Gathering Wild Mushrooms in Alaska, Drying Wild Mushrooms, and 5 Recipes for Wild Mushrooms

Perfect 1 pound 10 ounce Boletus edulis

Steve arrived home from work last Friday, a briefcase in one hand and a massive Boletus edulis in the other. A smile of pure joy lit his face. “It’s time to go mushrooming.”

He handed me the mushroom, a king bolete, also known as porcino in Italy and cep in France. I weighed it: 1 pound 10 ounces. When I cut into it, the flesh was firm and pure white, untouched by worm, fly, slug, squirrel, or rot. I’d never seen anything like it. Normally, porcini this big have been heavily predated upon and are chock full of worms.

“Where’d you get this?” “Right in front of the house.” “Whataya mean, right in front of the house?” “Let me show you.” Steve brought me to a spot twenty feet from our front door.

“It’s definitely time to go mushrooming,” I said, thoughts of dinner already a distant memory. “Let’s get changed.”


Leccinum subglabripes

It’s been raining for weeks, so on went rain coats, rain pants, and waterproof hiking boots. Going mushrooming involves tromping through woods, pushing through understory, going up and down hillsides, seeking out terrain where desirable mushrooms thrive. Staying dry is key to maintaining proper enthusiasm.

Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska has moved as of March 2011. To read this post please go to


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Rules for Gathering and Handling Wild Mushrooms
The first and most important rule for mushroom foragers is: “When in doubt, throw it out.” Do not gather mushrooms that you can’t absolutely, positively identify. Leave all unknown or questioned mushrooms alone, even if it means walking past many mushrooms of every color and shape before finding one you recognize.

1. The best way to learn about mushrooms is to have someone show you the edible species; spending time studying field guides also helps. The perfect field guide for Alaska doesn’t exist.

The books I like best are...

Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska has moved as of March 2011. To read this post please go to


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Wild Mushroom Pasta Sauce

Fresh Porcini Salad with Shaved Fennel and Parmesan Cheese



Pasta with Wild Mushroom and Clam Sauce

Wild Mushroom Ragu (Pasta Sauce)

Port Duxelles

Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska has moved as of March 2011. To read this post please go to


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Recipe: Asparagus Pistachio Pesto

The sun is shining, the sky is blue, wood frogs are singing love songs in the pond, and the last bit of snow on our property melted this afternoon.  Life is good.

Today’s good fortune follows yesterday’s happy evening spent with life-long friends. The food was excellent; the conversation even better (except, perhaps, when I was motor-mouthing). Ali and Tissy made richly delicious Salmon Chowder, using wild Alaska salmon. Moira and Jake oven-roasted vegetables, always a treat.  Teeny made her famous wild blueberry pies with berries she foraged and froze last summer.

I took advantage of asparagus flooding local markets to make seasonally fresh Asparagus Pistachio Pesto sauce for pasta.  I was inspired to create pesto with asparagus by my recent success with Lime, Cilantro & Edamame Spread, one of the tastiest things I’ve made all year. If edamame beans worked for pesto, I thought, why not asparagus?

Asparagus Pistachio Pesto was a resounding success. Lemon balanced the sweetness of asparagus, pistachios enhanced its nutty flavor, parmesan added richness, and garlic and mint downplayed asparagus’s grassiness without overpowering its spring green freshness. Even 2-year-old Maggie was a fan!

Asparagus Pistachio Pesto

Serves 6-8

Asparagus Pistachio Pesto is quite versatile. It’s perfect for pasta, but would also be good with boiled potatoes, sautéed vegetables, grilled/pan-fried seafood, poultry, sandwiches, and countless other partners. Roasting or grilling asparagus adds depth to pesto’s flavor, but you may instead blanch the asparagus for 2-3 minutes in boiling, salted water, and then cool it quickly in cold water. To speed things up, on a day when you’re grilling and have a hot fire, grill asparagus and save it to make Asparagus Pistachio Pesto the next day.  Pesto may also be made ahead; if you do, leave out the lemon juice and mix it in just before serving; this helps preserve pesto’s lovely green color.  To add richness and crunch, pistachios are used in both the pesto and as a garnish, for a total of 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons nuts. If you don’t have pistachios, pine nuts make a fine substitute. 

Parmigiano Reggiano is the best quality of “parmesan” cheese available; I like using it (and best quality extra virgin olive oil) in uncooked sauces where the flavors of individual ingredients really make a difference in the finished dish.  However, any cheese suitable for grating may be substituted for Parmigiano Reggiano. (In Anchorage, Costco sells reasonably priced Parmigiano Reggiano.)  I list the amount of cheese in ounces because 1 ounce of cheese can measure 1/4 cup or 3/4 cup depending on the type of grater used.  If you can’t measure cheese by weight, add a little at a time to the processor bowl until there’s enough to richly flavor the pesto, but not enough to overpower the asparagus.

For the asparagus:

1 pound asparagus

2 tsp. olive oil

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

For the asparagus pesto:

Prepared asparagus stalks (tips reserved for garnish)

1/2 cup raw pistachio nuts, lightly toasted (to toast pistachios, see NOTE below)

2 ounces freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

3 Tbsp. best quality extra virgin olive oil

2-3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 Tbsp. fresh mint chiffonade (thinly sliced)

1/2 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. finely grated lemon peel

2-3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

For the pasta:

1 pound dry pasta of any shape or size

1 recipe asparagus pesto

Reserved asparagus tips

2 Tbsp. lightly toasted pistachio nuts, roughly chopped

Freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

Precook the Asparagus:  For grilling, heat the grill to high.  For oven-roasting, preheat the oven to 510°F (if your oven doesn’t go that high, preheat it as high as your oven goes); put in a baking sheet to preheat with the oven. 

Snap woody ends off asparagus.  Toss asparagus with olive oil and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Cook asparagus until just barely tender, about 4 minutes on the grill and about 5 minutes on the preheated baking sheet in the oven.  If using oven, when asparagus is done, take it off baking sheet immediately after removing it from oven.  Cut tips off asparagus and reserve for garnish.  Cut asparagus stalks into 1”lengths. 

Make the Pesto:  Put asparagus stalks in food processor bowl.  Add pistachios, cheese, olive oil, garlic, mint, salt, lemon peel, and 2 Tbsp. lemon juice (if making pesto ahead, don’t add lemon juice until final assembly to preserve pesto’s color).  Process until the ingredients are thoroughly combined, being sure to scrape down the bowl’s sides from time to time.  Taste and add lemon juice, as needed.

Cook the Pasta and Assemble:  Put a large pot of well-salted water over high heat until it’s rapidly boiling. Add the pasta and give it a stir to make sure pasta isn’t sticking to the pot’s bottom. Cook just until pasta is al dente.  Reserve 1 cup of pasta cooking water. Drain pasta.

Stir together cooked pasta, prepared pesto, and 1/2 cup of pasta cooking water until ingredients are well combined (add lemon juice if it wasn’t previously added to pesto). If the mixture is too thick, add the remaining pasta cooking water, as needed.  Taste and add salt, freshly ground black pepper, or lemon juice, as needed.  Top with reserved asparagus tips and pistachio nuts; toss lightly. Serve with bowl of freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese on the side.

NOTE:  To toast raw pistachio nuts, put them on a baking sheet in a preheated 325°F oven for 6-8 minutes, watching carefully to make sure they don’t burn. Take pistachios off baking sheet as soon as you remove it from oven.
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This is my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted this week Marija from Palachinka.

Recipe for Edamame Pesto Spread (Ενταμάμε Πέστο Σαλάτα)

I always keep a bag of shelled edamame beans in the freezer. They’re colorful, taste great, and very versatile.

Edamames are green soybeans, harvested while the pod is still soft and bright green. In Japanese, “eda” means branches and “mame” means beans; thus, edamames grow in clusters on the soybean plant’s many branches. Edamames are rich in fiber and protein and, like all soybeans, may have significant health benefits.

Last weekend I used them to make Edamame Pesto Spread, a garlicky bean spread loaded with fresh basil, fresh mint, and parmesan cheese. The recipe was inspired by, but quite different from, Marcella Hazan’s Ligurian Raw Fava Bean Spread in Marcella Cucina.

I often use edamames as a substitute for fresh fava beans in Greek recipes, such as braised favas with dill and onions or favas and potatoes baked in grape leaves (recipes for both are in Tastes Like Home: Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska). Recently, I used edamames in Seafood and Vegetable Stew with Rouille.

Except for the fresh herbs, which are readily available at most grocery stores, Edamame Pesto Spread is made with pantry staples. It goes together in minutes and can be served right away. As a result it’s a handy recipe to keep in mind for last minute entertaining, especially in summer when herb gardens flourish.

Edamame Pesto Spread (Ενταμάμε Πέστο Σαλάτα)
Makes about 2 cups
Serve as an appetizer with pita chips or thin slices of bread. Edamame Pesto Spread is also good in sandwiches or on pasta.

1/2 cup freshly grated (or finely ground in a food processor) parmesan cheese
2 cups shelled edamame beans (frozen), thawed
2-3 garlic cloves
1/4 cup whole mint leaves
1/4 cup whole basil leaves
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Put all the ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth, being sure to scrape down the sides of the processor bowl. Taste and add salt, freshly ground black pepper, or lemon juice, as needed.
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This is my entry for My Legume Love Affair, created and hosted by Susan from The Well-Seasoned Cook.

Grilled Cheese and Edamame Pesto Spread Sandwich

Recipes for Crispy Zucchini Flowers with Cheesy Potato-Basil Stuffing & Radish Horta (Κολοκυθοανθοί Γεμιστοί με Τύρι, Πατάτες, και Βασιλικός & Χόρτα)

Zucchini flowers are a seasonal treat that appear only briefly. Every year, I look forward to their arrival.

The flowers are fragile so must be used soon after picking. As a result, the only zucchini flowers available in Alaska are sold at farmer’s markets or grown in home gardens.

I was thrilled to arrive at the farmer’s market this morning and find a profusion of zucchini flowers. I immediately grabbed a bag and started picking out perfect specimens.

While I was making my selection, three different people asked me how to use the flowers. “Fry them in tempura batter, stuff them and fry them, cook them like stuffed grape leaves, cut them up and put in frittatas or omelets…,” I drifted off as the questioners’ eyes glazed over.

Besides the zucchini flowers, I also bought fresh basil. Waiting in line to pay, I imagined a stuffing for the flowers flavored with basil and cheese. The flavor of this stuffing was crystal clear in my imagination; I couldn’t wait to try it out.

The result was worthy of the year’s first zucchini flowers. The beer batter was light and very crispy, and contrasted wonderfully with the creamy potato-based stuffing. Basil contributed its herby essence, while the cheese tied all the flavors together.

To round out the meal, I made Horta, a traditional Greek dish of boiled greens dressed with olive oil and lemon. Any variety of edible greens may be cooked as Horta. Tonight I used fresh radish leaves, a tasty green that too often ends up in the garbage.

Part of the reason radish greens aren’t often eaten may be their fuzzy surface. I suspect a more important reason is the leaves of supermarket radishes are usually so beat up they’re no longer worth eating.

Garden fresh radish greens are definitely worth eating. When they’re tiny, and before they get too fuzzy, radish greens make a spicy addition to fresh salads. Once they get older, I prefer cooking the greens to improve their texture and mouth feel.

For more information about cooking with zucchini flowers, my friend Maria of Organically Cooked in Hania, Crete, uses them often: baked in the oven, stuffed and cooked with grape leaves, stuffed and cooked with stuffed tomatoes and peppers, and added to a green onion pie.

Crispy Zucchini Flowers with Cheesy Potato-Basil Stuffing (Κολοκυθοανθοί Γεμιστοί με Τύρι, Πατάτες, και Βασιλικός)
Serves 4 as an appetizer or 2 as a main course
Bringing frying oil to the correct temperature helps protects against greasy food. To keep the oil at temperature, don’t fry more than four stuffed flowers at a time.

Batter:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups beer

Stuffing:
3/4 pound potatoes (1 large)
1/2 cup freshly grated kasseri or fontina cheese
1/4 cup freshly grated kefalotyri or parmesan cheese
1/4 cup milk or half-and-half
1/4 cup basil chiffonade (cut in thin shreds)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

8 large zucchini flowers
Oil for frying (I use canola oil)

Make the Batter: Mix the batter ingredients until they are smooth. Refrigerate while you make the stuffing and fill the zucchini flowers.

Make the Stuffing: Wash the potatoes and boil in salted water until you can easily pierce them with a fork. Drain well. Mash the potatoes with a fork and add the remaining stuffing ingredients. Mash again until the stuffing is creamy and the ingredients well-mixed.

Prepare the Zucchini Flowers: Gently brush any dirt off the flowers; don’t get them wet or they’ll be impossible to handle. Stand one zucchini flower up in a small glass, jar, or vase. Open the zucchini flowers and remove any garden hitchhikers inside. Leave the stem attached; it makes dipping the stuffed flowers in batter and adding them to the hot oil easier. I used to remove the stamens, as many people do, but now I leave them in and think they add good flavor.

Stuff the Zucchini Flowers: Spread the flower opening so it’s wide enough to accept the large tip of a pastry bag or the cut-off corner of a sturdy plastic bag. Fill the bag with stuffing mix and pipe it into the zucchini flower. Fold three of the five flower points over the stuffing, leaving the remaining two points loose. Repeat with the remaining zucchini flowers. The flowers can be made several hours ahead to this point and refrigerated until ready to cook.

Fry the Stuffed Flowers: Heat 3/4” of oil in a Dutch oven until it is 350°F – 360°F. Dip the stuffed zucchini flowers in batter and fry until the flowers are nicely browned on both sides, turning them halfway through. Drain on paper towels. Serve immediately.

Radish Horta (Χόρτα)
Serves 1
Multiply the recipe as many times as you like; the point is greens from one bunch of radishes only serve one person. Any edible green may be cooked and served this way. The greens will taste fresher if you add lemon juice at the last minute.

Greens from one bunch of radishes
Olive Oil
Fresh lemon juice
Salt

Wash the greens very carefully, discarding any damaged leaves or stems. Cook the greens in boiling salted water for 3 – 5 minutes, or until they are just tender. The cooking time varies depending on the age of the greens, so don’t overcook.

Drain well. While the greens are hot, dress them with extra virgin olive oil and salt to taste; this helps merge the flavors of greens and olive oil. Just before serving, drizzle fresh lemon juice over the greens and toss well. Serve hot or at room temperature.

How to Harvest and Use Wild Dandelion Greens

The dandelions are coming! The dandelions are coming!

Actually, the first dandelions of the season have arrived. They’re still few and far between, but I was able to find enough to make a salad.

In honor of the occasion, I bought a piece of the best beef tenderloin I could find and made Carpaccio. I cut the tenderloin into thin slices, pounded it even thinner, seasoned it, drizzled it with white truffle oil, and topped it with fresh dandelion salad dressed with lemon and olive oil. Thin slices of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese crowned the salad.

It was glorious.




                  Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska has moved as of March 2011. 
                  To read this post please go to


http://www.laurieconstantino.com/how-to-harvest-and-use-dandelion-greens/


                  Please click on over and visit my new site. Thank you!



Carpaccio with Dandelion Greens Salad and Truffle Oil (Καρπάτσιο με Ραδίκια και Λάδι Τρούφας)Serves 2
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This is my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted this week by me - I'm looking forward to receiving a zillion entries by Sunday afternoon (May 11).