep time 20 minutes
Cooking time 7–10 minutes
Difficulty Easy
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 small chilli, chopped
- 1 bunch spring onion, finely sliced
- Ginger, peeled and grated
- 200g portobellini mushrooms, sliced
- ½ red pepper, julienne
- 100g button mushrooms, sliced
- 200g bok choy (or baby bok choy)
- 200g mangetout, half julienne and half chopped
- 100g egg noodles, cooked
- 2 tbsp mirin
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1 large handful basil, roughly chopped
- 1 large handful coriander, roughly chopped
- Sesame seeds, toasted (optional)
Method
1 Heat coconut oil in a hot wok.
2 Add the garlic, chilli, spring onion and ginger.
3 Keep a close eye on the ingredients, and just before the garlic browns, add the mushrooms and red pepper. Sauté for about two minutes, add mangetout and sauté for one minute, followed by the bok choy and egg noodles. Sauté until the bok choy is just wilted.
4 Add the wet ingredients and herbs, then garnish with some of the toasted sesame seeds.
For more information about the health benefits of mushrooms and other great mushroom recipes, visit www.mushroominfo.co.za.
Recipes & styling lisaclark.co.za
Photography Kendall-leigh Nash/HSMimages.co.za, Gallo/Gettyimages
(This article was first published in the winter 2016 issue of AA traveller magazine)
