Gatherings

Earthy menu has some fun with fungi

By MAY KLISCH

Sunday, May 18, 2003

To celebrate mushrooms, the next two columns will feature two different menus for our friendly fungi.

I've never been a betting woman, so the adventure of foraging for wild mushrooms with chances my pickings might poison me is about as appealing as Russian roulette. My hunting instrument of choice -- my credit card -- is deadly enough. However, fungi foragers flourish in our midst.

If you do a Web search for "morel" and "festival" on any of the major Internet search engines, you will find that the first 20 sites are likely to be to mushroom events in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and Missouri. The largest gathering of mushroom hunters anywhere, ever, apparently occurred at the Illinois State Morel Championship in downstate Magnolia in recent years, where nearly 700 "mushroomers" popped up.

Call me chicken, but I do my foraging in the store, or at farmers' markets once they open. There's plenty to choose from in a decent specialty store. I've found nearly every exotic mushroom I've encountered in restaurants at my local stores. Dried and fresh shiitake mushrooms, which I grew up with in the Far East, are now available year-round in this country even in regular supermarkets.

I came across lovely black trumpet mushrooms the same time I was picking up the shiitakes, so I put them together for a mushroom medley with risotto, which gets infused with the depth of flavors from both fungi. They're different in texture and appearance, adding interest to the risotto. Baby Portobellos (or "bellos") are also on supermarket shelves year-round. If you find morels (and at a reasonable price), substitute them for the bellos.

In planning a meal that would delight mycophagists (aficionados of cooking mushrooms), there is no need to go overboard with the fungi as the main ingredient. If you love a great steak, add a mushroom sauce or a side dish that enhances the entree, or keep a few of the courses mushroom-free. But if you love a giant Portobello as much as you love a juicy tenderloin, go all the way.

There are also other fungi to consider for interesting twists: the Chinese use "cloud ears" or "wood ears" -- a black fungi that's crunchy -- to add texture to their stir-fries, soups and stews, as well as to lower blood pressure. There is also "white cloud" -- the blonde version of cloud ears -- which is lovely for cold salads.

In presenting your meal, perhaps it would be a good idea to give a little written background on your menu about each of the fungi used, removing some of the mystery and adding to the knowledge and appreciation of our woodland morsels.

Mushroom Medley Risotto

1/4 cup finely diced washed and dried leeks

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups (3.5 ounces) fresh shiitakes, cut into 1/4-inch slices

1 cup black trumpet mushrooms, washed, dried and sliced (divided)

2 tablespoons brandy

1 1/2 cups Arborio rice

5 cups chicken stock

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

1 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

Saute leeks in olive oil over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Add half the mushrooms, the brandy and rice. Saute 2 minutes. Stir continuously, adding chicken stock by the 1/2 cup every 15 minutes, until stock is absorbed. Add remaining mushrooms when there is 1 cup of stock left to add. Cook until rice has barely a bite in it. Stir in Parmesan and garnish with parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Makes 6 servings.

Consomme of Enoki

and Onion

2 tablespoons butter

1 sweet yellow onion, peeled, sliced

5 cups vegetable or chicken stock

Pinch of white pepper

1 package (4 ounces) enoki

2 tablespoons chervil

In saucepan over medium-high heat, melt butter and saute onion until carmellized. Add stock and pepper, and let simmer 15 minutes until onions are very soft. Trim enokis of their root section, add to stock and turn off heat. Ladle into soup bowls and garnish with chervil. Makes 6 servings.

Chicken Stuffed with

Baby Bellos and Wild Rice

1 large shallot, diced

1/3 cup olive oil (divided)

2 cups baby Portobellos, cleaned and cut into 1/4-inch dice

1/2 cup diced water chestnuts

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

2/3 cup cooked wild rice

6 large skinless boneless chicken breast halves

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon salt

Saute shallot in 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, water chestnuts, soy sauce, sugar, white pepper and rice and cook, stirring, 3 minutes. Let cool.

Make deep, lateral slit in chicken breast from its broader side, like a pita pocket.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Stuff each breast with 2 to 3 tablespoons filling, then seal with toothpicks. Rub lightly with lemon juice and sprinkle with salt.

In saute pan, heat remaining olive oil. Saute chicken on each side about 3 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to casserole and bake 15 to 20 minutes until cooked through. Makes 6 servings.

May Klisch is a marketing communications consultant, freelance writer, food enthusiast and home cook who lives in Shorewood with her husband and their two young daughters. E-mail her at mklisch@wi.rr.com. George Watts & Son Inc. supplies tableware and linens for the photos.

A HOST OF TIPS

-- Yes, you have to stir the risotto.

-- If you're interested in morels, try www. morelmasters.com or any of the other sites you'll find.

-- There is such a thing as a mushroom brush to clean mushrooms, which in general should not be washed. Exceptions are the dried Chinese "ears" and dried shiitakes, which should be soaked in water to reconstitute, and their stems removed.

-- Store mushrooms in an airtight container in a cool and -- what else -- dark place.

-- There are mushroom growing kits for a great variety of edible mushrooms at your local garden center, if you want to save a little money and keep the 'shrooms handy.

A FEAST FOR MYCOPHAGISTS

Mushroom pate with olive bread

Wild mushroom carpaccio

Consomme of Enoki and Onion

Mushroom Medley Risotto

Chicken Stuffed with Baby Bellos and Wild Rice

Saute of fiddlehead ferns

Wild or domesticated berries

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