Green Around the Gills

Substituting the portobella mushroom for a beef patty is nothing new. And why wouldn't it be? It's easy and quick. If you feel you eat too much red meat (which I and much of North America does), portobella is an excellent alternative to a burger.

Last post, I was discussing everyone's favourite fungus, the mushroom. But there is way too much to cover and so I had to cap it off.

What many people may or may not know is that the common white mushroom, the cremini and the portobella mushroom are basically the same thing. What differs them from one another is the maturity level. I imagine many of you can figure out which mushroom has been allowed to grow the longest. That's right! You guessed it. It's the portobella. Or is it the portobello? Oh, whatever. You get what I mean. Because the portobella has been allowed to mature and grow, the gills can bleed quite extensively. Some chefs I've worked for would cut out the gills while other chefs couldn't be bothered. In my opinion, I leave them in for most recipes and will cut them out for only a few recipes. For example, Mushroom Polenta or Cornbread. The gills bleed and makes the polenta very grey looking and very unappetizing. Or maybe a chowder or a cream sauce where I want to retain the white colour. As you can see, I determine it for the sake of appearance. Not so much for texture or flavour.

Then again, many of you may not care about the appearance. But, I think, to a certain degree, everyone does. Every time we go grocery shopping, we are bombarded with magazine covers where the dishes look ridiculously delicious. Or on T.V. where these chefs seem to make these gorgeous dinners in less than half an hour. And because of this, can it not be said that we start to want our own food to look this good all the time? Appearance matters. When you buy beef, do you normally base your judgment on the redness of the beef? Even though the colour can be very deceiving. Sure, grey beef is not usually a good thing, but just because the alternative is red, doesn't mean it's fresher. With a quick flash of carbon monoxide, that meat can stay red much longer after it's gone rancid. Scary. How about produce? If you see two red peppers where one is a perfect shape and other looks curled over and slightly disfigured. Which do you buy? If you said the perfect one, why? Will it taste better?

Anyways, appearance matters whether we like it or not. So, keep the garnishes coming!

Grilled Portobello Mushrooms on a Foccaccia

6 Large Portobello Mushrooms, washed
1 Red Pepper
100 ml Balsamic Vinegar
100 ml Oil
2 Garlic Cloves, crushed
Drizzle of Honey
1 Package of Arugula
Small Package of Blue Cheese (Gorgonzola is good), crumbled
6 Foccaccias
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Score the cap of the mushroom with two cross hatches.

Marinate mushrooms in oil and balsamic vinegar and two cloves of crushed garlic.

Coat red peppers with oil and grill peppers until blackened on the outside. Place in a sealed bag and close. Steam through for 10 minutes. Remove and let cool. Peel skin away and discard innards. Keep flesh of peppers.

In a hot grill pan or on the BBQ, grill mushrooms for 3 minutes per side. Remove and cut in half.

On a foccaccia, rub last clove of garlic on the inside. Place arugula, peppers and mushrooms in panini. Add desired amount of cheese.

Makes 6 sandwiches.

A Humble Chef's tip: if it's winter time, cook your peppers in the oven at 400 for 30 min. Less smoke will emit if you roast them.

Variation: Goat's Cheese over the blue if you don't like blue cheese.

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Girls Just Wanna Have Fungus

When you break down what a mushroom is, it seems a bit strange that we eat it. I mean, it's a spore bearing fungus. It's not a plant. It's weird, isn't it? And yet, so delicious. I suppose the same can be said about drinking the milk from a cow or a goat. It's a bit weird.

It is a goal of mine to learn how to pick mushrooms (a mycophagist they are known as) and certainly intend on going through with it. Where I live, there are pockets of morel mushrooms which I never had growing up. But, as an adult, have become quite fond of. If you've never seen a morel, they are quite different in appearance to common mushrooms you buy at the grocery store. They have a cool honey comb look to them. However, you can buy them at most major grocers dried (much like porcini) and are usually very expensive. At least for a humble chef like me.

However, there are many other types of 'shrooms that you can eat that are much more affordable. They usually have a stem, cap and gills. We all know of the white mushroom that are usually farmed and delivered across the continent. In the same family is the ever popular cremini and portobella. I am fond of shitake, enoki and somewhat indifferent to oyster. But that's just me. In all, there are supposedly 14,000 varieties. Wow.

It goes without saying, here is a vast amount information to give about the intrepid toadstool, but that would be over-bearing. So, I will break up mushrooms 101 into several posts.

Here is a super duper easy recipe that is strictly an appetizer.

Field Mushrooms on Crostini

2 Baguettes, cut in rounds
1 White Onion, medium dice
1 Clove of Garlic, crushed
2 Sprigs of Fresh Thyme
Juice of a Lemon
200 ml Olive Oil
25 – 30 Mushrooms, cremini, portobella and shitake
150 g Asiago Cheese, grated
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven on roast at 400. On a baking sheet, lay out crostinis. Drizzle some oil over top and sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper. Roast in oven for 5-7 minutes or until golden crusted.

In a large frying pan, heat oil. Saute onions and garlic for 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes. Add lemon juice and continue to cook.

Let cool and add thyme and asiago garnish.

Season carefully to taste.

Makes about 30 crostinis.

Variation: serve the cooked mushrooms in phyllo cups as a side to a steak. Cool.

A Humble Chef's tip: be generous with the garlic. It tastes good.

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