Savory Soil

This preparation starts out with, what I call, a crumble(e.g. hazelnut, almond, chocolate, milk).  When they are dark I call them soils, or dirts. They are usually sweet, but savory crumbles are just as easy to make. This crumble is then re-hydrated with a mushroom puree to make it a little bit moist, just like real soil.
Ingredients:
100g water
55g almond, roasted

42g olive oil

32g shiitake mushroom, stems removed

11g black trumpet mushroom, dried
20g sugar
4g salt
74g butter
57g egg
170g flour
6g squid ink

30g Mushroom Puree, amount varies depending on how moist you want the soil

Method:
Bring the water to a boil and pour it over the almonds. Let the almonds sit in the boiling water at room temperature until they reach room temperature. Let this sit in the fridge overnight. Slice the shiitakes 3mm wide and lay them on a silpat. Bake at 170F for 1 hour. Remove the mushrooms from the silpat and saute in the olive oil. Once they are lightly browned, remove the mushrooms and place them back onto a silpat. Bake at 200F for 2 more hours, or until they are dried out. Place the shiitakes into a blender. Remove the almonds from the water(you can use the water for something else) and place them, along with the olive oil from cooking the mushrooms, the black trumpets, sugar, salt, butter, ink, egg, and butter into the blender with the shiitakes. Blend on high until smooth. Remove this mash from the blender and place into a bowl.  Add the flour and mix into a dough. Rest the dough in the fridge for 2 hours. Roll the dough out 1mm thick on a silpat and bake at 250F for 1 hour. Let cool and crumble into what looks like soil. Add the mushroom puree little by little until you have the consistency you want. Season with additional salt, lemon juice, or truffle oil if you are into that sort of thing.

Plate it up!

Carrots, sunflower sprouts, borage flowers, buna-shimeji mushrooms, and torchon of foie gras in a mushroom soil

I'll have a pimms cup please...

Conservatively,

Adam

Mushroom Purée

The texture of puréed mushrooms is unique, but is not luxurious on its own. Adjusting the consistency with shallot and sunchoke make the finished purée more integrated and smooth. The best part is you can get a great flavor from common white button mushrooms, no need to drop dollars on expensive mushrooms.
Ingredients:
320g button mush scraps
100g shallots
62g butter
35g dolin dry
205g mushroom stock + 100g (water?)
65g sunchoke
20g olive oil
10g tamari
5g apple cider vinegar
5g lemon juice
Method:
Chop the mushrooms into small pieces, slice the shallots and the sunchokes. Fry the mushrooms and shallots in the butter until the butter, shallot, and mushrooms brown thoroughly. Add the dolin and cook until dry. Add the mushroom stock, or water if you don't have it, with the sunchokes. Cook until dry. Blend on high while streaming in the olive oil, vinegar, and tamari, along with with extra 100g of stock. Once smooth, taste and add more salt or acid.

Here is what it looks like when you put it on a plate, and what Shiraz looks like when he is blow-torching foie gras.

Plate it up!

Beef "Wellington"

Super savory, yet fluffy, and unburdening.

Crossly,

Adam

Morels

I really enjoy mushrooms, but the fact that many of them live off of either decaying plants or dung makes me think twice. These creatures of decay are still dear to me, but I am definitely aware of how they are harvested or cultivated.  It gets a little tricky when you consider that different members of the fungus family grow differently, and therefore require their own unique handling concerns.
Morels are particularly difficult to clean because of the structure of their cap. Cutting and then soaking them in water is the only way to really get them clean. I decided to see what the effect of washing would be on these morels. I did three different trials: the first was just cut in half and brushed(no water), the second I cut, washed, and let dry for 3 hours on a cloth in the fridge, the last I cut, washed, and cook immediately.
Morels are great stewed or cooked in a liquid, but I figured I would sauté them and then lightly glaze with butter and excess pickled shallot liquid(just enough to prevent the butter from breaking and impart some flavor). I think cooking them this way gives the greatest chance of showing any differences in the cleaning process. I was also sure not to overcrowd the pan and get just a little bit of browning while sautéing(early signs of browning would be the stopping point for all of the trials).

Keep in mind I didn't just rinse the mushrooms quickly under water, I soaked them in water and let them sit. I then stirred them, changed the water, and did the same thing again, for a total of three times.

For pictures and comments on the cleaning process and pommes anna check out my picasa page here.

The results:

The brushed morels were gritty. However, they browned the fastest, about 50-60 seconds faster than the washed and dried and 110-120 seconds faster than the freshly washed. The freshly washed morels had exactly the same end texture as the washed and then dried mushrooms, but again, they took the longest to color. All of the mushroom had the same texture after cooking (although ignoring the grit to determine this was difficult with the unwashed). It seems to me that washing and then letting the mushrooms sit overnight, or a few hours, in the fridge is the best method, but washing and cooking immediately is just about as good.

So... plate it up!

Shallot glazed morels over crispy katahdin potato pancake

Thats how I would write it if I was avoiding using French terms, not that I don't like the French.

As you wish,

Adam