Poulet Chasseur

Cooking is about frame of mind for me. I like to connect to real or imagined origins of a dish. The name for this dish translates to "Hunter's Chicken". I imagine a hunter, with what he has in his pack and what he's found in the woods, cooking over a fire. Simple, flavorful, ok, I just don't know where he got the chicken!

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp (½ oz/14gr) butter

1 chicken, cup up into pieces

1 onion (6oz/170g), chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

7-8 oz mushrooms, thick slice

3/4 cup red wine (be generous)

2 Tbsps tomato paste

2 springs of thyme

2 cups chicken stock

1. Heat the oil and the butter in a large lidded casserole. Season the chicken, then fry for about 5 minutes on each side until golden brown. Remove and set aside.
2. Add the onion to the pan and fry for about 5 minutes, until soft. 
3. Add the garlic, cook for 1 minute, then add the mushrooms, cook for 2 minutes or until the mushrooms 'sweat', then add the wine. 
4. Stir in the tomato paste. Let the sauce simmer and reduce for about 5 minutes, then stir in the thyme and pour over the stock. 
5. Slip the chicken back into the pan, then cover and simmer on a low heat for about 1 hour, whereupon the chicken will be very tender. The chicken will be ready when the internal temperature of the breasts reaches 165°F. 
6. Remove the chicken from the pan and keep warm. Rapidly boil down the sauce until it's syrupy and the flavour has concentrated, about 10 minutes. Put the chicken legs back into the sauce and serve.

Browned Butter Thyme Mushroom Pasta

This is a recipe all about timing. In theory you should be able to put the water on to boil, start prepping and cooking the other ingredients, pop the pasta in the boiling water and cook for everything to be ready at the same time. But, as they say, "man plans and god laughs". Stoves are all different and conditions change. Getting the two parts - the pasta and the mushrooms - ready at the same time to be combined is aspirational so definitely go for it. Good for you if you succeed. But if not, it's better to have the mushroom mixture ready before the pasta is cooked to avoid soggy, sticky pasta sitting and cooking for too long.

1lb/450g pasta (chunky pasta or spaghetti-style)

½ cup pasta water

½ cup (4oz/114gr) butter

1lb/450g cremini mushrooms, sliced thick (4 to 6 slices per mushroom depending on size)

Pinch of red pepper flakes

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp thyme, minced 

Splash of balsamic vinegar

Good pinch of salt

¼ tsp black pepper or to taste

½ cup (55g) freshly grated Parmesan cheese

For serving: chopped fresh parsley, extra Parmesan cheese, optional

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season generously with salt. Once boiling, add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Reserve ½ cup of the pasta water and drain.
2. While the water is heating up, in a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Cook, swirling occasionally, until the butter stops crackling and starts to foam and smells slightly nutty, this should take about 3 to 4 minutes. This step is essential to get right - not browned enough and the sauce is just greasy, and browned too much and the milk solids in the butter burns. The key is to listen to the butter, and when is stops crackling, look to the milk solids on the bottom of the pan and let them get a nice golden brown then immediately add the mushrooms. The mushrooms will quickly absorb the butter and stop any browning of the butter as they begin to cook.
3. Add the mushrooms and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are tender and browned, about 10 minutes. Then you'll have the mushrooms filled with browned butter, and the mushrooms themselves with has a crust of browning on them, too, for additional flavor.
4. Add the garlic and thyme, cook for 2 more minutes. This is just to cook away that sharp raw garlic flavor.
5. Add the splash of balsamic and cook for another minute or two, until it has mostly evaporated. Season with salt and black pepper, to taste.
6. These next steps are also rather quick - you don't want the sauce to evaporate. 
7. First, add the pasta to the skillet and toss well. Then, stir in the reserved pasta water. 
8. Turn off the heat and slowly mix in the Parmesan cheese, stirring gently until melted. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
9. ASAP, get the pasta out of the pan. Transfer the pasta to a serving plate or individual plates or bowls and garnish with parsley and extra Parmesan cheese.

Beef Barley Stew / Soup

I have a special place in my heart for warming stews. I just love then unctuous, hot, earthy flavors that come from braising grains and vegetables and meat in a rich broth. And I love the chewy/custardy texture of barley. While this is an excellent slow-cooker recipe, it is also perfect for cooking in a far corner of the woodstove over an afternoon.

1½ to 2 lbs beef chuck (sirloin tip, top sirloin, etc) or round beef roast, in ¼" cubes (cut when half-thawed to make it easier)

⅔ tsp tsp salt

¼ tsp ground pepper

1 Tbsp oil

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

6 to 8 oz mushrooms, thin slice

⅔ cup red wine

1 tsp fresh thyme or 2 to 3 sprigs 

1 bay leaf

2 tsps  Dijon mustard

2 to 6 cups beef stock

⅔ cup pearl barley

2 medium carrots, peeled and diced

¼ cup flat leaf parsley chopped

1. Melt/heat the oil in a large pan and when hot, add the meat and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sear the meat until it is browned on all sides. Put in the slow cooker.
2. Add oil to the pan if necessary and cook the onion until it is soft. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and cook until browning. Dump into the slow cooker.
3. Add the wine to the hot pan a reduce by half or more.
4. Add 2 cups of the broth to the pan and add to the slow cooker, along with the rest of the broth.
5. Add the carrot, the thyme and bay leaf, the mustard and of course the barley.
6. Cook on high for about 6 hours or until beef is perfectly tender.
7. Before serving, stir in the parsley.

Alcoholic Pasta

A complex yet comforting dish. Because they're roasted the texture of the mushrooms becomes more dense and meaty while the earthiness of the flavour sweetens. The sauce, generally pretty light, is perfumed by the alcohol and you'll swear there were herbs added to it.

Part 1 - the mushrooms
18oz mushrooms, thickly sliced in 4 pieces
2 Tbsps olive oil
Generous pinch of salt
Generous pinch of black pepper

Part 2 - the sauce
2 Tbsps olive oil
2 Tbsps (1oz/28gr) butter
1 large onion, diced
¾ cup dry white wine
½ cup whiskey (Jack Daniels is fine)
¼ cup chicken broth
¾ cup heavy cream or crème fraîche
¾ tsp salt and pepper, to taste

Part 3 - combining it all
9oz chunky pasta such as penne, cooked al dente

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Put the mushrooms in a single layer on a cookie sheet and drizzle with the olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 30 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown and the liquid the mushrooms sweat while cooking has completely evaporated. Set aside.
2. In a large pot, heat additional olive oil along with the butter over medium heat. Throw in the onions and saute until beginning to turn translucent. 
3. Pour in the wine and whiskey and allow to bubble for a minute or two. 
4. Pour in the broth and allow the liquid to reduce by a quarter cup. 
5. Stir in the cream and reduce the heat to low. 
6. Add the mushrooms, salt, and pepper, and gently simmer to avoid any curdling, until the sauce thickens.
7. Toss in the cooked pasta, using a little hot pasta water if the sauce needs thinning. Taste for seasonings and serve immediately.

Ginger Citrus Soba Noodles

Part 1
4 oz soba noodles (100% buckwheat soba if gluten free - other types of noodles are ok.)
1 cup edamame

Part 2 - The sauce
juice from approximately 1⁄2 of an orange (about 1⁄4 cup)
1 Tbsp lime juice
1 Tbsp tamari (or soy sauce)
½ tsp hot sauce (or to taste)
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
2 tsps minced fresh ginger

Part 3 - The rest
1 cup snow peas
Mild vegetable oil
2 to 4 oz mushrooms
¼ cup chopped scallions or chives (30 to 45g)
Extra orange & lime wedges to squeeze in at the end
a few teaspoons of sesame seeds, for garnish

1. Bring a small pot of water to boil and add edamame. Cook for 7 to 8 minutes, remove from the heat source, and let stand until the rest is ready.
2. While this is happening, start the water for the noodles. Throw in a pinch of salt. 
3. While the water for the noodles is coming to a boil, string the peas and slice the mushrooms.
4. Put a pan on the stove with a splash of oil and turn on the heat to medium high.
5. While the pan heats up, start mixing together the ingredients for the sauce, which all go in at once and get whisked together.
6. Once the pan is so hot that the first snow pea will sizzle when it hits, add all the snow peas and a pinch of salt, turn down the heat to medium and stir fry for few minutes, until tender and they get a slight char on both sides. Keep shaking the pan or stirring and flipping the peas to make sure they get cooked on both sides. Remove from the pan and set aside. 
7. Do the same for the mushrooms.
8. Now, turn off the heat and let the pan cool down for a few minutes. Add the noodles to the boiling water while you wait.
9. The reason to cool the pan a bit is that it is relatively hot and dry. The next step is to add the sauce, and if you add it while it's too hot, it may spit dangerously. Regardless, stand back when you pour in the sauce. It should still be hot enough to bubble just a little bit. Stir continuously as it thickens, about 2 to 3 minutes. If it doesn't bubble a bit, turn the heat back on to low. The sauce should reduce to a light syrup. Don't let it burn or reduce too much.
10. Add the cooked noodles, snow peas, mushrooms and edamame to the pan. Stir to mix everything together with the sauce. Add a good squeeze of lime, and cook a few minutes more. Taste & adjust. If necessary, add more soy sauce, another squeeze of orange or lime, perhaps more hot sauce if you want more heat. Top with a drizzle of toasted sesame oil, scallions (or chives) and sesame seeds.

Macho Mushroom Soup - Acquacotta

The original asks for porcini but who the hell can afford a lb of fresh porcini mushrooms! Gosh, I sure would like to be one of them, though. Anyway, I suppose this is a completely inauthentic version since I just use any old mushroom - usually button or Parisian mushrooms, plain old white, but you know what? It's still quick, easy, and friggin' delicious.

¼ cup olive oil

1 white onion, coarsely chopped

1 lb. fresh mushroom, cleaned and coarsely chopped

1 bunch spinach (approx 12oz), washed, stemmed and chopped

1 fresh chilli pepper, minced

2½ cups water

Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Freshly grated Parmigiano cheese, for sprinkling

1. Heat up the olive oil in a deep saucepan. Add the onion and cook until soft. Then add the chopped mushrooms and chopped spinach and mix together. Add the chile pepper, salt, and pepper.
2. Add the water, enough to cover the vegetables. Simmer for approximately 15 minutes.
3. Sprinkle with Parmigiano cheese just before serving.

Chicken with Mushroom and Leeks

The original to this recipe is in Food & Wine March 2011. It's called Simplest Chicken-and-Leek Stew. I think the name is misleading. To start, with the quantity of mushrooms in this recipe, this ingredient should be headlined, otherwise it's like calling a chocolate cake a sponge cake. Secondly, there are three different grouping of things to cook separately, and then you assemble, which means lots of dirty dishes and fiddling with removing from the pan and then putting back in. Thirdly, there is no stewing involved - all the ingredients are cooked separately, then added to the sauce with only a single measly minute of simmering before serving. The one thing that I will agree to about this recipe is that it is delicious.

2 Tbsps mild vegetable oil

2 medium leeks (12oz/340gr) tender parts only, thinly sliced

1⁄2 lb button mushrooms, thinly sliced

Salt and pepper

1 lb chicken breast cut into 2 inch pieces

4 Tbsps flour (I use rice flour)

1 1⁄2 cups chicken broth

1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh thyme

2 Tbsps crème fraiche

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1. In a skillet heat 1 Tbsp oil, add leeks and cook over moderate heat until soft (approx 7 minutes). Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook, stirring often, until mushrooms are soft, about 4 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.
2. In a bag mix 4 Tbsp flour, salt and pepper, and toss in chicken pieces. Shake until chicken is well covered, remove chicken and discard remaining flour. Add 1 Tbsp of oil to pan and the brown chicken, about 2 minutes per side. Add the chicken stock and thyme, simmering until chicken is cooked through (this should be quick since the browning should have cooked the chicken).
3. Remove the chicken from the pan and simmer the stock until it is reduced by half. Throw the chicken and veg back in and simmer over low temperature until it's all heated through, about 1 minute.
4. Meanwhile, in a small bowl mix together the crème fraiche and the Dijon and stir into the stew. Season to taste and serve.

Edible Breakfast Dishes - Ham and Eggs Cups

This is really delicious and simple and cool looking. I still have to figure out the right time for baking because my first couple of attempts were overcooked, so that the yolk, while not rock hard, was definitely solid. It's a great breakfast item that easily serves for dinner. This is one version of many possibilities. Try it with crème fraîche instead of cheese, ratatouille instead of mushrooms, etc.

½ lb mushrooms, chopped into cubes

1 finely chopped shallot

1 Tbsp (½ oz/14gr) butter

Pinch of fresh or dried thyme

Splash white wine

6 Cherry tomatoes

12 slices cured ham

6 large eggs

Parmigiano, grated

Salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Cook mushrooms and shallot in butter over moderately high heat until mushrooms are tender and liquid they give off is evaporated. Add white wine and allow to evaporate.
3. Assemble and bake:
4. Fit 2 slices of ham into each oiled ramekins. Divide mushrooms among cups, portion out thyme into each cup and crack 1 egg into each. Pop in a cherry tomato in each ramekin, and sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake in middle of oven until whites are cooked but yolks are still runny, less than 15 minutes (I turn on the broiler for the last minute. Season eggs with salt and pepper and remove (with ham) from muffin cups carefully, using 2 spoons.
5. Eat with baguette or crusty bread.

Beef and Mushroom Stew in Red Wine

Size matters when it comes to your pan and properly browning your stewing meat. I use a large 12 inch stew pot. If the cubed beef is too crowded it won't brown properly and steam instead. It's the browning that gives you that rich stew flavour. I usually buy a cheap cut of meat and cut it up in my kitchen. This way I can trim off as much fat as I like and have the size of cubes I like.

4 slices bacon
2 lbs. beef chuck

4 Tbsps. flour (I use rice flour)

1 tsp. ground rosemary

1 tsp. dried thyme

1 tsp. salt
Black pepper, to taste

2 garlic cloves

1 1/2 cups red wine

1 cup chicken broth

2 -3 carrots

1 lb. button mushroom

1. Start by creating the oil you will brown the beef in, and the best for a really rich, smoky flavor is bacon fat. Dice the bacon and cook in your stew pot over medium-high heat. Once the bacon bits are crispy and have rendered all their fat, remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside. Then pour out all but a tablespoon of the fat and keep the rest handy.
2. Combine the flour, rosemary, thyme and salt with black pepper to powder the beef cubes until covered.
3. Brown half of the beef in the fat, browning on both sides - add fat if it isn't browning properly. Remove the first batch of beef and brown the second, including any left over flour mixture. Add fat as needed, then remove from the pot and set aside.
4. Reduce the heat to medium, mince garlic and add to pan, adding a little fat if needed. Once the garlic becomes fragrant, add the quartered mushrooms and cook until they sweat.
5. Add the red wine, stir to deglaze the pan, pour in the broth and throw in the cubed carrots and crispy bacon bits. Bring this all to a boil then reduce to a simmer.
6. Cover and cook on the stove-top until the meat is tender, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Isabelle's soupe - Wild Mushroom and Hazelnut Soup

My niece has asked me to show her how to cook. What an incredible honor and compliment to have been asked by her! Although I haven't been such a great teacher, 'cause I want to do everything. Last week I decided I'd find a recipe for her to try on her own (mostly on her own... at least partly on her own... ok, she did a lot under my guidance and with lots of help from me!) and I think she was really proud of the results, and with reason; bien fait, Isabelle! Thanks to my colleague Carole from giving me the recipe. (omit butter to make is suitable for vegans)

2 Tbsps (28gr) butter

2 Tbsps mild vegetable oil

1/2 lb button mushrooms, sliced

1/4 lb assorted wild mushrooms

1 leek (6oz/170gr) diced 

3/4 cup diced parsnip

1/4 cup toasted hazelnuts, crushed

1 Tbsp fresh thyme, minced

2 garlic cloves

4 cups chicken broth (veg for vegetarian)

3/4 tsp salt, to taste

Pepper

optional 1 Tbsp finely chopped parsley

1. Melt 1 tbsp butter with 1 tbsp oil in a large pot over high heat (a large pot to have the surface for the liquid from the mushrooms to evaporate quickly and leave the earthy richness of the mushroom behind). Stir mushroom occasionally and cook for about 10 minutes. Remove from pot and set aside.
2. Return pot to heat and melt remaining butter and oil. Add leek, parsnip, hazelnuts, thyme and cook a few minutes before adding garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook until veg are tender, another couple of minutes, then add mushrooms and stock. Bring to a boil reduce heat, and simmer about 10 minutes, covered.
3. Garnish with parsley and serve.