After Lucia’s closed, I didn’t feel like running another restaurant quite yet, so I negotiated a part time job consulting on the menu of a little French restaurant near Edina. I was slumming, but I just couldn’t bear tackling another large operation just yet. It wasn’t a good fit. I ended up turning what was…
Wild Mushroom Recipes
Candy Cap Marshmallows
Candy cap marshmallows are exactly what they sound like, and they’re one of the most creative candy cap recipes I’ve ever worked with. Credit goes to my favorite pastry chef. I’m not a pastry chef, but I always loved collaborating with them, since they were the conduit that allowed me to speak to guests through…
Almond Candy Cap Cookies
Simple butter cookies are a tried and true recipe for using up those dried candy caps, and David Arora even shares a recipe for them in his excellent book All That the Rain Promises and More (get yourself a copy if you don’t have one, it’s a good, portable reference for when you can’t bring…
Candy Cap Flan / Creme Caramel
Flan infused with candy cap mushrooms has been on my list to make for years now. I finally got to it, and, yes, it’s a great recipe for those delicious, maple-y tasting candy cap mushrooms, darling of mushroom enthusiasts the world round that they are. Flan vs Creme Caramel Real quick, for culinary nerds, flan…
Buckwheat Kasha with Mushrooms and Onions
Buckwheat kasha with wild mushrooms and onions is a classic piece of Eastern European comfort food you need to try. I was ignorant of it for a long time, and I can’t believe it took me so long to get around to it. For me, it’s a dish that’ll always be tied to a particular…
Daikon Radish Steaks with Wild Mushroom Ragu
Vegetarian or not, you’re going to love these little daikon radish steaks with wild mushroom ragu, but first, I have to give credit to where my inspiration came from. Like most of my colleagues, I’m always hungry for new information and secrets from others in the culinary industry. You can find recipes for just about…
Steamed Fish with Trotter-Mushroom Sauce
Flecked with mushroom duxelles, lemon and herbs, trotter mushroom sauce is one of the richest sauces for fish I know of. When I have trotters, the first thing I usually make are crispy-fried cakes, but this earthy, mushroomy, herby sauce lifted with lemon is a great recipe for using up leftover minced trotter (you’ll have…
Chanterelle Spaghetti with Roasted Garlic-Wine Sauce
Earlier this year my former chef, friend, and mentor Chef Andy Lilja gave me a ring during chanterelle season to tell me how awesome his dinner was. Some of my favorite recipes are those from my chef friends, either restaurant staples, or things that they make at home, and I keep track of them whenever…
Wild Mushroom Tom Kha Gai (Thai Coconut Soup)
Oh this is a good one, and a recipe for chicken of the woods (or other wild mushrooms like hen of the woods) I’ve been meaning to get up for a while. Tom kha gai is a classic Thai soup typically using chicken, mushrooms, coconut milk, and a few aromatics. It’s a well known soup,…
Chicken of the Woods Wild Rice Casserole
It’s getting colder outside, and I’m starting to crave that cold weather food. Stews and braises have happened already happened, but one thing that’s been gnawing at me was a good, solid casserole. Coming from the Midwest, I have casserole in my blood, and there’s nothing like the classic chicken wild rice casserole laced with…
Cauliflower Mushroom Steaks
Cauliflower mushroom steaks are an analogy to one of the most popular recipes for hen of the woods I’ve shared: cutting them into big chunks and cooking like a piece of meat. Cauliflower mushrooms are like hen of the woods in that they’re often large–much larger than many other mushrooms, but unlike hens, cauliflower mushrooms…
Steamed Cauliflower Mushrooms with Ponzu
Oh how I love cauliflower mushrooms. Sparassis radicata, Sparassis crispa–I don’t care if they come from the East Coast, West Coast, or Timbuktu, all I know is that they don’t grow in the Midwest, for all intents and purposes. Once in a while, when our fall mushroom season winds down in Minnesota, I might order…
Angelos Dried Wild Mushroom Ragu
A simple ragu of wild mushrooms was one of the recipes on the saute station back in the day when I was working at the now-closed Trattoria Da Vinci under Chef Angelo Volpicelli. Angelo was super talented, barely spoke English, and had owned his own restaurant in Rome for 12 years. Twelve years is a…