Basmaticoconutricewithmushroomsandzucchini Food

SPRING PASTA WITH MUSHROOMS, CHILES AND SPRING PEAS

Steps:

• Bring a small pot of water to a boil and salt generously. Prepare an ice bath. Blanch the peas in the boiling water until bright green, about 20 seconds. Transfer immediately to the ice bath. Once cool, drain completely.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season with salt until it tastes of lightly salted broth. Once boiling, add the pasta and cook according to the package instructions until al dente.
• While the pasta is cooking, in a large sauté pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic, shallot and pepperoncini and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the maitake and oyster mushrooms and cook until softened, another 3 to 4 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the white wine.
• When the pasta is cooked to al dente, add the pasta to the pan with the mushrooms directly from the pot, reserving the pasta water. Allow the pasta to finish cooking in the mushroom sauce, about 1 minute. Add the peas, butter and Fresno chile and stir to coat. Turn off the heat and add the Pecorino Romano in handfuls, stirring in between additions to prevent lumps. Add pasta water to thin the sauce as desired. Finish with the basil and a drizzle of olive oil.

PORK MARSALA WITH MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Place the pork chops between 2 pieces of plastic wrap and pound with a mallet or heavy skillet until 1/4-inch-thick.
• Sprinkle the pork on both sides with salt and pepper. Put the flour in a shallow dish and dredge the pork in it, shaking off any excess.
• Heat the olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add half of the pork and cook until browned and cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove to a plate and set aside. Repeat with the remaining pork.
• Add the mushrooms to the skillet and stir. Cook until golden brown, 5 to 6 minutes.
• Pour in the Marsala and beef broth and stir to deglaze the pan, scraping up the browned bits. Cook until the liquid is reduced by half, 5 to 6 minutes. (If the liquid reduces too quickly, splash in more broth as needed.)
• Whisk the cornstarch into the heavy cream in a small bowl. Pour into the sauce mixture and let it bubble and thicken for another minute.
• Turn off the heat and stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Serve the pork with the Buttered Noodles and spoon some of the mushrooms and Marsala sauce on top. Sprinkle with the parsley.
• Add the egg noodles to a pan of salted boiling water and cook according to the package directions, 6 to 7 minutes.
• Drain, put back in the pan and add the butter, then season with salt and pepper. Add the parsley and toss.

BASMATI COCONUT RICE WITH MUSHROOMS AND ZUCCHINI

Steps:

• Melt 1 oz of butter in a medium sized pan and fry the rice and cumin seeds till the rice is translucent.
• To the rice add the coconut, stock cube and lemon rind, and water. Bring to the boil, stir rice ONCE, reduce heat cover the pan and cook for 12 minutes turn heat off and leave to stand.
• While the rice is cooking :-.
• Melt the other oz butter in a frying pan and fry the mushrooms and zucchini till just soft. Add to the rice and serve.

BUCATINI WITH MUSHROOMS & SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Tip the dried porcini mushrooms into a large pan with 600ml boiling water from the kettle. Set over a low heat and simmer for 10-15 mins until slightly reduced to make an intense mushroom stock.
• Heat the the oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Squeeze the sausagemeat from the skins into the pan and fry for 5-8 mins, breaking it up with a wooden spoon as it cooks, until lightly browned.
• Meanwhile, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Drop in the bucatini and move it around using tongs to prevent it sticking together. Cook for 9 mins. Meanwhile, add the garlic and chilli flakes to the sausagemeat and fry for 1 min before pouring in the wine. Cook for 5 mins more until the wine has reduced, then tip in the rehydrated mushrooms and the stock (you should have about 350ml). Season with salt and black pepper, then bring to a simmer.
• After roughly 9 mins, use the tongs to move the bucatini directly from its cooking water into the mushroom sauce. The mixture will seem quite watery at first, but the trick is to finish cooking the bucatini by simmering it in the broth - it will soak it all up and take on the earthy flavour. Keep moving the pasta in the broth using the tongs for 3 mins, or until most of the water has been absorbed. Stir in the cream, a grating of nutmeg and the parsley. Stir well, taste for seasoning and serve topped with lots of parmesan.

CHICKEN, MUSHROOM, AND RICE SOUP

Steps:

• Place chicken, carrot, celery, onion, and bay leaf in a stockpot. Add 4 quarts of cold water, or enough to cover the chicken. Bring to a simmer on high heat. Reduce heat to low; simmer gently until the meat can be easily pulled off the bones and is no longer pink in the center, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Remove the meat and bones to a bowl and allow to cool enough to handle, about 10 minutes. Leave the stockpot over low heat. Separate the meat from the bones and skin and break it up into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.
• Transfer the bones and skin back to the stockpot and continue to simmer on low until needed.
• Melt butter in a soup pot over medium-high heat until it starts to brown. Add mushrooms and salt; saute until mushrooms are well browned. Add garlic and diced onion and saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Strain in 4 cups of the chicken broth from the stockpot and bring to a simmer. Add black pepper, cayenne, and thyme. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Add rice and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes. Taste for seasoning and add more salt if needed; remove thyme stems. Stir in the chicken meat and a few more cups of the chicken broth to achieve the desired texture. The soup will continue to thicken as the rice swells, so more may be needed if you want a thinner soup.
• Let simmer until chicken is heated through and has absorbed the flavors, and rice is fully cooked, about 15 minutes. Taste one last time for seasoning. Adjust with more broth as needed. Serve immediately.

VEGAN MENUDO WITH MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-low. Add chiles and cook, turning constantly with tongs, until slightly darkened in color and fragrant, about 3 minutes. (Be careful not to burn chiles or they'll become bitter.) Transfer chiles to a medium bowl, leaving oil behind in skillet; reserve skillet. Pour 3 cups hot water (6 cups if doubling base recipe) over chiles and weigh down chiles with a smaller bowl to keep submerged. Let soak until softened, about 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cook onion, garlic, and salt in reserved skillet, stirring occasionally, until browned and slightly softened, 12-15 minutes. Add oregano and cumin and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer onion mixture to a blender.
• Add chiles and 1 cup chile soaking liquid to blender and purée, adding more soaking liquid if needed, until smooth. (If you don't have a high-powered blender, you may want to pass purée through a fine-mesh sieve.) You should have 2½ cups chile base. If you have less, add more chile soaking liquid and blend again to combine. Do ahead: Chile base can be made 5 days ahead. Let cool; transfer to an airtight container and chill, or freeze up to 3 months.
• Drain hominy and place in a large pot; pour in fresh water to cover by 2". Season generously with salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and partially cover. Simmer, adding more water as needed to keep hominy covered by 2", until hominy is tender and blooming (maize has burst), 1½-2 hours.
• Bring broth to a boil in a medium pot over medium-low heat; season with salt. Add mushrooms, remove from heat, and let sit until mushrooms are softened, 10-20 minutes.
• Using a slotted spoon, transfer, mushrooms to a cutting board. Cut mushrooms into bite-size pieces with a chef's knife or kitchen shears and add to hominy along with broth, chile base, and 2 Tbsp. dried oregano. If the soup is very thick, add water to loosen. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until flavors meld, 20-30 minutes. Taste menudo and season with more salt if needed.
• Divide menudo among bowls. Top with onion, cilantro, red pepper flakes, and more oregano. Serve with tortillas and lime wedges for squeezing over. Do ahead: Menudo can be made 3 days ahead. Let cool; transfer to an airtight container and chill. Hominy will continue to soak up liquid as it rests, so you may need to add more water or broth when reheating.

CHICKEN MARSALA WITH MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper.
• In a large heavy skillet heat oil and 1 1/2 tablespoons butter over moderately high heat until hot and brown chicken in 2 batches, transferring to a plate as browned.
• Discard all but 1 tablespoon fat from skillet and sauté onion and mushrooms, stirring occasionally, until liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated.
• Add Marsala and cook mixture, stirring, until Marsala is almost evaporated.
• Add broth and chicken with any juices that have accumulated on plate and simmer, turning chicken once, until cooked through, about 15 minutes.
• Transfer chicken to a platter.
• Simmer mushroom sauce until liquid is reduced to about 1/2 cup.
• Remove skillet from heat and stir in remaining 2 tablespoons butter and salt and pepper to taste, stirring until butter is just incorporated.
• Spoon mushroom sauce around chicken and sprinkle with parsley.

CHICKEN BREASTS WITH MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Slit the chicken breasts partly through the side, to create an 'envelope'. Try to slice at the thickest point and not all the way through. Spread 1 tablespoon of cream cheese inside the chicken breast and press the two sides together to reform the shape of the breast. Sprinkle with ground pepper to taste. Put to one side.
• Melt the butter in a frying pan and gently fry the onions and mushrooms until the onions are soft. Turn up the heat to a medium/high level and add the chicken. Cook on one side for about 5 minutes (depending on size) or until cooked on that side. Turn each breast over and cook for a further 5 minutes (again depending on size) or until cooked. Try not to over cook - but always ensure the chicken is completely cooked. Don't worry if the cream cheese starts to leak out of the breasts - it all adds to the flavours later.
• Turn the temperature back down a little, and add the wine (or water) to the pan (around the chicken). Followed by the mustard, thyme and stock cube. Bring to the boil. Let this gently simmer for 10 minutes. Serve with whatever is preferred - but it is good to have something to absorb the sauce. Leftovers freeze very well.
• I've usually add some garlic when cooking the onions and mushrooms, but that is just personal preference.