According to the Colorado Mycological Society there are 200 varieties of mushrooms growing in our Valley’s high-alpine climate and 800 statewide. In the Aspen area, the most prized edible fungi are Porcini (King Bolete), Chanterelles, Oysters and Morels. Although I have taken mushroom courses and have also foraged for them, my mantra has always been, “When in doubt, throw it out.”
In truth, most mushrooms I gather never cross my lips.
This week’s French Friday’s recipe, Chanterelles with Napa Cabbage and Nuts, was a perfect menu choice right now. Luckily, I was able to find some thin-stemmed, fan-shaped golden beauties.
Mise en Place
Napa Cabbage – You will notice later that I used three times the amount Dorie specified in her recipe.
First, however, let me introduce you to this nine-pound, nine-inch Western Giant Puffball.
Western Giant Puffball – an enormous mushroom
My friend, Donna Chase, called me last week with the exciting news that she had acquired a huge puffball. “When I was at the grocery store,” she said, “this guy had found it and asked if I wanted it.”
“Did you know him?” I wondered.
“Well, no,” she answered. “And, it smells. Steve [her husband] told me not to bring it in the house.”
“Where is it?” I asked.
“In the house,” she replied.
“If I can’t find chanterelles,” I told her, “I can always make Puffball with Napa Cabbage and Nuts.”
The next morning, another friend and I showed up at Chases for a puffball viewing. I was given the honor of slicing it open. If the interior was white, it’s considered edible. If it’s green-brown with a putrid odor, I’d be forced to continue hunting for chanterelles. These photos provide the verdict.
I eventually did find chanterelles at my grocery-of-last-resort, The Butcher Block. The Block is a great meat/gourmet market but très cher. The mushrooms cost, Gulp! Gulp!, $39.50 a pound. I was hosting a luncheon meeting during the week so this dish would be a unique appetizer. Very appropriate, in fact, since my luncheon colleagues were both terrific cooks and local Naturalists. They know their mushrooms. A bad one in the basket? They’d spot it.
Marcia Johnson, Executive Director of the Forest Conservancy, trims stems off the chanterelles.
On Wednesday, the three of us hunkered down around the cookbook and read the recipe carefully. Since this is a last minute, quickly concocted dish, we divided the chores: slicing, dicing, shredding. It is exactly nine minutes from the moment EVOO warms in the pan to when the mixture is plated. All hands on deck for the dash to the table.
My friend and fellow chef, Donna Grauer, minces the shallot.
The Accolades:“Earthy. Rocky Mountain Foie Gras. Sublime. Rich. A Little Dab Will Do Ya.”
Shallots and chanterelles, nicely coated with olive oil and on the fire.
Chanterelles with Napa Cabbage & Nuts is a stand-up/clap-your-hands appetizer. Donna’s warm baguette with herb butter was perfect for sopping up the juices. Dorie suggests serving this also as a side to a meat dish or with an herb salad for lunch. To my mind, this very special chanterelle mixture should bask in its own spotlight, sharing the stage with no one.
The complete recipe is here. My additional tips are:
1. I would add 1 cup of shredded Napa cabbage instead of the 1/3 cup suggested by Dorie.
2. Since the chanterelle blend is very rich, a 1/2 to 3/4 cup serving is sufficient.
3. Have all your preparations completed and ingredients ready before pouring your first tablespoon of oil into the skillet.
Enjoy.
Whoops! No photographs of the plated chanterelles – don’t they both look smug?
Read about my colleagues’ foraging skills on our French Fridays link right here. As I mention each week, we are an international cooking group having a wonderful time working our way through Dorie Greenspan’s Around my French Table.
During the three years of cooking-the-book, Around My French Table, I’ve been forced into the grain business. We corn-fed Iowa girls know a thing or two about grains. Yes, corn is a grain. The Quaker Oats factory in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, near my home town, is still the biggest cereal mill in the world. Our neighboring states, Kansas and North Dakota, are considered the Wheat Belt to Iowa’s Corn Belt. And, in Manchester, even as kids, we had a slight understanding of the soft Commodities Market.
Mise en Place, the ingredients needed for the salad
Dorie, however, has forced me to keep ingredients such as barley, bulgar, farro, quinoa and wheat berries in the pantry next to my rice bags and Quaker Oats box. While I’m no stranger to couscous, it’s not a grain I use often. This week’s French Friday’s recipe, Dorie’s Couscous Salad, reminded me again that salads do not always have to include lettuce.
The broth, the spices, dried fruit and couscous – ready to blend together
Couscous is a staple in North African cuisine. Geographically, think of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco, former French protectorates. It’s their day-to-day spices, a combo of ginger, turmeric, cinnamon and cumin, that make this salad so special. The couscous is cooked in spice-laden chicken or vegetable broth but once it’s cooked, the fruit and vegetable choices are yours. What’s in your fridge or fruit bowl today? Couscous salad is calling. If made a day ahead, cover tightly and refrigerate.
I raised the lid to say, hello. Still cooking.
Since Dorie’s recipe is already in cyberspace, I am printing it below. Here are my additional tips:
1.This recipe makes beaucoup de couscous, ten healthy portions. Besides my lunch, I fed the entire front office staff. (That’s why they love me.)
2. I needed more chicken broth while cooking the couscous. Make extra dressing for taste if served immediately and, definitely, if you’re refrigerating overnight.
3. I substituted dried, tart Montmorency cherries for the raisins and omitted the cilantro. The toasted chopped almonds are a crunchy touch.
Served with a smashed avocado and feta cheese sandwich on whole wheat toast, this was a delicious and filling lunch.
Quite a lunch – Couscous Salad and Stuff-on-Toast
Couscous Salad, Dorie Greenspan,Around My French Table
Ingredients:
2 cups chicken broth
2 T olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt
1 T ground ginger
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cumin
1 10-oz box quick-cooking couscous (or 8 0z of larger couscous and let it sit about 20 minutes to cook)
1/2 cup raisins (dark or golden)
1 small cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded, an cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 red pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 carrot, trimmed, peeled, quartered lengthwise, and thinly sliced
1 cup thinly sliced sugar snap peas
1 can chickpeas, drained, rinsed, and patted dry
zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup toasted chopped almonds
Preparation:
Bring the broth, 1 T olive oil, garlic, 1 tsp salt and other spices to a boil in a medium saucepan. Whisk the broth just to make sure the spices have dissolved, then stir in the couscous and turn off the heat. Scatter the raisins over the couscous, cover the pan and let sit for 10 minutes.
Fluff the couscous with a fork and turn into a large bowl. Stir in the vegetables, chickpeas, and lemon zest.
Combine the lemon juice, another tsp of salt, and the remaining 1 T olive oil, whisk. Pour over the couscous and toss well. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Set aside to cool. Add cilantro and almonds at serving time.
Member of the Clean Plate Club
If you would like to know more about grains, here’s the Whole Grains Council website. Besides Dorie’s interesting grain recipes, Deborah Madison also includes unique dishes in her Vegetable Literacy cookbook. Find my colleagues’ take on couscous on our French Fridays link. As I mention each week, we are an international cooking group having a wonderful time working our way through Dorie Greenspan’s Around my French Table.
Roasted Peppers, this week’s FFWD recipe, are a versatile, delicious and healthy veg,
This week’s French Friday’s with Dorie recipe choice is Roasted Peppers. In the spirit of full disclosure, I will admit I’d never roasted peppers before. That’s why I am able to promise that these are the most delicious peppers I’ve ever roasted. Like many of you, I get my roasted peppers from a jar and always have one jar in the fridge with two unopened jars as back-up in the pantry.
Before the fire…..
After roasting my own peppers, adding fresh herbs, garlic cloves and salt/pepper, I promise you this. Jarred roasted peppers will never grace my kitchen again. The technique and process are fun. Granted, it takes time, is messy and heats up your kitchen. I cranked up my oven to 500 degrees F rather than the 425 degrees F suggested by Dorie. (Instead of the oven, in hot weather, use your grill.)
Ready to roast in my 500 degrees F oven
But the rewards are many and plentiful, adding flavor, color and depth to a myriad of dishes. “In France, roasted red peppers slicked with olive oil, sometimes scattered with garlic, and often speckled with herbs are a time-honored bistro dish,” Dorie suggests. “They’re served as a starter with a fork, a knife and plenty of bread.”
Blistered and charred – that’s the look we’re wanting
Dorie serves her peppers as an appetizer with a fork, knife and crusty bread.
Need an alternative? I scoured the Internet and searched through my cookbooks. Here are some other great ideas to pepper-up your menus with this versatile, nutritious vegetable:
1. Red Tomato, Red Onion and Roasted Pepper Relish, an alternative to pickle relish
2. Red Pepper Hummus
3. Deviled Eggs
4. Muhammara – a hot pepper dip which blends roasted peppers, lemon, olive oil, pomegranate and walnuts. (used in Middle Eastern cuisines)
5. Roasted Pepper and Tomato Pasta Sauces, pureed or chunky, regular or meat-based.
6. Topping for Pizza, Bruschetta, Flatbread or Galettes
7. Roasted Red Pepper Soup, Bisque or Gazpacho
8. Fold into pasta or grains for an additional kick.
9. Stir into egg, chicken, tuna and potato salads.
10. Roasted Pepper Puree
11.Serve as an additional filling for fajitas
12. Roasted Pepper Dip (pureed with sour cream, Greek yogurt or cream cheese)
13. Fold into scrambled eggs, frittatas and omelets.
14. Stir into mashed potatoes (sweet potatoes, also), mashed celery root or cauliflower.
15. Add as an additional item to any sandwich.
16. Add to the steaming broth for mussels and shrimp.
17. Add roasted peppers to traditional condiments and side dishes like Ratatouille, Gremolata, Shakshuka, and Harissa (which already uses some roasted red peppers)
18. Add to roasted vegetables like corn, green beans, brussels sprouts, artichokes or zucchini.
19. Use it in your preserved lemons recipes which turns the preserved lemons into a delicious relish.
20. Have I missed anything? Now, it’s your turn.
Check out these food sites where I gleaned these many ideas: here and here and here and here and here. My Colorado friend, Michele, who blogs at Cooking with Michelle, offers many unique recipes. You’ll find Dorie’s version here. Pinterest offers other suggestions. Can’t find a particular recipe? Contact me. I’ll send it your way. Find my colleagues’ roasted peppers on our French Fridays link. As I mention each week, we are an international cooking group having a wonderful time working our way through Dorie Greenspan’s Around my French Table.
If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck. And, these are duck eggs, fresh from our local farmers market. Another first for me.
Do you sometimes have an experience, create a memory you just want to wrap your arms around and hold on to forever? Without seeming really sappy – drip, drip, drip – may I share with you a recent evening of friendship, nourishment and reminiscence.
To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of The Wilderness Act of 1964, last week three local environmental groups threw a party, the Maroon Bells Birthday Bash. The Act established the National Wilderness Preservation System, designating the original 54 wilderness areas. That’s when our beloved Maroon Bells-Snowmass area, visited by over 100,000 visitors each year, was saved in perpetuity.
Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act with the magnificent Maroon Bells as a background.
Partying on, Sunday afternoon, at the Aspen Musical Festival’s weekly concert, the orchestra got into the act of honoring the Act by playing Richard Strauss’s magnificent Alpine Symphony. Strauss created his musical homage to a trek in the Alps. For the purposes of the weekend, his Alps was to become our Rockies. That’s when I decided to call my friend, Judy Schramm, and plan a bash of our own.
Judy and I have been friends, it seems like, forever, but we never have time for each other. Sounds crazy, huh, but don’t you get that? We were among the 16 original volunteers who our mentor, Joanne Lyon, corralled into becoming forest rangers. But it was Judy and Joanne who, in 2001, founded the Forest Conservancy and nurtured it to the 120 boots on the ground we have today. We lost Joanne last year.
The best of the supper menu: Roasted Shrimp Salad, Roasted Artichoke Hearts and Colorado tomatoes.
I called Judy and suggested we attend the concert together and then have dinner at my condo. We would have an opportunity to celebrate, savor and recollect some priceless mountain memories only we share. Game on. She’d bring the vino. I’d make the food. We’d both bring the laughter and remembrances.
For an after-concert supper, I needed something simple and made ahead. Turning to Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That? cookbook, I found the perfect menu. The following two recipes were especially delicious. Although these are Garten’s recipes, I changed them some to save calories. Kept the flavor. Lost some fat.
Call a friend you don’t see often. Plan something special. It’s magic.
Good friends are like stars. You don’t always see them, but you know they are always there. Anonymous
Roasted Shrimp Salad, adapted from Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa
Serves 8
Ingredients:
2 pounds (16 to 25 count, jumbo) cooked, tails on, peeled shrimp
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon orange zest
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
1 tablespoon good white wine vinegar
1/4 cup minced fresh dill
2 tablespoons capers, drained
2 tablespoons diced shallots
2 tablespoons diced canned Jalapeño peppers
Preparations:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
1. Defrost shrimp according to package directions. Pat the shrimp dry with paper towels.
2. Place shrimp on a sheet pan. Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle on 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper before toss together. Spread the shrimp in one layer and roast for 4 minutes, turning once. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.
3. Make the sauce. In a large bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, yogurt, orange zest, orange juice, vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
4. When the shrimp are cool, add them to the sauce and toss. Add the dill, capers, red onion, and jalepeno and toss again well. Because I substituted yogurt for some mayo, my dressing is thinner than Ida’s. Place the salad in a colander to drain off the extra sauce to serve at the table in a pitcher. The flavors will improve when you allow the salad to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving. Otherwise, chill but serve at room temperature.
Roasted Artichoke Hearts, adapted from Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa
Serves 8
(The only change made to this recipe is the addition of preserved lemons. Use your leftovers in a pizza or as part of an antipasto platter.)
Ingredients:
2 boxes/bags (9 ounces each) frozen artichoke hearts, defrosted
3/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 shallot, minced
1/4 cup diced preserved lemons
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1 tablespoons capers, drained
1 jarred roasted red pepper, small-diced
1/4 cup of chopped parsley
1/4 cup minced red onion
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
1.Place the artichoke hearts on a sheet pan in a single layer. Toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, and roast for 20 minutes, turning once.
2. Meanwhile, make the vinaigrette. Place the shallot, diced preserved lemons, lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a blender or in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Blend for 5 seconds. Add the basil and blend to make a purée. With the blender running at low speed, slowly pour in 1/2 cup olive oil until all is incorporated and the vinaigrette is an emulsion.
3.When the artichokes are done, place them in a bowl and toss with enough dressing to moisten. Add the capers, red pepper, red onion, parsley, and vinegar and toss gently. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and allow to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes for the flavors to blend. If you do refrigerate this, bring to room temperature before serving.
Quick Preserved Lemons, Mark Bittman, The New York Times
To prepare the preserved lemons, first slice.
Then, dice.
Ingredients:
4 lemons, organic (or, scrubbed of wax)
(To remove wax, blanch in boiling water for 30 seconds. Then rub off the wax with a towel.)
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons sugar.
Preparation:
1.Dice lemons, including peel, removing as many seeds as possible.
2. Put the lemons and their juice in a bowl, sprinkle with the salt and sugar; tossing well before transferring to a jar.
3. Let the mixture sit for at least 3 hours at room temperature, shaking the jar periodically. It can be served at that point or refrigerated for up to a week.
Yield: About 2 cups.
Time: At least 3 hours, largely unattended
This says it all. Gâteau Basque, this week’s FFWD recipe choice, is almost too good to be true.
Odds are you have the ingredients for Gâteau Basque in your kitchen. No need for a grocery run nor special equipment. It’s an effortless preparation. The frosting on this cake (whoops, there is no frosting on this cake) is that in France, there’s even a museum dedicated to it. Hoity-toity. Something to work into the conversation as dessert is served.
This week’s French Friday’s recipe is Gâteau Basque, the traditional dessert of the French Basque region. Although it might look like a torte, galette or monster cookie, the people of this region call it cake. It’s exactly what I needed yesterday to regain my status as super-duper resident of The Gant, the 144-condo complex where I live.
Gâteau Basque, fresh from the oven. Smokey Bear shared his birthday candles with me.
Wednesday, our local Whole Foods Market in El Jebel joined with the Forest Conservancy to celebrate Smokey Bear’s 70th Birthday. Everyone would have the opportunity to see Smokey, take photos and share his birthday cake. Five percent of the WF’s proceeds that day would go to the Conservancy. Our organization hums along on a lean budget so we were psyched. So was Smokey.
When I left The Gant early Wednesday morning I promised everyone at the front office to bring back some of Smokey’s birthday cake. What was I thinking? I returned home Wednesday night only with Smokey’s birthday candles. Not good.
Choose any filling you wish for the Gâteau Basque, even vanilla pastry cream. I used wild Swedish Lingonberries.
Gâteau Basque to the rescue. I poured myself an extra-tall Gin & Tonic (it had been a verrry long day) and put together the batter: flour, baking powder, salt, butter, sugar, brown and white, eggs and vanilla extract. After dividing the dough in half, I rolled out two 8-inch disks. Since the dough is sticky, Dorie suggests placing each disk between wax paper before the roll. Refrigerate, wax paper included, for at least 3 hours. I went to bed so it was an overnight.
The next day I laid one disk in a buttered 8-inch cake pan and dressed it with wild Swedish Lingonberries, leaving 1” inch of dough bare around the border. After moistening the bare ring with water, I put the second disk on top, sealed them together and brushed with an egg glaze before making the crosshatch pattern. Forty-five minutes in a 350 degrees oven-later, you’ve got a museum-quality cake.
Dorie Greenspan’s Gâteau Basque (photo by Dorie Greenspan)
After placing Smokey’s birthday candles on the Gâteau Basque and slicing a teeny-weeny piece for myself, I carried it to the front office. I handed it off to Lucas and heard a muffled whooping and hollering as he carried it to the back room. I understand it was ‘devoured’. Mark, who returned my plate, said, “It’s something you’d expect from a fancy bakery. And you can quote me on that.”
So, I did.
Smokey Bear’s 70th birthday cake made by Whole Foods in their bakery. Note the candles.
I not only maintained my stature at The Gant but can also report on Smokey’s successful celebration. We fattened our depleted coffers by $3,984. What made the day especially great was watching the public respond to the Big Guy. The kids were excited and had a ball but the adults went all silly in the greatest of ways.
According to the Ad Council, 96 percent of the U.S. adult population recognize Smokey Bear and 70 percent are able to recall his tagline without any prompting. Our Smokey posed for hundreds of pictures, had gestures-only conversations, held babies and strolled through WF’s so each employee shift could have photo-ops. It was a Mom-and-Apple Pie day as you can see from these photos.
Donna Chase and I helped Smokey organize this event. Bright-eyed and furry-tailed in the AM. By 6pm, we all had flagged a bit.
What’s more fun than adults being silly. This was Smokey’s first photo op. Note the kids waiting patiently in the back.
The local fire guys are helping Smokey Bear remind everyone, “Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires.”
It’s late. We’re a bit silly ourselves but Donna Grauer never loses her joie de vivre. . Betsy Dunbar not only shopped but also brought us snacks. We all forgot lunch!
French Fridays with Dorie is an international group cooking its way through Dorie Greenspan’s, Around My French Table. If you want to try today’s recipe, go here. To see what my colleagues baked this week, go here.
