The combination of peas, meat, mushrooms onions is a tried and true stand one. At an Italian restaurant I used to work at, we had very popular menu item called “Fettuccine Bosciola”(meaning in the style of the forest).
This recipe is a fun play on the traditional ingredients, using them as the basis for a dish with yellow perch. Instead of the traditional ham, I’m using tongue here, and in place of the typical button mushrooms most places use I’m using a sauce made from dried yellowfoot chanterelles, which are really versatile. Since it’s finally spring time here in Minnesota, ramps make a great substitute for the onion component in the dish.
Perch with Ramps, Peas, Tongue, and Yellowfoot Chanterelle Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 recipe dried yellowfoot chanterelle sauce follows
- 8 yellow perch filets scaled
- 1/2 cups shelled english peas frozen peas work fine too
- 1/2 cup ramp leaves sliced into 1/2 inch squares
- 1/4 cup sliced ramp bulbs and their red stems
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter plus a bit more for cooking
- 2 oz braised tongue or ham diced
- A 50/50 mix of fine and course cornmeal for dredging the perch
Instructions
- Heat the tongue and sliced ramps in a tbsp of unsalted butter on low heat. Add the peas, season to taste with salt and pepper and reserve.
- Before you saute the perch, add the ramp leaves to the pan with the tongue and sliced ramp bulbs.
- Heat a pan until with a tbsp of grapeseed oil and a tbsp of unsalted butter, season the perch with salt and pepper and roll in the cornmeal to coat. Cook the perch skin side down until golden, pressing on them with a spatula to prevent bowing and curling.
- When the perch are cooked through, turn the heat back on the peas just to warm them through, then place some of the pea, ramp and tongue mixture on each of four heated dinner plates. Place 2 pieces of perch on each plate, garnish with the yellowfoot chanterelle sauce and serve immediately.
Dried Yellowfoot Chanterelle Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/2 ounce dried yellowfoot chanterelles
- 2 cups chicken or fish broth preferably homemade
- Kosher salt
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
Instructions
- Rehydrate the yellowfoot mushrooms in the stock and wine for 30 minutes until soft, then agitate them to remove any dirt. Remove the mushrooms, strain the liquid, then recombine the two.
- Heat the mushrooms and liquid until it is reduced by 75%, then season to taste with salt and reserve.
- Heat the mushroom sauce and whisk in 1 tsbp of unsalted butter until the sauce thickens slightly. Keep the sauce warm and reserve until ready to plate. You may need to whisk the sauce occasionally to prevent it breaking. If the sauce starts to break and look oily, add a tbsp cold water, return it to the heat, and whisk vigorously to re-emulsify it.
spence diamonds vancouver
perch with dried yellowfoot chanterelle sauce, ramps, peas, and tongue