I absolutley love mushrooms, especially wild mushrooms. I was always familiar that there was such a thing but it was only a few years ago that I got the oppertunity to use wild mushrooms. My first encounter was on work placement in the kitchen of a local restaurant. On one particular evening wild mushroom risotto was on the menu and I was asked to prepare the wild mushrooms for the dish. As I had never worked with wild mushrooms before I was unsure of how to prepare them and also weary of the fact that they could be poisonous.
Far from those days, I have now used wild mushrooms many times, as I feel they have various flavours and appearances that add a lot of variety to a dish. Wild mushrooms are readily available and are easily prepared. The wild mushrooms used to make this dish were bought at the Naas Farmers Market. I find it is the perfect place to pick up those ingredients that you might not necessarily get from your local supermarket.
A friend of mine recently asked me for the recipe for a good quiche and I told her I could provide her with the recipe for something better than a quiche. I am not suggesting by any means that there is anything wrong with a quiche, god knows we all love a good quiche now and again but I felt if she really wanted to impress she should try something a little bit different. So i gave her this recipe.
Ingredients
For The Pastry
225g plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
110g butter (cubed)
1 egg or egg yolk (beaten)
A little water
For The Filling
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
200 ml double cream
150g parmesan
400g wild mushrooms (cleaned and stems trimmed)
25g butter
70g shallots
1 clove garlic
40g basil
Salt and pepper
Method
1.Begin with the pastry by sieving the flour and salt together into a large bowl.
2. Add the butter and using your hands rub it into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs.
3. Whisk in the egg or egg yolk and add a little water.
4. Using your hands bring the pastry together.
5. If the pastry does not come together it may need more water, so add more.
6. Shape the pastry into a ball and wrap in clingfilm.
7. Place the pastry into the fridge to rest for a period of between 15-45 minutes.
8. Resting allows the gluten in the pastry to relax and therefore will prevent it from shrinking.
9. Preheat the oven to 180 C.
10.Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface.
11. When the pastry is rolled place it into a greased flan tin, making sure to press it right into the tin.
12. Place greaseproof paper into the tin on top of the pastry and fill it with dried beans.
13. The dried beans act as a weight preventing the pastry from rising however if you do not have any you can use rice.
14. Bake the pastry in the oven for 15-20 minutes.
15. In the meantime while the pastry is cooking, saute the shallots in butter.
16. Add in the garlic, wild mushrooms and basil.
17. Once golden brown remove from the heat.
18. Whisk the eggs and cream together and add the parmesan.
19. Once the mushroom mix has cooled add to the egg mix and season.
20. Add the mixture to the flan tin.
21. Place the tin back into the oven for a further 20-30 minutes at the same temperature.
22. Once cooked remove from tin and allow to cool.
Feta Cheese and Sundried Tomato Salad
90g mixed greens
40g feta cheese (cubed)
40g sundried tomatoes
In a large salad bowl toss the mixed greens. Add the sundried tomatoes and feta cheese. Drizzle with balsamic dressing and serve.
Balsamic Dressing
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic (crushed)
Pinch salt and pepper
Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly.
Drizzle over your salad and enjoy.
Best Wishes,
Sarah xx
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