Maitake Mushroom Souffle

Miette Culinary Studio

Chef Paul Vandewoude

INGREDIENTS:
6 eggs
4 tbsp butter
2 tbsp finely and freshly grated
Parmesan or Asiago cheese
3 tbsp flour
1 cup milk or light cream, warmed (a perfect use for the microwave)
¾ cup maitake mushroom, chopped
½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp salt
½ tsp freshly grated pepper, preferably white
2 tbsp finely chopped chives
½ cup finely grated Gruyere, cheddar, or other melting cheese of your choice


PROCEDURE
Preheat the oven to 375 degree.
Separating the eggs: Put all the egg whites in a perfectly clean, grasefree large bowl. Put 4 of the egg yolks into a smaller bowl. You will have 2 egg yolks left over. (If you are new to separating eggs, the easiest way is to crack the shell firmly, then pull the halves apart over the egg whites bowl, catching the yolk in one half and letting the white run out. Rock the yolk back and forth between the two shell halves, letting as much of the white run out as possible. Drop the yolk into the yolk bowl. It is very important not to get any yolk into the egg whites-they don’t beat up if you do. But it doesn’t matter if there’s white in with the yolks-there always is.) Set the 2 bowls of beautifully separated eggs aside.

Preparing the baking dish: With your fingers, lightly rub a tablespoon or so of the butter all around the inside of the dish. Sprinkle the Parmesan inside the dish and roll the dish around in your hands to lightly coat the entire inside-the bottom and all the way up the sides. Set the dish aside in the refrigerator to chill a bit. A chilled dish seems to keep the butter in suspension better as the soufflé bakes.

Preparing the sauce base: Melt the remaining butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring, for 2 – 3 minutes without letting it brown (this step cooks the flour so that it doesn’t have a raw “floury” taste). Slowly whisk in the warm milk, a little at a time. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly, and cook for 3 – 4 minutes. The sauce will be very thick. Stir in the nutmeg, salt, and pepper and remove the pan from the heat. What you’ve made here is a white sauce, or béchamel. Beat a little of this warm base slowly into the egg yolks. This “tempers” or gradually warms them so that they are less likely to scramble. Whisk this mixture back into the rest of the base and set aside.

Beating the egg white: In a clean bowl, with a hand or stand mixer beat the egg whites just until stiff but still shiny and moist looking. This means that the fluffy egg whites should stay in standing peaks when you lift out the beaters. (If the whites are no longer shiny and start to “clump,” they have been over beaten.

Folding the egg whites and finishing the soufflé: Sprinkle the chives over the sauce base and with a rubber or silicone spatula, stir a quarter of the whipped egg whites into the base. Do this quickly. This lightens the mixture so that you can fold in the remaining whites. Here’s a little lesson in folding: Scoop the rest of the whites onto the top of the sauce base. With the edge of the spatula, cut down into the whites, drag the spatula along the bottom of the bowl toward you, and bring the sauce mixture over the top of the whites. Turn the bowl a quarter of a turn, and sprinkle on some of the grated Gruyere. Cut down through the whites, drag the spatula along the bottom, and bring the sauce mixture over the top. Repeat until the whites, cheese, and sauce are just combined.
This is one of those techniques that’s harder to describe than to demonstrate, but it’s worth trying to do it right. What should be going through your mind is that you are doing everything you can to thoroughly and evenly mix the egg whites, sauce base, and cheese without deflating the egg whites. Stirring will deflate them.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared dish, gently smoothing the top and bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until the soufflé is puffed and golden brown. Keep the door closed for at least the first 20 minutes so that the soufflé can set. If your oven doesn’t have a glass window and you’re tempted to peek, don’t! When done, serve immediately. To maintain as much of the puff as possible when serving, plunge an upright serving spoon and fork straight down into the center of the soufflé and then pull the crust apart and scoop out a serving.

(Serves 4 – 6 people)

King Trumpet Mushroom: An alternative to meat

The King Trumpet mushroom has a firm and meaty texture, and a mild and elegant flavor. It is characterized by its thick stem, short gills, and tender flesh. King Trumpet is a tasty meat substitute and a good source of dietary fiber. Low in calories and cholesterol-free, King Trumpet is also a good source of antioxidants to help support a strong and healthy immune system. This mushroom variety has been proven to support healthy cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of fat accumulation in the liver.

To prepare, simply cut the ends off the stem, and enjoy sauteed, grilled or steamed. Use in meat, fish, and pasta dishes, and makes an excellent meat-replacement in your favorite recipes. Butter helps to bring out the King Trumpet’s exceptional flavor.

Other names for the King Trumpet include gourmet scallop, king oyster, French horn, and eryngii.

Discover delicious and healthy recipes on the Kinoko fan page! Check it out! http://bit.ly/aOZfpG

Los Angeles Times- From our kitchen to yours:

The Times' best recipes of 2008

The Food Staff

December 31, 2008

A recipe has to travel a long road to make it into the Food section, and that's why there's almost always something cooking in The Times' Test Kitchen. It might be a recipe in development being tasted and tweaked, tested and re-tested to get it right. It might be a nearly finished recipe being put through its final paces just to make sure the instructions are as clear as can be. Or it might be a finished dish being primped and powdered, made ready for its close-up moment in the photo studio.

At a conservative estimate, the Test Kitchen staff follows this process for more than 200 recipes every year. With a bar set so high, we have to believe that -- like the children of Lake Wobegon -- all the recipes are above average. But still, objective tasters all, we have to acknowledge that some are more above average than others. Every year around holiday time a note goes out to staff members, asking for their nominations for the best recipes of the year. Thus ensues a flurry of paper-shuffling and e-mails and when everything is tallied -- almost everyone has chosen something different. Whether this speaks to the uniform excellence of the recipes or to our diverse palates, who knows? Most likely, it's a combination. And when you look down the list of this year's top 10, you can easily understand how this might happen.

Want something exotic? How about Noelle Carter's pumpkin seed stuffing spiced with Spanish chorizo. Want something homey? You've gotta try Donna Deane's midnight chocolate brownie bites. In the mood for a project? The panforte from the "Tartine" cookbook will take several hours to prepare but will repay that effort with an utterly spectacular Italian fruitcake. If, on the other hand, you just want something great for dinner, Russ Parsons' halibut and shimeji mushrooms comes together like a breeze. Something for everybody -- that's what we aim for in the Food section -- and thanks to the Test Kitchen, all of it as good as we can make it.

Recipe: Halibut and shimeji baked in parchment

October 1, 2008

Some exotic mushrooms may be becoming commonplace. A San Diego company is opening a plant this spring that will more than triple the total U.S. output of king trumpet, shimeji and maitake mushrooms within just a couple of years. Just as portobellos came out of nowhere to become supermarket staples in the 1990s, so might these flavorful Japanese mushrooms find their own place on the American table. This recipe by Food editor Russ Parsons is a perfect way to show off the delicate flavor and graceful shape of the shimeji. And it couldn't be simpler to make. Cook the mushrooms, wrap them in a parchment-paper pouch with halibut and bake -- that's all there is to it. Even better, you can prepare the packets in advance and refrigerate them until you're ready to cook. If you don't have parchment, you can use aluminum foil.

Total time: 40 minutes

Servings: 6 to 8

Note: Shimeji mushrooms are generally available at Asian markets.

Canola or vegetable oil

1/2 pound brown or white shimeji mushrooms, tough base removed (leave stems on), and broken into sections
Salt

2 teaspoons minced shallots
1 teaspoon minced tarragon
1/4 cup white wine
Freshly ground black pepper
2 (1-pound) halibut steaks

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut 2 (15-inch-square) pieces of parchment paper or aluminum foil and lightly oil one side.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat. When the oil shimmers, add the mushrooms, three-fourths teaspoon salt and cook, tossing frequently, until the mushrooms start to soften, 2 to 3 minutes. They'll begin to sizzle and shine as they release their moisture.
3. Add the shallots, tarragon and white wine, reduce the heat to medium and cook until the wine evaporates, about 2 minutes. The mushrooms should be tender and lightly browned in places. Season with just a dash of black pepper.
4. Lightly season each halibut steak with three-eighths teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper. Place a steak in the center of each piece of parchment paper and spoon the mushrooms evenly over the steaks. Crinkle together the edges of the parchment paper to make an airtight packet, with some room left for the packet to expand. Place the packets on a baking sheet. (The recipe can be made to this point several hours in advance and refrigerated until ready to cook.)
5. Bake the packets until they puff slightly, 25 to 30 minutes (you may need to unwrap the packets a little to make sure the halibut is firm and opaque). Remove from the oven and place the packets, still sealed, on a platter. To serve, open the packets and divide the halibut and mushrooms onto plates.

Each of 8 servings: 152 calories; 25 grams protein; 1 gram carbohydrates; 0 fiber; 4 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 36 mg. cholesterol; 390 mg. sodium.

Not Your Mother’s Green Bean Casserole

A gourmet make over on a Thanksgiving Tradition. Using Haricots Verts instead of canned or frozen green beans and Golden Gourmet Mushrooms in place of canned mushroom soup, this will be a new classic.

Ingredients:

1 pound fresh, tender French green beans

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

2 packs brown or white beech mushrooms (or other wild cultivated mushroom)

1 cup thinly sliced red onion

4 tablespoons heavy cream

Sea salt and black pepper to taste

1 cup toasted panko bread crumbs (if desired)

Method:

Bring a saucepan of water to a boil, and add the beans. Simmer until crisp-tender, about three minutes. Drain, rinse under cold water, and drain again. Place the beans into a prepared casserole dish and set aside.

Heat the oil and butter in a heavy skillet over medium heat, and add the red onions, sauté until soft and slightly brown. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.

In the same pan add the mushroom pieces and sauté until golden brown. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the room temperature cream and cook until slightly thickened.

Pour the mushroom and cream mixture over the beans and top with the red onions.

Toasted panko crumbs can be used as a crunchy topping.

The dish can be kept warm in a 300 degree oven or microwave for 2-3 minutes on medium power just before serving. Serves 6 as a side dish.

* For extra richness add 1 cup of grated Gruyere cheese to the mushroom cream mixture.

This recipe is courtesy of

Dinner at Home, Personal Chef Service

Rediscover the Pleasure of Dining at Home

Pamela Croft, Owner and Certified Personal Chef

858-792-8866

www.dinnerathome-sd.com

Become a fan of Kinoko Company and discover some amazing recipes and chef's!

Helping Kids Learn to Love Mushrooms with Eat Live Travel Write

Brought to you by the Mushroom Channel!

This week’s featured contributor is Mardi from Eat Live Travel Write. Having done a lot of all four of her blog’s namesakes, her mission is passing a sense of wellness-minded adventure onto her students.

My first experiences with mushrooms when I was a child growing up in Australia were with what we called “champignons” (so exotic!) which were in fact, just canned button mushrooms in brine. I was a fairly adventurous eater, but in terms of ’shrooms, these were the only ones I would eat for a very long time. I know there are kids who find mushrooms “gross”, so when I decided to introduce them to the 9 year-old boys in my cooking club, Les Petits Chefs, I knew I would need a cunning plan…

We have cooked our way through Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution cookbook this term and had a grand old time experimenting with “real food” versions of foods they only know from restaurants or boxes. Many of these recipes included mushrooms and whilst one of the boys loved them and would eat them raw, the others would taste the dishes containing mushrooms during the club but tell me that they picked the mushrooms out of the dishes when they ate them at home. I racked my brains to think of a way to showcase mushrooms for little palates and finally gave in to their pleas for pizza, knowing that not only would I be teaching them a valuable lesson (i.e. that the best pizzas are the ones you can make yourself with fresh ingredients) but also giving the mushrooms their best chance for kid-size appreciation!

We used pita bread, due to time constraints, but you could also have some adventures in pizza dough baking if you had the time. For the pizza sauce base, we made a simple tomato sauce, using San Marzano tomatoes cooked up with a little garlic and some fresh basil. The boys had a blast squishing the sauce onto the pita halves:

I selected some “funky” mushrooms that I thought would appeal to the boys: Shiitake, King Oyster, Oyster and Cremini:

And we got to work chopping them up:

We fried the mushroom pieces in a little olive oil and set them aside as we prepared the rest of the toppings – pepperoni, bacon and sweet orange and yellow peppers (as per the boys’request!).

And we set to work loading on our toppings:

I am impressed how many of the pizzas featured mushrooms, even when it was on the pizza with the topping of their choice! Their willingness to try new things made me very proud!

I always allow the boys to test our the various ingredients as we cook and when one little boy asked if he could try the mushrooms to see which ones he wanted to put on his pizza, of course I said yes. Two seconds later, he asked for more and then more again. I asked him what he thought and his response?

“OMG I LOVE mushrooms! Where have they been all my life?”

Les Petits Chefs “Where have you been all my life?” Funky Funghi Pizzas

Ingredients

Serves 2

• One small (7 – 8-inch) pocket-style pita bread
• 4-6 tablespoons simple tomato sauce (drained, canned whole tomatoes roughly chopped and cooked down to ketchup-consistency with 2 cloves minced garlic and a handful of roughly chopped fresh basil)
• 2 cups finely sliced mushrooms – any fresh variety (shiitake, cremini, oyster, king oyster), fried in olive oil and drained on a paper towel.
• 2 tablespoons diced orange peppers
• 2 tablespoons diced yellow peppers
• 3 rashers bacon, finely diced and fried
• Finely sliced pepperoni
• 4 oz mozzarella cheese, grated
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil, finely sliced
• Olive oil and cracked black pepper to finish

Method

Pre-heat oven broiler to high.

Using a bread knife carefully cut through the middle splitting the pita to form two rounds.

(Optional) Toast pita rounds (under the broiler) cut side down for a minute or two. The bottom should start to feel a bit crispy but not burnt.

Spread the sauce over each pita, cut side up. Squish the larger chunks of tomato down with the back of a spoon so the sauce spreads to the edge of the pita bread.

Spread toppings evenly over pita breads and top with cheese and basil.

Place under pre-heated broiler until cheese starts to bubble. Remove pizzas from heat and top with a drizzle of olive oil and freshly ground black pepper. Cut into quarters with a pizza cutter and enjoy!

Looking for more recipes and mushroom info, join the Kinoko fan page!

Beech Mushroom and Asparagus

Recipe of the week! Enjoy!

Ratatouille Cooking time: 25 minutes, Calories per serving: 272 (Makes 4 servings)

7 oz. Brown and/or White Beech mushrooms, with stems
5 spears of asparagus
1 medium eggplant, diced
1 tomato, quartered
1 onion
1 yellow pimiento (paprika)
1 clove of garlic, chopped
6 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. tomato ketchup
salt to taste
1/4 tsp. pepper

Remove base of Beech mushrooms (to the point where mushroom seperates) and gently break up with your fingers. Cut vegetables into bite-size pieces. Place all ingredients into a large pan. Sauté on medium to high heat for about 10 minutes or until vegetables and mushrooms are tender.

San Diego's Opera Singing Chef!

Have you seen anything like this?

About Elizabeth...

Chef Elizabeth grew up in the woods of West Virginia and later in the suburbs of Chicago.

Much of who she is today shines through during her cooking classes where Chef E. shares her “small town” wisdom on life, love and music with the people of San Diego where she lives with her husband, daughter and two dogs.

Chef Elizabeth received her love for cooking from her mother who was an accomplished musician, composer, poet, and adventurous chef, and from her French godfather, who, along with Elizabeth’s mother, prepared amazing meals using farm-fresh meats and produce from local orchards.

Proud owner of a worm compost farm and a small vegetable garden, Chef Elizabeth encourages cooks to be resourceful and more aware of how they, as individuals, can help to preserve the environment. Whether it means, using a milder soap, or using a product that was more conscientiously produced, Chef E. tries to offer a greener approach.

Chef Elizabeth has been interviewed on radio and appears several times a year on the local television stations where she promotes her upcoming concerts and cooking classes . She teaches cooking classes in many San Diego County venues including museums, botanical gardens and thru Oasis, a nationwide senior education program.

Elizabeth’s love for food pales only to her love for music. One of her life’s quests as been to learn how to sing more freely. Finally, with the help of her teacher Pandeli Lazaridi of the “Small Opera of San Diego” Chef E’s voice was set off on a course of free singing, where a direct connection to her support was finally realized.

Chef Elizabeth enjoys bringing musicians and audience together via her live cooking classes or recorded programs. She recently released her first CD, The Good Woman, which can be purchased from her website, www.theoperasingingchef.com and features a children’s choir, soloists and two adult choirs singing sacred music.

Chef E is in the process of filming a series of cooking shows with opera-singing guests. Each show has a theme like songs from Lakme and foods of India. This site lists classes and appearances and provides a way to contact Chef Elizabeth directly.

Coming Soon... More Recipes from Elizabeth!

Mushroom Strudel

Makes 12 appetizer slices or 4 main course servings

View this Step By Step.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 large shallot, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1 1/2 pounds assorted wild cultivated mushrooms (king trumpet, maitake, beech, shiitake, oyster, porcini), sliced
Sea salt and black pepper
2 tablespoons each finely chopped thyme, tarragon, flat-leaf parsley and chives
1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk, beaten together
1/2 package (1 sheet) puff pastry, thawed
1 large egg plus 1 teaspoon water beaten, for egg wash

Preparation:
In a large skillet, heat butter and olive oil. Add shallots and garlic and soften. Add sliced mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper and cook over low heat until tender. If juices exude, raise heat and cook until they evaporate. Stir in 3/4 of herbs and remove from heat. Spread mushrooms on a pan to dry and cool completely, about 30 minutes.

When dry and cool, transfer mushrooms to a large bowl and combine with whole egg-egg yolk mixture.

Move rack to middle of oven and heat to 400 degrees. Place puff pastry on a parchment-lined baking pan. Roll to remove any creases and to elongate slightly. Brush surface with egg wash and sprinkle on remaining herbs. Spread mushrooms evenly over first 3/4 of pastry, leaving a 1-inch border around edges.
Flip over edge nearest to you and lay it on the top 1/4 so that puff pastry touches puff pastry, encasing mushrooms completely in a cylinder. Don't roll in pinwheel fashion as for strudel because the puff pastry in the interior will never bake and it will become gummy.

Move strudel to center of baking pan and tuck in ends. Brush entire surface with egg wash. Using the back of a knife, run criss-cross pattern over strudel. If desired, add cut-out leaves, flowers and vines from a portion of the second sheet of puff pastry (frozen grocery store puff pastry typically comes two sheets to a box). Egg wash the designs.

Bake until golden brown and puffed, anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes, depending on your oven. Let rest at least 2 minutes before slicing with a serrated knife.

Welcome to the Kinoko Company

With our focus on the development of flavorful mushrooms, The Hokto Corporation's Mushroom General Research Institute has developed a number of extremely popular varieties; namely King Trumpet (Eryngii), Maitake ("hen of the woods"), brown Beech (Bunashimeji) and White Beech (Bunapi). We will be growing these four varieties in the United States when our new facility opens in San Marcos, CA in early 2009.

In addition to the development of new mushroom varieties, the Institute is currently undertaking promising research into mushrooms' physiologically active properties.

Hokto will continually strive to meet diverse consumer needs and contribute to improved dietary lifestyle through an ongoing effort to develop healthier and more flavorful mushrooms.

Our Institute welcomes input from people around the world regarding rare, delicious or unusual mushrooms. It is the goal of the Institute to further vitalize and expand the scope of its research activities.

We appreciate your interest and input.