Chef Thomas Keller’s Wild West Tales of the Mushroom Outlaws

Also: Double “Truffle”: Mushroom Risotto and Chocolate for “Givers” Class

Chef Keller, my hero.

The weather has taken a turn for the better according to most of us here in Northern California. Just don’t ask the mushroom hunters. Too warm and too sunny is too bad for the intrepid pickers that haunt the back doors of a “who’s who” of top restaurants including my new friend, Chef Christian, Caiazzo’s Osteria Stellina with their baskets and boxes of (safe, expertly foraged) fungi that simply cannot be cultivated. No one describes this secret culinary phenomenon as well as the Bay Area’s own rare “act of nature”, Chef Thomas Keller, in his classic “French Laundry Cookbook”. Simply entitled, “The Mushroom Lady”, his chef’s story describes the life’s work of Napa hunter Connie Green who hunts at night to better catch the phosphorescent glow of black trumpets in her flashlight’s glow with her mushroom knife open in case she meets up with a mountain lion.
No, really.

Connie’s “Day” begins…

"She has allied herself with an outlaw culture, a group of men and women called circuit pickers, who make their living on what’s known as the Mushroom Trail, picking wild growths from Northern California up to the Yukon. They live largely outside society, in tents and cheap motels, and are known by nicknames (Yankee Jim, Coke Bottle Danny). Connie meets them at a rickety motel they’ve dubbed the Mushroom Palace, where they stay up late drinking and telling stories of the trail, and in the morning Connie returns to Napa with their mushrooms- Cèpes: morels; Lobster mushrooms; Matsutaki; the lacy, floral scented cauliflower mushroom: and the remarkable, rare Candy Cap, a mushroom that smells and tastes like maple syrup." ~Thomas Keller, The French Laundry Cookbook   

He has a way with food and a way with words.

 

         Chef Caiazzo’s Mushroom Risotto

Here is a superb recipe for Wild Mushroom Risotto, inspired by the season and the recent cooking class complete with mushroom stories by Chef Caiazzo (see the post from January 18th). It uses a combination of dried mushrooms for intense flavor and wild and cultivated ones for texture and color. Do take the time to brown the mushrooms well; it brings out the unbeatable flavors of the fickle season.

As we keep looking for the sun, the hunters keep looking for the rain as they pick their way over mossy hill and secret dale. What a tale…

And now for CHOCOLATE truffles: Hands-on with wine!

Celebrate Wine and Chocolate on Feb. 8 -- Learn to make delicious hand-rolled chocolate truffles for gifts and parties in a special class from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 8, at Fresh Starts Cooking School.

The evening opens with Mexican hot chocolate and churros while Chef Luis Realpozo, artisan for Homeward Bound's famous Halo Truffles, demonstrates how to make a simple chocolate ganache and roll it into gourmet treats.

Guests will make a pound of their own truffles to take home with guidance from Chef Luis and Chef Rachelle Boucher, who will share her tips and chocolate lore.

To cap off the evening, enjoy a Mexican chocolate mousse with a pairing of wines from Novato's own Starry Night Winery. Tickets cost $45, including dessert, wines and take-home treats. For reservations, please visit Fresh Starts Cooking School online. 

Wild Mushroom Risotto
{Print the recipe here}

Every fall and winter, my husband and I forage for wild mushrooms like the chanterelle pictured above. This risotto uses a combination of wild, cultivated and dried mushrooms for sensational flavor and texture. It is often said that the character of a cook is reflected in the quality of their risotto, so I always step up my game when making risotto! It does take time and care to make a great risotto, so there is probably some truth to that tale. Recipe adapted by Chef Rachelle from www.mieleusa.com

½ ounce dried porcini or morel mushrooms (about equal to 4 ounces of fresh mushrooms)
8 ounces of wild and/or cultivated mixed mushrooms, such as chanterelle, porcini, Portobello or cremini
About 4 cups homemade chicken or vegetable stock
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
1 ounce pancetta, (an Italian rolled bacon) cut into small dice
2 medium shallots, minced
1 cup Arborio rice
1 large garlic clove, trimmed and minced
½ cup dry white wine
½ cup grated Parmigianino Reggiano cheese, plus more for serving
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, for finishing risotto
Kosher salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup chopped Italian parsley

1. Soak the dried mushrooms in 1 cup boiling water for 30 minutes. Scoop the mushrooms out with a slotted spoon, reserving the liquid. Rinse the rehydrated mushrooms, removing any remaining grit and set aside. Line a small strainer with cheese cloth or a coffee filter and place it over a small bowl. Pour the mushroom liquid though the strainer and set the liquid aside as well.
2. Trim any dried ends from the fresh mushrooms if needed and rub all the dirt off of the caps with a paper towel. If you are using Portobello mushrooms, remove the black gills by scraping them away with a teaspoon. Slice into wedges or 3/4 inch pieces and set aside. There should be about 3 cups of chopped mushrooms. In a small saucepan, add the strained mushroom soaking liquid to the stock and keep at a slow simmer.
3. In a large deep sauté pan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter with the olive oil over moderate heat. When a single mushroom piece sizzles when dropped into the pan, add the raw mushrooms and cook, tossing until mushrooms turn golden, about 10 minutes. Add chopped shallots, reconstituted dried mushrooms and pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally, until cooked, about 5 more minutes.
4. Add rice and garlic and stir over moderate heat for 4 minutes or until the grains are well coated. Add wine and simmer until liquid is absorbed, stirring frequently, about 2 minutes. Add enough of the stock just to cover the top of the rice (a couple of ladlefuls). Lower the heat so the added stock just simmers with the rice and stir constantly until the liquid has been almost completely absorbed. Continue this way until the rice is cooked through but still al dente, adding water to the pan if needed at the end. The process of adding the liquid will take a total of 20 to 25 minutes. When done, the risotto should be thick and creamy. Off the heat, stir in the Parmesan cheese and butter. Season to taste with salt and pepper and stir in half of the parsley. Add a few final ladles of stock for a creamy finish and serve hot with extra cheese and chopped parsley on top.