The livin's good in Bellingham - Beaujolaisorama

originally posted by Marc D:
originally posted by Marc D:
Also, anyone know the story behind the Foillard Morgon "Premiere" bottle?
It has the same light gray label as the Courcelette bottle, but someone mentioned it wasn't made from grapes grown on the Courcelette vineyard.
Click to expand...

Sam from Kermit Lynch contacted the Foillards to ask about this bottle. They said 2000 was the first year they produced wine from the Courcelette vineyard, and only for that year it was called "Premiere". Every vintage since 2000 it has been labeled Courcellete.

It was a grand bottle of Morgon, and it would have been fun to taste it next to a 2000 Cote du Py.

Sorry for the interruption, now back to mushroom talk.
Click to expand...

Wow, that's interesting, so much for my Py assessment. It sure was good, more complex than your typical aged Py but with a lot of the same elements.
 
Tried the pre-fry blanching technique on some cultivated king oysters; I've always had to slice them thinly and cook in batches to avoid steaming them. Terrific in some lard, topped with deep-fried garlic and chilli. I hereby declare this the biodynamism of mushroom murder - it seems to work, but I don't understand why.

ETA: Thanks very much for this new (to me) trick!
 
So I've long been a 'shroom heretic. Take some fat and warm it in a pan. Add the mushrooms and cover. The idea is to get the mushrooms to give up their liquid quickly but not let it evaporate. Onions or shallots seem to help the process - salt definitely does of course but be careful not to over-season.

Remove the cover when the mushrooms are completely soft and have given up as much liquid as possible. Stir them as the juice evaporates so they become basted and coated in their reduced juice. Go until they are well browned.

At this point you can add cream, herbs, lemon, more fat, or any other stuff you're into.

It's unconventional but everyone who's had them made this way loves 'em more than the high-heat method.

I'll have to try the blanching. I would have thought that one would lose a lot of flavor.
 
Mushrooms. "A lot of cooks don't know how to prepare mushrooms properly. It looks simple, but it's not. For porcinis, most think you have to cook them at a high heat. You have to take your time in cooking them, in a medium heat. For chanterelles, you have to blanch them in salted boiling water for a few seconds before sauteing. For black trumpet mushrooms, you have to cook out their moisture in a pan with some salt, and drain the excess water before you saute. They can really be extraordinary, if you treat them right."
 
High heat and porcinis can be death. Burned porcini is an awful flavor, and they don't usually have enough water to matter. I hate the idea of pouring off the water from black chanterelles, which again don't get so wet. I have the same worry that Scott has about lost flavor, but I still haven't tried the blanching method on chanterelles.
 
So tonight's dinner was informed by this information, and turned out just great. I had three fair-sized matsutakes, and cleaned them and sliced them up. Put in a pot 1.5 cups of sushi rice, 1.5+ cups water, a tablespoon of soy sauce and a good splash of leftover Brun blanc. Heated to simmer, turned down and threw in the sliced matsutakes. In the meantime, diced up some garlic from Brian C's farm and tossed it into a pan with some olive oil. Let it slowly saute as the rice was cooking, then turned up the heat and threw in some blanched chanterelles as the rice was nearly done. Turned the chanterelles and pulled the steamed matsutakes off the rice and threw them in the skillet.

Nearly perfect all round. The garlic was crispy on the outside, soft in the middle, and flavorful but not harsh. The rice absorbed that wonderful matsutake flavor, and the mushrooms were all nicely browned.
 
As a tangent, it turns out that a climbing helmet is sometimes most useful when not on your head...

IMG_0001-1.jpg
chantrelles and hedgehogs

Sounds great Lee, I was keeping an eye out for the matsus.
 
originally posted by Marc D:
originally posted by Marc D:
Also, anyone know the story behind the Foillard Morgon "Premiere" bottle?
It has the same light gray label as the Courcelette bottle, but someone mentioned it wasn't made from grapes grown on the Courcelette vineyard.
Click to expand...

Sam from Kermit Lynch contacted the Foillards to ask about this bottle. They said 2000 was the first year they produced wine from the Courcelette vineyard, and only for that year it was called "Premiere". Every vintage since 2000 it has been labeled Courcellete.

It was a grand bottle of Morgon, and it would have been fun to taste it next to a 2000 Cote du Py.

Sorry for the interruption, now back to mushroom talk.
Click to expand...

A friend here has a bottle of 2011 Foillard Morgon Premiere, so this explanation can't be right. Unicorn wine?
 
I missed these notes somehow when BJ first sent them. Cool to read of 28-year-old Chandon de Briailles and 10-year-old Foillard showing so well, among the others. The mushroom technique is a bonus.
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
28-year-old
Click to expand...

I never do arithmetic before breakfast.

Man, I love yellow chanterelles. All those summers in Lithuania.
 
CAM00353.jpg
interesting note: the golden chanterelles found in the blue mountains of eastern oregon and washington are in a dry enough climate that they are small and very firm yet tender--not at all plastic/floppy as are found in soggy climes, and do not shrink when cooked. also, even after cooking are a lovely al dente.
 
originally posted by VLM:
I used this technique tonight with excellent results on store bought chanterelles.

I miss Joe. Badly.
Click to expand...

Me, too. But - having cooked mushrooms innumerable times together - Joe would have blanched at the thought of any mushroom, except black chanterelles, touching water.
 
originally posted by mark e:
originally posted by VLM:
I used this technique tonight with excellent results on store bought chanterelles.

I miss Joe. Badly.
Click to expand...

Me, too. But - having cooked mushrooms innumerable times together - Joe would have blanched at the thought of any mushroom, except black chanterelles, touching water.
Click to expand...

Nor would he countenance store bought chantrelles...
 
originally posted by mark e:
Joe would have blanched at the thought of any mushroom, except black chanterelles, touching water.
Click to expand...
I thought I recalled a post where Joe reported trying the technique and being surprised by the results. Can't find it though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top