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Vegetable Confit with Hedgehog Mushrooms

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Vegetable Confit With Hedgehog Mushrooms With the restaurant menu that changes all the time and small amounts of cooler space that might have 20 different people go in them a day, one of the most important functions of my job is the careful organization of coolers, and proper delegation to employees of what I want done with things in order to minimize waste and maximize the use of meat and vegetables in their prime.

One day I noticed we had a bunch of  small bags of vegetables, a few hedgehog mushroom buttons, a couple heads of romanesco, and the last cardoons of the season.

I already had a vegetarian dish on the menu, and wouldn’t need another one for at least a few days, but the vegetables needed to be processed now or they would start to suffer.

I remembered how I used to confit mushrooms and potatoes in olive oil, and I thought I’d do a similar hybrid with classic vegetables a la Grecque. Anything cooked al Grecque (Greek) is going to taste a little pickled, but with this version I cut down the vinegar because I wanted to serve it as an entree. I wanted the little veggies to taste perfectly seasoned, but more like something that’s been marinated as opposed to pickled, just enough vinegar to make them sparkle.

Vegetable Confit With Hedgehog Mushrooms

Thumbelina: a small species of carrot grown for it’s orb shape and a good example of a sturdy little vegetable to braise.

The vegetables did a great job for the weekly vegetable entree along with some cakes made of locally ground Indian corn polenta and feta whipped with lemon. Afterwords we had some left over so we even sold them as a side dish, which I might like even better.

You can use any sort of vegetables for this really, but the best ones for look and texture will be young baby vegetables and mushrooms-they’re more tender and pleasing to eat like this. Tiny vegetables are also cute. For the mushrooms, make sure to use small buttons that hold there shape and don’t need to be caramelized to taste good. Chanterelle and hedgehog mushroom buttons are great candidates. Here’s a few examples of vegetables that would be good in this:

  • Young tiny potatoes or fingerling potatoes sliced into coins
  • Thumbelina carrots
  • Romeo carrots
  • Baby artichokes
  • Baby turnips
  • The smallest chanterelle, hedgehog or other mushroom buttons you can get
  • Baby onions
  • Cauliflower
  • Baby romanesco halves or quarters
  • Roots like salsify, scorzanera or burdock
  • Sunchokes
  • Small Brussels sprouts

Vegetable Confit With Hedgehog Mushrooms

Vegetable Confit With Hedgehog Mushrooms
Print Recipe
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Vegetable Confit with Hedgehog Mushrooms

Yield: 2.5 quarts or roughly 10 portions
Prep Time45 mins
Cook Time30 mins
Course: Appetizer, Main Course
Cuisine: French
Keyword: A la Grecque, Hedgehog Mushroom
Servings: 10

Equipment

  • Parchment

Ingredients

  • Vegetables and mushrooms
  • 1 lb young hedgehog or chanterelle mushrooms
  • 2.5 lbs mixed vegetables trimmed into similar sizes and shapes (the following vegetables are a guide)
  • 1/2 lb baby turnips quartered or halved depending on size
  • 1/2 lb baby carrots halved
  • 1/2 lb cardoons peeled and trimmed into 1 inch diamonds
  • 1/2 lb Romanesco trimmed into florets
  • 1/2 lb baby fennel quartered
  • For the olive oil braise
  • 3 cups extra virgin olive oil or smudes virgin sunflower oil
  • 1/2 qt dry white wine
  • 1/4 cup champagne vinegar
  • 2 cups vegetable broth
  • 1/4 cup garlic cloves lightly crushed
  • 2 tablespoons kosher salt
  • For the bouquet garni tie these ingredients in cheesecloth
  • 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
  • 2 fresh bay leaves
  • Small handful of fresh thyme
  • 1 tablespoon toasted caraway seed
  • 1 tablespoon whole juniper berries

Instructions

  • If any of the vegetables are harder than others, like any root vegetables (carrots) blanch them for a few minutes in boiling salted water to soften them, and make sure they cook at the same rate as everything else, then shock in an ice bath and reserve.
  • In a wide pot with high sides, like a rondeaux or brazier, heat the oil with the garlic until sizzling. Cook on medium-low until the garlic is browned lightly, then discard the garlic and add the vegetables, bouquet, and confit ingredients and bring the mixture to a simmer, covering the top of the vegetables with a cartouche of parchment to ensure even cooking.
  • Simmer gently until all the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes, then cool immediately, transfer to a labeled, dated container and reserve until needed. If you're worried about the vegetables overcooking, or if you're mixture boiled a bit hard, put it in an ice bath, or metal bowl over ice to cool.
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kathleen Rodgers

    July 21, 2019 at 2:44 pm

    I just gathered about a half lunch sack of various cracked cap and other mild green russula and was wondering if you had ever cooked them like this recipe.

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      July 26, 2019 at 10:45 am

      Go ahead, although I would probably make duxelles out of them since mine are usually bug damaged.

      Reply

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Sam Thayer dropped 25 lbs of his highbush cranberr Sam Thayer dropped 25 lbs of his highbush cranberry cultivars (3 types!) on me before the last snowfall and I honestly don’t even know where to start after processing them. I’d already made jams and hot sauce already and I have enough for a year. 😅

Great time to practice the cold-juice which ensures the juice isn’t bitter. 

Anyone else have any ideas? 

You can still find some on the shrubs if the birds didn’t get them up by the north shore. 

#highbushcranberry #winterforaging #birdberries #sweetnectar #foragerproblems #juiceme #embarassmentofriches #wildfoodlove
100% wild candy bars. I don’t usually make raw v 100% wild candy bars. I don’t usually make raw vegan snacks, but when I read about Euell Gibbon’s wild hackberry candy bars I had to try them. The  originals were just crushed hackberries and hickory nuts, but, I’ve read that Euell grew to dislike the crunch of hackberry seeds later in life. 

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The end product is a shelf stable, nutrient-packed bite filled with protein, carbohydrates, fats and natural sugars infinitely adaptable to your local landscape.

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#euellgibbons #energybars #hackberry #crushin #paleobreakfast #tradionalfood #wildfoodlove #rawfoods
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#hackberry #souffle #wildfoodlove #chokecherry #blackwalnuts #brunching
Hackberry milk is a sort of rustic nut milk made f Hackberry milk is a sort of rustic nut milk made from ground hackberries and water. I grind the berries to a meal, then simmer with 3x their volume of water, strain through a chinois (without pressing) season with maple and a pinch of cinnamon. Tastes like pumpkin pie in a glass, also a decent cooking medium. 

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If you’re in the Twin Cities the nocino I collab If you’re in the Twin Cities the nocino I collaborated on with @ida_graves_distillery for 2020 is on the shelves @surdyksliquor along with our spruce tip liquor. I’d give it a couple weeks before they sell out. 

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#nocino #liquor #distillery #craftspirits #blackwalnuts #mnwinter
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