‘What’s your favourite dish?’ – a silly question, pretty unanswerable unless you’re a seven-year-old who refuses to eat anything apart from rice pudding. ‘What would you eat every day if you could?’ is another one of those because, pretty damn obviously, the variety is part of the appeal in food. If I had to eat the same thing/dish/meal every day I’d come to hate it very soon.
But wild mushrooms come close to answering both those questions, perhaps due to being hard to get for me. The market stalls of Munich and Lyon at this time of year is where I’d like to LIVE; camp with a tiny gas stove and a pat of butter. Helas! even the single, fearfully pricey stall in my local weekly market that used to sell tiny quantities of skanky girolles and a few ceps is now gone.
But for those lucky ones who can buy or forage wild mushrooms, try the simple pasta with wild mushrooms this week, or if you fancy something fancy, beef roulade with fresh porcini, skipping the rehydration stage from the recipe. But to just enjoy them on their own, as a dainty lunch dish or the star of a dinner, cook the sautéed wild mushrooms with just a touch of seasoning and cream.
I hear people are not keen on game so much anymore; indeed my butcher’s counter is empty of partridges or quail. Not sure what the reason might be; after all it’s the most free range meat and relatively affordable too. Chicken fillet’s tenderer and safer? For those wise folk who won’t agree with the above, partridge breast fillet with grilled peppers may be a recipe of interest. And the next time you plan cooking a steak, swap beef for venison with red wine sauce – the flavour will knock you off your feet. Serve it with Parmesan turnips, a real discovery of a new roast vegetable which will make you forget carrots and parsnips.
There is a new recipe on CF for lemongrass fish with samphire which I’m quite pleased with. There is also a good oaty breakfast recipe: fruit and oat bowl, so check out the breakfast recipes pages.
Finally, cakes. I’ve baked an apple Kuchen last weekend (recipe coming soon) but you might prefer the brown apple cake which is so ridiculously easy to put together it’s embarrassing. Or bake some bars – maple shortbread bars for instance – also easy and the only problem is they tend to disappear too quickly.
Don’t miss new recipes, subscribe to the newsletter. Coming soon on Fiend: Greek spanakopita, simple sesame noodles and grilled sea bream.