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Award-winning chef, author and forager Alan Bergo. Food is all around you.

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Seared Prawns with Kale and Coral / Ramaria Mushrooms

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Seared prawns with coral or ramaria mushrooms, heirloom garlic butter sauce and lacinato kale Here’s a really simple, land and sea, or surf and turf combo with those Ramaria / Coral mushrooms we know and love. It took me a number of years to find species of coral fungus in my area I was comfortable with, but after I did some testing to make sure I didn’t suffer from the laxative effect that seems to plague people here and there, I’ve been off to the races with them, especially Ramaria botrytis, the pink, and most delicious coral I’ve found yet.

I’ve eaten plenty of other coral mushrooms, some purple ones and a few different yellows, if I remember, but the Ramaria botrytis are the best I have had, no question. I’ve also never had a problem with any of them, yet. For more interesting tidbits about edibility of corals, see the article on them by David Arora I shared a few years ago.

Edible Ramaria botrytis mushrooms

Ramaria botrytis, they’re nearly pink young, but they discolor quickly.

The rest of the dish could be whatever, really, but the goal is seafood, with a mushroom that looks like it should be growing in the sea. The greens are there to soak up the pan juices, but they could just as easily be spinach, or another green like lambs quarter, nettles, etc, the fun stuff. Maybe it can serve as some inspiration the next time you find a few nice Ramaria.

Prawns with coral or Ramaria mushrooms, heirloom garlic and parsley

Note the hardneck garlic, that’s what you want for this, in a perfect world, that and Italian parsley.

Oh, one more thing, if you like to make pan sauces, or, if you would like to practice pan sauces, this sort of simple deglaze-and-spoon-it-on method is a great intro, as the sauce is meant to be broken, meaning you don’t have to worry about it having a creamy texture.

Seared prawns with coral or ramaria mushrooms, heirloom garlic butter sauce and lacinato kale

Seared prawns with coral or ramaria mushrooms, heirloom garlic butter sauce and lacinato kale
Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Seared Prawns with Coral Mushrooms, Lacinato Kale and Garlic Butter

Jumbo prawns with wild coral mushrooms, kale and broken garlic butter sauce
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: French
Keyword: coral mushrooms, Prawns, Ramaria
Servings: 2

Ingredients

  • 6 large prawns u-10 or u-12 are a fine size
  • 4 oz lacinato kale stems removed, leaves cut into 2 inch squares
  • 4 oz fresh ramaria cleaned, washed and dried if needed
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 tablespoons cooking oil
  • Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
  • Fresh squeezed lemon juice to taste
  • Fresh chopped Italian parsley a pinch
  • 1/2 teaspoon high quality fresh garlic finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup dry white wine

Instructions

  • Break the coral mushroom into medium-sized pieces about the size of a walnut. If your coral mushroom is large, and clean, you might consider cooking it as a steak or a big hunk, by searing it in a pan and finishing in a hot oven. Heat the oil in a saute pan, then quickly sesaon the shrimp with salt and pepper just before they go in the pan. Do not move the shrimp once they're in the pan or they won't sear right.
  • When the prawns are golden brown on one side, flip them and add the coral mushrooms to the pan. Continue cooking with the pan on high heat for a minute or two, making sure to caramelize the mushrooms.
  • Discard the oil and add the unsalted butter to the pan, and continue cooking on high heat. When the butter is nut-brown, add the garlic, and cook for 1 minute, then remove the pan from the heat and swirl for a moment to deepen the color of the garlic, being careful to let it get dark, but not burn.
  • Deglaze the pan with the white wine, reduce by half, double check the seasoning, season lighlty with salt and squeeze of lemon and prepare to plate the dish.
  • Meanwhile, wilt the kale simply in a pan with a lid, a touch of butter and salt, without adding any color.
  • On two preheated dinner plates, arrange a bed of kale. Arrange 3 shrimp on each plate on top of the kale, then spoon the coral mushrooms and pan juices over the shrimp and around the plate and serve immediately.

 

Related

Previous Post: « Lactifluus Volemus with Shrimp, Garlic and Parsley
Next Post: Non-Bitter Tylopilus »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. DeAnna

    October 31, 2021 at 4:26 pm

    5 stars
    Very good. Question: my mushrooms turned purple when cooking, normal? Made me hesitate a bit about what kind of coral mushroom I had. Cooked in an iron skillet.

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      November 3, 2021 at 11:00 am

      Ah, DeAnna, thanks for commenting, I’m trying to gather more examples of this phemomena and track down the components/cause/particular species that this happens with. The devil is in the details here, and your cast iron skillet is to blame. In the recipe when I state, saute pan, I am referring strictly to stainless steel as it is non-reactive. Cast iron does that to a number of wild foods, but especially a few different types of wild fungus.

      Reply

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Alan Bergo
Milkweed buds are the second-best edible part of t Milkweed buds are the second-best edible part of the plant, besides the pods in my opinion. They need to be cooked to be edible. 

I only pick from common milkweed in areas where there’s very large colonies. 

I leave some buds to flower on each plant, I also avoid any tops that have insects or monarch caterpillars. Plenty of food to go around. 

#milkweedisafoodplant #foraging #milkweedbuds #asclepiassyriaca
HALP! I’ve been keeping an eye on two loaded mul HALP! I’ve been keeping an eye on two loaded mulberry trees and both got a bunch of fruit knocked down by the storms and wind. 

If anyone in West WI or around the Twin Cities knows of some trees, (ideally on private property but beggars can’t be choosers) that I could climb and shake with a tarp underneath, shoot me a DM and let’s pick some! 🤙😄

TIA

#throwadogabone #mansquirrel #beattlefruit #mulberries #shakintrees
Lampascioni, or edible hyacinth bulbs are one of t Lampascioni, or edible hyacinth bulbs are one of the more interesting things I’ve eaten. 

These are an ancient wild food traditionally harvested in Southern Italy, especially in Puglia and the Salentine Peninsula, as well as Greece and Crete. I’ve seen at least 6-7 different names for them. 

A couple different species are eaten, but Leopoldia comosa is probably the one I see mentioned the most. They also grow wild in North America. 

The bulbs are toxic raw, but edible after an extended boil. Traditionally they’re preserved in vinegar and oil, pickled, or preserves in other methods using acid and served as antipasti. (Two versions in pic 3). 

They’re one of the most heavily documented traditional wild foods I’ve seen. There’s a few shots of book excerpts here.

The Oxford companion to Italian Food says you can eat them raw-don’t do that. 

Even after pickling, the bulbs are aggressively extremely bitter. Definitely an acquired taste, but one that’s grown on me. 

#traditionalfoods #vampagioli #lampascione #cucinapovera #lampascioni #leopoldiacomosa #foraging
Went to some new spots yesterday looking for poke Went to some new spots yesterday looking for poke sallet and didn’t do too well (I’m at the tip of its range). I did see some feral horseradish though which I don’t see very often. 

Just like wild parsnip, this is the exact same plant you see in the store and garden-just escaped. 

During the growing season the leaves can be good when young. 

They have an aggressive taste bitter enough to scare your loved ones. Excellent in a blend of greens cooked until extra soft, preferably with bacon or similar. 

For reference, you don’t harvest the root while the plant is growing as they’ll be soft and unappealing-do that in the spring or fall. This is essentially the same as when people tell you to harvest in months that have an R in them. 

#amoraciarusticana #foraging #horseradishleaves #horseradish #bittergreens
In Italy chicken of the woods is known as “fungo In Italy chicken of the woods is known as “fungo del carrubo” (carob tree mushroom) as it’s one of the common tree hosts there. 

My favorite, and really the only traditional recipe I’ve found for them so far is simmered in a spicy tomato sauce with hot chile and capers, served with grilled bread. 

Here I add herbs too: fresh leaves of bee balm that are perfect for harvesting right now and have a flavor similar to oregano and thyme. 

Makes a really good side dish or app, especially if you shower it with a handful of pecorino before scooping it up with the bread. 

#chickenofthewoods #fungodelcarrubo #allthemushroomtags #traditionalfoods #beebalm
First of the year 😁. White-pored chicken of t First of the year 😁. 

White-pored chicken of the woods (Laetiporus cincinnatus) are my favorite chicken. 

Superior bug resistance, slightly better flavor + texture. They also stay tender longer compared to their more common yellow-pored cousins. Not a single bug in this guy. 

#treemeat #ifoundfood #foraging #laetiporuscincinnatus #chickenofthewoods
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