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.

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Buckets of walnuts to be picked in Tuscany

Hi R
Maybe, just maybe, rather than you coming over here to Australia, you may be lured into meeting us in Tuscany.  A few blogs to follow which you won't be able to resist.  Perhaps it could be on your 'bucket list'.

We have been very fortunate to spend some wonderful time in Tuscany, with Alvina and Umberto at their Villas at Podernuovo. I am missing the tranquility and the fertile abundance so am treating myself to a few retro blogs which you may not have seen.




It took a while to pick all of these and now the task
is to crack them to release their bounty. We became adept at this.

They say 'A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds on the nut are just like the neo-cortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.'

In the British Journal of Nutrition, a rodent study found a walnut rich diet reverses the effects of brain ageing.

G picked more than I did? What are the secrets of filling up the bucket?...... Yes, I know the basic stuff - like the walnuts fall off the tree - (helped sometimes by extension and shaking of the human hand etc) but next time I go to Tuscany, I want to win!!

I also am aware of natural physics, such as that walnuts will roll down hills - so look there first. (I have a theory that G was told this and gathered all the good ones before I joined him in the exercise.)
Then you had to think laterally - like if they didn't roll downhill, perhaps they went sideways and settled in any depression or were caught by other foliage etc.

I spent happy times on my own picking up walnuts, enjoying just being there, then of course to enjoy 'Pasta with Walnut Pesto'. Recipe will be on my next blog.
Clara
http://www.timeintuscany.com/ Visit the website for images of Podernouvo.

Click on 'comment' at bottom of page to have your say or email mosmanmeanders@gmail.com