Behold the julienne-a molten hot, cheese crusted, creamy mushroom extravaganza. Just about every hunter of Eastern European descent I’ve talked to has told me about this dish in some way shape or form, and for good reason.
If you look around, there’s plenty of recipes for mushroom julienne out there, most using button mushrooms. When I first heard about this and wrote it down in my diary of recipes to make, I knew that cultivated mushrooms wouldn’t have a place in it. The way I see it, if I wanted to make a julienne it needed to be worthy of the name. After reading Valentina Pavlovna describe the way Russians love their Borovik (a species of bolete) I knew only some perfect bolete buttons would do.
If you’re a mushroom hunter from the Midwest, you know it’s nigh impossible to find bug-less baby boletes. Well it took a couple years, and perfect timing, but I got some. Suffice to say, it was worth the wait.
It’s rich as hell, so this is one of those things you make once in a while, but it is definitely a great way to enjoy some fresh boletes. If they’re young enough, they’ll keep their crunchy texture, which is really something to savor. In all reality though, just about any mushroom that likes cream (exclude matsutake here) would be great cooked like this.
Fresh Porcini or Bolete Julienne
Equipment
- Ceramic or other baking dish
Ingredients
- 4 oz young porcini or other bolete buttons cleaned, trimmed, and sliced 1/4 in thick
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 1/4 cup yellow sweet onion diced 1/4 inch
- 1 tablespoon green garlic diced 1/4 in (chopped regular garlic or scallions can be substituted)
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 2 teaspoons all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup grated grana padano parmesan can be substituted
- 1/4 cup grated gruyere
- 1 pinch Fresh chopped thyme (optional)
- Fresh grated nutmeg What I refer to as "a suggestion of fresh grated nutmeg", just a couple gratings, not too much
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil or lard in a saute pan until nearly smoking. Add the porcini and cook over medium-high heat until browned and caramelized, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.
- Remove the porcini from the pan and season with a pinch of salt and pepper, then add the remaining tablespoon of oil and saute the onion and garlic on medium-low heat, or until translucent and completely cooked through.
- Add the porcini and any juice they're given off back to the pan with the onions, add the fresh thyme, then add the tablespoon of butter and heat to melt. Stir in the nutmeg and flour and cook for a couple more minutes, stirring occasionally to remove the raw flavor from the flour. De-glaze the pan with the wine, then stir in the sour cream and cheeses. Double check the seasoning for salt and pepper, and adjust if needed.
- At this point the mixture should be thick and creamy, with a consistency a bit thicker than cream sauce. Transfer the mixture to an oven safe casserole and bake until bubbly and browned, about 15 minutes depending on if you have a convection oven or not. Allow the julienne to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Notes
Do you think I could use duck confit for the oil? Also, could I make this through putting in a oven safe casserole and put in the oven about 30 minutes before serving? It would be in the frig for a day so I would give it a bit more time in the oven. Thanks
If you are asking if it’s ok to use the fat left over from making duck confit, sure, that would be fine. You could definitely make it ahead in a casserole and reheat it too, just give it a little extra time, like you mention.
Why the emphasis on bug-free when they’re smothered in all that cheesy creamy goodness?
Somehow in reading this, which focuses on texture, I wonder about expanding it into mushrooms like parboiled (to the point of low bitterness, but not entirely gone) Russula laurocerasi & other Russulas that are parboiled before cooking. Such mushrooms have nice texture, but get low on the flavor after the parboil, so if we’re going w/texture….
Hi Sam, I emphasize the buttons being bug free because too much bug damage can ruin the structure and texture of boletes, as you well know. Coarsely chopping semi-bug eaten porcini or other boletes could be a way around it though, I suppose. Typically I save damaged boletes for drying though.
Oh man if your poor mushroom ID doesn’t kill you, the cholesterol will! I just made this with some Lilac Boletes I picked over the weekend, and it’s wonderful. There are a few discrepancies between your ingredient list and directions… I’m happy I chose the 1 tbsp of butter over 2…it’s already swimming in fats. Thanks for posting!
ooh, just making a note for later use… we just put this into my girlfriend’s nutrition app and it calculated 97 g of fat and 1035 calories… 24 g of protein too, which’ll make you strong should you have survived it.
Thanks for catching the tiny typo, you will see them here, since I’m a chef, not a copy editor. As far as the calories go, yes, this is a special occasion dish, I didn’t invent it, I swear! 🙂
Can you recommend an amount for the fresh thyme and nutmeg please? I see them in the instructions, but they aren’t listed with the ingredients.
Good eye. It’s hard to copy edit yourself, so that happens from time to time. I adjusted it in the recipe, it’s just a bit to taste of each, skip the thyme if you have to.
Thank you SO much for responding so quickly! Just in time in the cooking process! I really appreciate it.