Mushroom Recipes | Finding Feasts

Wild Mushroom Tarte Tatin with Taleggio and Vino Cotto Drizzle

Wild Mushroom Tarte Tatin with Taleggio and Vino Cotto Drizzle… With Mother’s Day only a month away, I thought I would put up a recipe that would surely bowl her over, especially if you turn up with a bottle of bubbly to go along with it – it would certainly put a smile on my face!

I have used Pine Mushrooms aka Saffron mIlk Cap Mushrooms because the colour is so vibrant and they still retain a firm texture (and I have a ton from our last mushrooming venture!) but if you are having trouble getting a hold of them you could use a Swiss brown and button mushroom mix.

The Vino Cotto adds a gorgeous sweetness to the earthy mushrooms and the melted Taleggio is to die for. Each crispy bite is heaven!

This is such an adaptable dish for whatever the occasion is as you can make a large version to share around a table, or individual tarts that can be served with a little salad on the side as an entree or even as finger food, made in little muffin tins to pass around at parties – and everyone is going to love them!

Happy Mother’s Day! Blondie

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Coq au Chardonnay

Coq au Chardonnay… Autumn is officially here and with the change of season comes a change in cooking. Long, slow, labour intensive meals start rolling around in your mind. Maybe a moussaka with it’s silky bechamel sauce, seasoned lamb mince and salted and grilled eggplant slices or wild mushroom arancini with a well rounded risotto base using homemade stock, letting it cool and lovingly forming balls to fry up the next day… ahhh, the joy of cooking.

As opposed to the above paragraph this Coq au Chardonnay is a relatively quick dish because you are using chicken (you can’t let it cook too long or you loose all the texture of the meat) but enjoy the process of chopping your vegetables, browning the chicken pieces and letting all the flavours develop together.

Coq Au Chardonnay is not unlike the French coq au vin, which is traditionally done with a red wine, but this version is a little lighter, maybe a little more autumn than the heavier red wine dish that has it’s place on my winter table.

Enjoy the cook 🙂

Blondie

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Gruyer Stuffed Mushrooms

Stuffed Mushrooms with gruyer — Click on image for recipe

Each year, around November I ask myself the same old question…what the heck happened to the year? I mean it seems that one week I am packing up the Christmas tree, the next I am explaining to Imogen why Woolworths has Easter eggs out when we still have Christmas wrapping waiting to be recycled and shortly after it’s back to making Santa lists!

Regardless of how fast the year flies by I have to admit, I love the silly season. After 11 months of working your fingers to the bone there is a sense of relaxation, that care free attitude, happiness, drinks and parties and more drinks!

So with the cocktail and Christmas parties literally just around the corner (some of you have have gotten a head start) here is a divine finger food recipe that goes well with wine and or bubbles. Guryer stuffed mushrooms. Its dead easy to make and your guests will be lining up for more and more!

Got a favourite finger food recipe?

Wishing you a a fantastic silly season!

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Pork meatballs w/ wild mushroom sauce

Finding Feasts - Pork Meatballs with Wild Mushroom Sauce — Click image for recipe

A few weeks ago Blondie and I teamed up with the awesome guys from Stockman’s Ridge wines for Orange’s annual Frost Fest festival. On the menu were their wines and our food inspired by this years mushroom picking season.

Blondie and I were very fortunate enough to get a private tour of the Stockman’s Ridge vineyard earlier on this year and what a beautiful vineyard it is! I highly recommend a visit to this beautiful part of the country.

Finding Feasts - Pork Meatballs with Wild Mushroom Sauce

When it comes to winter and food I am a sucker for anything that is hearty, saucy and cooked s-l-o-w-l-y so that the flavours can develop into a rich taste explosion with each mouthful I take.

I’ve grown up eating meatballs or as we call them in Poland, Klopsiki. My favourite ones are mum’s, of course! She makes them out of pork mince and no matter how hard I try, I can never recreate her yummy sauce but this time I have a secret weapon! FinSki’s wild mushroom powder.

So my dear reader…love meatballs? What’s your secret recipe addition to make these a hit!

Bella

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Wild Rabbit and Mushroom Pie

Wild Rabbit Mushroom Pie — Click image for recipe

Yes, another pie… but how good are they?! If every dish could be put into pie form then I would be a very happy person.

My first proper memory of rabbit was back in Finland where, when staying with family at their summer house, we had freshly caught rabbit for dinner. What made it memorable for me was that my piece still had the bullet in it. Kind of a thrill when you’re a kid

This Wild Rabbit and Mushroom Pie is an easy, slow cooked dish and made even easier by keeping the rabbit whole, which I prefer when doing rabbit as a shredded meat as you have less chance of getting splintered bone into the meat – Rabbit is notorious for it’s bones splintering into the tiniest of shards if not cut properly and cleanly. Just be mindful of the leg bones, best to wash the legs and make sure there are no loose splinters around there.

If you’ve never tried rabbit before I highly recommend you giving it a go. It’s a great tasting, very lean meat that works well braised… and makes a nice change from chicken.

Blondie

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Braised Beef Cheek and Mushroom Pie

Braised Beek Cheek and Mushroom Pie — Click image for recipe

Well, with Frost Fest 2013 now done and dusted, I have to say that for Bella and myself, for our first restaurant service, we kicked ass! Rave reviews for our mushroom dishes from everyone who dined at the vineyard and now an eagerness to get ourselves out at the markets before Christmas… what a thrill it was, so a massive thank you to Jonathan, Jess and Valerie of Stockman’s Ridge Wines for having faith in us to compliment their wines with our dishes… a much appreciated learning experience.

With that said, here is one of Saturday’s sellout dishes, Individual Braised Beef Cheek and Mushroom Pies. The original pie recipe I had planned for was a Rabbit and Mushroom Pie, but with a complete lack of rabbits in Orange at that particular time I needed to change it. So after a discussion with the butcher I left with 2kg of beef cheeks and 7kg of chicken carcasses (for the rich chicken stock). With the luxurious texture of the beef cheek and silkiness of the gravy teamed with the mixed mushroom topping, it was sure to be hit! I was completely inspired by a recipe I came across at Grazing At Large‘s food blog, the changes are only due to substituting ingredients that I didn’t have available, that and punching up the mushroom quota and intensity.

The beef cheeks were sourced through M&J Butchers in Orange, NSW and what a treat they were too. Already trimmed of fat and ready to go, and the flavour was outstanding!

The greatest thing about this dish is if you are having a group of people for a dinner party, the three different elements can be pre prepared and then assembled and reheated when needed. Serve with a walnut salad on the side with a mustard and balsamic dressing and you are sure to wow your guests with such a flavoursome dish.

Cheers and enjoy!

Blondie

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Beef and Mushroom Cottage Pie

Beef and Mushroom Cottage Pie… What’s more warming on a cool winter’s evening than a pie, and not just any pie, a cottage pie… The beautiful full flavours of the meat and mushroom mixture blanketed with a thick layer of soft, fluffy mashed potatoes. This is the meal that you make a big batch of so you can freeze the leftovers in easy single meal versions and can just pull out of the freezer when you need an embracing food hug.

If you can, try to get organic, pasture fed beef. The difference in flavour is outstanding and when you are cooking something as homely as cottage pie, the flavours of each component are particularly important – that, and it’s nice to use meat from happy animals. The beef I have chosen for this pie is from Greenhill Farm and if you are lucky enough to live in Sydney or Canberra you can place your orders for pick up.

bellissimo! Blondie 🙂

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