I had people over for dinner last night. My first entirely vegetarian meal, as several of the folks who planned to come required vegetarian fare. One was sick and couldn't make it. No worries though. Now that I know I can make decent vegetarian fare, I plan on doing so more often.
Wild Mushroom Stew with Gremolata
INGREDIENTS
Stew
- 4½ cups quartered shiitake mushrooms (about 8 ounces)
- 4½ cups quartered cremini mushrooms (about 8 ounces)
- 1 (8-ounce) package button mushrooms, quartered
- 1½ tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 2 cups thinly sliced leek (about 2 medium)
- 1 cup chopped fennel bulb (about 1 small bulb)
- 1 cup (1-inch-thick) slices carrot
- ¾ teaspoon salt, divided
- 2 cups Mushroom Stock
- 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh or
¼ teaspoon dried tarragon - 1 teaspoon chopped fresh or
¼ teaspoon dried thyme - 1 teaspoon chopped fresh or
¼ teaspoon dried sage - 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can chopped tomatoes, undrained
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon water
Gremolata
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1 teaspoon grate lemon rind
- 1 garlic clove, minced
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 450°.
- To prepare stew, combine mushrooms and 1 tablespoon oil in a single layer on a jelly roll pan. Bake mushrooms at 450° for 30 minutes, stirring once.
- Heat 1½ teaspoons oil in a Dutch oven over medium head. Add the leek, fennel, and carrot; cook 5 minutes. Sprinkle leek mixture with ¼ teaspoon salt. Cover, reduce hear, and cook 10 minutes. Uncover, add the mushroom mixture, stock, and next 7 ingredients (stock through tomatoes). Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer 5 minutes. Stir in ½ teaspoon salt. Combine cornstarch and water. Stir cornstarch mixture into the mushroom mixture, and cook 1 minute.
- To prepare gremolata, combine parsley, lemon, and garlic. Serve with stew.
Notes on my preparation: I was a little behind time-wise, so I used the dried spices instead of taking time to chop fresh. I also completely skipped the gremolata. This makes a lot of stew and it didn't seem like that little gremolata would add too much flavor. I also don't have a jelly-roll pan anymore, as I cooked something onto mine that I couldn't get off. So I just used a cookie sheet for baking the mushrooms.
Mushroom Stock
INGREDIENTS
- 5 cups water
- 1 cup dried porcini mushrooms (about 1 ounce)
- ½ cup chopped celery
- 1/3 cup dry red wine
- ¼ cup dried lentils
- 2 fresh thyme sprigs
- 1 fresh sage sprig
- 1 whole head garlic head, halved
INSTRUCTIONS
- Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer until reduced to 2 cups (about 40 minutes). Strain stock through a sieve into a bowl, discard solids.
Yield: 2 cups.
Notes on my preparation: I used a slotted spoon to strain the solids out. I wouldn't recommend this. I ended up spilling a good half cup of stock while trying to get this strained. I need to pick up a strainer again.
I also made a lentil salad, which I really had to mess with the recipe a bunch. Tina and Deborah liked it. I think it was decent, but I want to try it prepared according to the recipe to see if it improves it. I will add that recipe in this entry later.
Marinated Lentil Salad
INGREDIENTS
Vinaigrette
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Salad
- ½ cup chopped parsnip
- ½ cup chopped carrot
- 6 cups boiling water
- 1½ cups dried lentils
- ½ cup thinly slicd celery
- 1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions
- 3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
INSTRUCTIONS
- To prepare vinaigrette, combine first 6 ingredients in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Set aside.
- To prepare salad, cook the parsnip and carrot in 6 cups boiling water for 1 minute or until tender, remove vegetables with a slotted spoon. Add lentils, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes or until tender, drain in a colander. Cool.
- Combine parsnip, carrot, lentils, celery, onions, and parsley in a bowl, stir in vinaigrette. Marinate at room temperature for at least 20 minutes.
Notes on my preparation: I used no carrots. I only picked up enough carrots for the first recipe. I also just cooked the celery and parsnip with the lentils. Since we were short on time, we mixed up the vinaigrette with the barely cooled lentils and served right away. Perhaps 10 minutes after they were done cooking. I think it was all right, but the lentils didn't have time to soak up the vinegar, so I think that was a bit strong of a flavor. I liked it, but if you aren't a vinegar fan, the salad prepared this way won't knock your socks off.