Mushroom Lovers Only | Tejal Rao
I usually start with a vegetable stock; a patchwork of onion, garlic, fennel and carrot scraps; and the odd, wilty half-bunch of herbs. Then, I get a big pan on the stove with a glug of olive oil and add chopped onion and garlic to sweat until tender but not browned. I add lots of mixed, chopped mushrooms and just a bit of flour (which cooks out in the pan and gives the sauce some nice body later on). I pour in white wine, and when that’s simmered away and has nearly disappeared, I add in that quick stock (or, if I happen to be using dried mushrooms, the liquid from rehydrating them).
You can finish a ragout with herbs, toss it with some hot pâtes and have a wonderful dinner right away. But it’s always worth making more ragout than you need so you can have a delicious, versatile meal shortcut on hand for a few days.
Anything is possible! Here are some ideas:
Farro and mushroom salad: Cook farro and then drain and toss while still hot with mushroom ragout; pickled shallots; a handful of crushed, toasted hazelnuts; a glug of olive oil; and lots of chopped fresh dill.
Mushroom congee: Simmer leftover rice in plenty of water until the grains burst. Then, season with salt and pepper, ladle into a bowl and top with mushroom ragout, a poached egg, a splash of soy sauce, sliced raw ginger and scallions.
Baked polenta with mushrooms: Cook instant polenta and spread roughly into a casserole dish. Break up canned whole San Marzano tomatoes with your hands and drop tomatoes and juices over the polenta. Spoon over mushroom ragout, olive oil and herbs, and bake until the top and edges sizzle.
Mushroom omelet: Whisk eggs with chopped herbs like chervil, tarragon or parsley, season with salt and pepper, and pour into a hot pan. Cover with mushroom ragout and grated Gruyère, and fold in half.
Mushroom toast: Fry a piece of bread in olive oil and then pile warm mushroom ragout on top, making sure to drizzle all of the juices and let them soak into the bread. This is really good if you mix the mushrooms with some warm beans, too.
The other day, I tinkered with a vegetarian dish inspired by the classic roast chicken with bread salad that’s still on the menu at Zuni Café in San Francisco.
Here’s what I imagined: little pieces of open-crumb bread, browned in olive oil; mixed with vinegar-soaked currants, toasted pine nuts and sautéed garlic and scallions; and soaked in hot pan juices. The bread, soggy in places but still crisp in others, would tangle with wispy salad greens in a little vinaigrette, and a big pile of crisp, brown mushrooms would nestle on top. Once I started imagining it, it became impossible not to cook it!
If you want to try it, start by prepping Judy Rodgers’s classic bread salad. You can use the same pan to fry the bread in olive oil, toast the pine nuts and sauté the garlic and scallion. Then, instead of roasting a chicken, sear some mushrooms with olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper. For extra crisp mushrooms, try placing a heavy pot or pan on top to squish them — a life-changing tip I got from the writer Bettina Makalintal.
Set aside the browned mushrooms and put the pan back over the heat. Add about a half cup of water and scrape up any browned bits at the bottom, letting it simmer for a minute. This liquid takes the place of pan drippings and will help dress the bread and flavor the salad, so don’t forget to taste and season it! Water alone works fine, but you could build up more flavor by sweating some finely chopped shallots and fennel in the pan before adding any liquid, or by using kombu dashi or vegetable stock instead of water.
Toss the bread portion of the salad (everything but the dressing and the leaves!) into the simmering pan juices. Mix well, letting it all soak and meld for a minute. When hot, scrape the bread mixture into a large bowl and toss in the salad greens and vinaigrette. Mix, taste and season with salt, pepper, vinegar and olive oil, depending on what it needs, and then pile the browned mushrooms on top. Heaven!
