Button mushrooms with dried porcini mushrooms are a great taste combo

Hi R

I'm back!  Where have I been?  Publishing and marketing the book "Mosman Meanders & foreshore flavours", following up with a "Balmoral Picnic" e-book, new grandchildren etc...  How did life get to be so busy?

 

You are moving to a new season of course, and mushrooms of all varieties, transcend seasons and cuisines. 

C 

ps - My newest grandson is an absolute dreamboat!

 

Porcini Mushrooms
 

These delicious, earthy mushrooms are a favourite in French and Italian cooking. They have a smooth texture and a pungent, woodsy flavor.

Dried mushrooms have a more concentrated flavour than fresh. Always soak dried mushrooms in very hot water for 20 minutes or until soft before using. Delicious in soups, stews, sauces and with pastas, meat and poultry, along with the liquid used for reconstituting the mushrooms.
Both fresh and dried mushrooms contain unique compounds that are believed to boost your immune defence.






Dried porcini mushrooms combine well with fresh mushrooms
to make a tasty side dish or  dip.
 

 

 

 

 

 Porcini mushroom sauce / dip

I head garlic
60g / 2 oz dried chopped porcini mushrooms
250g / 8 oz  button mushrooms - chopped
1 bay leaf
sprig thyme
1/4 cup  extra virgin olive oil
1/4  cup sherry vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper
Salt
Handful flat leaf parsley  - chopped


Preheat oven  to 180 degrees C/ 355 degrees F
Baked garlic - Cut top third of garlic head away to expose the flesh.  Wrap garlic head in oiled foil and bake for 30-45 minutes until tender. Squeeze out the flesh of the garlic and set aside.
Meanwhile, pour boiling water over porcini mushrooms and leave  for 30 minutes. Lift porcini mushrooms from liquid and squeeze.  Reserve liquid.
Put porcini and other mushrooms into a flameproof dish with rest of ingredients (excluding garlic) and cook for 30 mins until tender.
Remove bay leaf and thyme.  Add garlic, mushrooms and all juices then process to achieve a coarse puree, or leave whole to serve as a side dish. Add parsley and season to taste. Serve with crusty bread or as a sauce to accompany meat or chicken.

Click on 'comment' at bottom of page to have your say or email

A Retro post to warm you up as the snow melts

Hi R
I hope you received your copy of 'Mosman Meanders & foreshore flavours'.  A retro post to warm you up as the snow melts in Milwaukee. 

2010 - A beautiful day of 'lightwriting' on a field trip at Bradley's Head, Mosman, Australia, with photographer Christopher Maait. Thanks Chris for your expertise and guidance at the Mosman Community College- and in helping me to feel confident and aware re taking better photos; (as I hope you will agree from viewing the video below.)



Chris - Yes I know, I focused on the background
instead of on you.

Cheers C
ps - this was before we started the book -   See how much younger you look.  Only joking!

 

Post a Comment

We would love to hear your feedback. If you don't have a google account you can comment as "anonymous."
Or email mosmanmeanders@gmail.com

Click on 'comment' at bottom of page to have your say or email

Blue Rocks & fruits of the sea on Australian foreshores

Hi R
Some more foreshores  warm you up during your cold winter.
Rita cooked this dish for us at beautiful Nambucca Heads where the rocks are an incredible light blue. 

Her reply below, well Google's actually, to the question, "Why are the rocks blue?"
"Glaucophane is a sodium-rich blue mineral. The name glaucophane means 'showing blue'. Glaucophane is usually found in basalts that have undergone the high-pressure, low-temperature metamorphism typical of subduction zones."

Perhaps there were pirates on the coastline - anyway this was a version of Spaghetti Marinara which was superb.  I like the way the seafood is served on top of the spaghetti as it looks more appetising.
Clara

SPAGHETTI BUCCANIERI (for 4) {Pirate’s Spaghetti OR Spaghetti a la Rita}

SUGO:

Gently (not too hot) in a small fry pan, fry 4 large, crushed, garlic cloves in olive oil for a minute – just to infuse the oil with garlic.
Add 4 quite ripe roma tomatoes, chopped up into smallish pieces.
Turn heat down, put a lid on the fry pan, and let simmer while doing the rest of the meal and until well reduced. Stir occasionally.
Add salt, t-spoon of sugar, herbs (recipe says just lots of parsley, but I add basil and sage too) a dollop of red wine and cayenne pepper to taste (I used about 1/3 t-spoon – could take more), and 2 heaped tablespoons of Leggo’s sundried tomato and roasted garlic mix, (smallish square bottle) …all about 5 mins before serving. Cover and simmer some more.

Cook 400 g. spaghetti with a dollop of oil in the water to keep strands separate.

While it’s cooking, fry the seafood in a little olive oil. You need about 200g per person. I use Woolworth’s marinara mix, which is white fish, salmon, small prawns, calamari and mussels and add a few large prawns or whatever else I fancy. (I cook each type separately, prawns and calamari for no more than a minute a side – probably less depending on size/thickness; and place each lot in a small saucepan with lid, on stove top alongside, but not over, heat itself. Salt lightly and stir through.)
Heat bowls if necessary.
Drain spaghetti into a colander, shake to remove excess water, return to pot (ensuring no water left in it) and immediately add extra virgin olive oil, tossing it through.
To serve: pour sugo over spaghetti and mix through so it’s all well coated. Place in serving bowls. Add seafood, ensuring different types are evenly distributed amongst the bowls, and gently lift the spaghetti through it a bit. (If you add the seafood into the saucepan with spaghetti, it’s hard to ensure everyone gets a fair mix !)

ps - more coastline & rocks in the video below. 

 

               It would be great to receive your feedback or suggestions. Click on "0 comments". You can choose 'anonymous' from the drop down menu if you don't have a google account. Or send an email - clara@babyboomerconnections.com.au

Noosa Meanders and foreshore flavours

Hi R
Time to warm you up with images from our holiday along the foreshores  north of Sydney.  Wish you were here to enjoy it. 
C

Foreshore flavours - pandanus fruit

So many foreshores to explore. This is another favourite - a glorious, reasonably challenging walk from Main Beach to Hell's Gate.

7-30 this morning - (no daylight saving in Qld)



Pandanus Palms - called 'the walking tree' by some with the
belief that they can move from one spot to the other



Found in some coastal areas in the subtropical Queensland
regions, and on Pacific Islands the segmented yellow fruit can be eaten raw or roasted
and tastes like banana. The leaves are used to flavour curries and rice.

Our destination - here I'm holding on tightly to the tree at
Hell's Gates



Click on 'comment' at bottom of page to have your say or email

To his fellow sinners - New Year's Eve

Henry Lawson has to have been the most prolific Australian poet with his down to earth comments on so many subjects - it makes one think that perhaps his language of thought was "verse". Here's one on New Year's Eve - to his fellow sinners.

Give yourself a Show: New Year's Eve

TO my fellow sinners all, who, in hope and doubt,
Through the Commonwealth to-night watch the Old Year out,
New Year’s Resolutions are jerry-built I know,
But I want to say to you, “Give yourselves a show”.

You who drink for drinking’s sake, love for lust alone,
Thinking heaven is a myth and the world your own—
Dancing gaily down to hell in the devil’s dance—
This I have to say to you: “Give your souls a chance”.

You who drink because of shame that you think will last,
Or because of wrong done you—trouble in the past—
“Nothing left to live for now,” you will say, I know;
But you have your own self yet, give that self a show!

You who want all things on earth—money, love, and fame
Having the advantage of worldly place or name—
You who have more than you want, even than you know,
In the glorious New Year give someone else a show.

You, the mischief-makers all, who in secret glee
Love to tell the villainies of a scamp like me;
There are things he’ll never tell—things you’ll never know—
Look into your own lives first—give the man a show.

You, the politician, who, for jealousy or gold,
Or for mean ambition, sell, or see your country sold,
Pandering to the hollow crowd, toadying to the low,
For shame’s sake banish selfishness—give your land a show.

Henry Lawson

To view or add comment, click on 0 comments at bottom of page - you can comment as 'anonomous' on the dropdown menu; or send an email - clara@babyboomerconnections.com.au or visit my website at www.babyboomerconnections.com.au
              

Clara returns with New Year Reflections

 

Hi R and everyone

I'm back!  After two years slogging and having fun, the book,  is published and out there.     We.. lll .... Ok.... if you insist ... - "Mosman Meanders and foreshore flavours" - walks around the Sydney foreshores, history, photographs by Christopher and of course ...food.   And now I'm a blogger again, just in time to wish you all warmest wishes from our hearth to yours.

 

 

 

 

 New Year reflections video is below.  Love Clara