wild mushroom bourguignon.

i first had this dish 11 years ago while pregnant with the duke. i've been making it ever since. and because i got inspired by the many wonderful food porn sites out there, i thought i would document my efforts and share them with you!

best to make when wild mushrooms are plentiful and therefore less expensive at the market.

wild mushroom bourguignon

1/4 c butter or olive oil (i use a combo of both)
4 c wild mushrooms (whatever is available, tonight i used chanterelle, shiitake, and oyster) leave whole if smaller, woody stem part removed...halve or chunk if bigger
1 sm. red onion, sliced into rings
2 c green bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch squares
2 c red bell pepper, julienned
1 c yellow onion, diced
1/4 c fresh garlic, minced
2 tsp. thyme
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. white pepper (often i use black, definitely gives it a bite if you don't have white and don't want a bite, just use a bit less black)
1/4 c soy sauce
1 c burgundy
1 c heavy cream
3/4 lb fettuccine (mostly i use a whole grain pasta which i often can't find in fettuccine, but really any pasta will do...rice, even)


assemble all your ingredients.

melt butter/olive oil in large skillet over medium heat.

add mushrooms, onions and peppers and saute until tender, about 15 mins.


it seems like a lot for the pan at first. but it will cook down. i use a 12 in. skillet.


see, after about 5 mins. it becomes a bit more manageable.

after 15 mins. add garlic, thyme, salt and pepper. saute five more minutes, stirring enough to not let the garlic stick and burn.


i like to cook with wine.


occasionally i even add it to the food


a word about the wine. of course any classic bourguignon uses red wine. burgundy to be exact. sometimes i do get a burgundy if i can find a good one...this is not always possible, unless i want to get the cheap jug. and i don't, because of the old adage that you don't want to cook with what you wouldn't drink. plus, i'm not very fond of burgundy in general.

soooo, i often switch it up. tonight i just so happened to have an open bottle of a big, toothy red. a good substitute for a typical burgundy, in my humble wine drinking opinion.


french red table wine.

so, add the wine and the soy sauce. increase heat and reduce by half. then, add the cream (i use half and half because i always have half and half, and if you're calorie conscious it's a savings) and again, reduce by half.

in the meantime bring some water to boil for pasta.

and now for a word about cooking pasta...for the best, most tasty pasta, you want your water to mimic the mediterranean sea...no little pinch of salt, no little dash. only a palmful will give you the taste you want!

you get a palmful of salt and add it when the water boils, before you add the pasta...and less water than you think. generally, we cook pasta in too much water and we lose flavor as a result of this.

cook to al dente. drain, and toss with a little olive oil.

normally i wouldn't, as olive oil prevents the sauce from sticking fully to the pasta, but because of the way it's served, the olive oil prevents the pasta from sticking together on the platter.

put the pasta on a platter, pour the sauce over the top and serve hot.



admittedly, this is not a sexy dish upon completion. i think it's a combo of the amount of time it spends cooking, rendering the veggies less colorful, and the fact that i use a cast iron pan. a different pan perhaps would yield a more vibrant looking veggie in the sauce. (also, the light was bad for this shot)

BUT, regardless of its appearance, it is a tremendously delicious dish...great for a vegetarian main dish, or as an alternative for die hard meat eaters. they won't even miss the meat!!! plus, i read once that with the exception of soybeans, mushrooms contain the most protein of any vegetable!

enjoy!

x.

(this recipe comes from the silverwater restaurant/cookbook in port townsend)