Recipe: Wild mushrooms ‘au poivre’

While it may be a bit labor-intensive at the start, this recipe for wild mushrooms “au poivre” yields “the holiday dish of my dreams!” writes cookbook author Katie Reicher, executive chef at Greens in San Francisco. Served with a glossy cream sauce, these savory roasted mushrooms pair perfectly with roasted potatoes and make for a special Easter feast. Reicher advises making the mushroom jus ahead of time in double or triple-sized batches and freezing them to split up the work into chunks.

To start out this recipe, you’ll have to prepare a Porcini jus, a funky, rich stock that substitutes for a demiglace or brown stock. It comes out a bit thicker than average stock, and can even be transformed into gravy by adding a little cornstarch, says Reicher.

Porcini Jus

Yields 4 cups

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup (30 g) garlic cloves

4 bay leaves

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

2 large onions, each cut into 8 wedges

2 large carrots, cut into 1-inch (2.5-cm) chunks

1/2 bunch thyme

1/4 bunch parsley

Olive oil

1/4 cup (60 g) tomato paste

1 cup (240 ml) dry red wine

1 gallon (4 l) water

4 ounces (115 g) dried porcini mushrooms (about 5 cups)

DIRECTIONS

“Seasons of Greens” by Katie Reicher (Weldon Owen, $45), executive chef at the iconic vegetarian restaurant Greens in San Francisco, highlights seasonal, plant-forward recipes. (Courtesy Weldon Owen)

Heat a large heavy-bottomed stockpot over medium-high heat. Add a small glug of olive oil and add the tomato paste. Cook the tomato paste for 3 to 5 minutes to start caramelizing it. Add the red wine and reduce by half, about 5 minutes.

Once the wine has reduced, add the water, dried porcinis, garlic cloves, bay leaves, and black peppercorns. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a very slow simmer. Simmer for 1 hour.

After an hour, add the remaining ingredients and cook for another 45 minutes, or until the stock is thick, rich, and funky. The carrots should be very soft.

Remove from the heat and strain into a clean container using a fine-mesh strainer. Press on the vegetables in the strainer to be sure to extract all of the liquid. Discard the vegetable solids and allow the stock to cool. The stock will keep for up to 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator and up to 3 months in the freezer.

Now you can move on to the next part of the recipe.

Wild Mushrooms “Au Poivre”

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 teaspoons coarsely cracked five-peppercorn blend

1/4 cup (60 ml) dry white wine

1 cup (240 ml) Porcini jus

1 cup (240 ml) heavy cream

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 sprig tarragon

1 pound (450 g) wild mushrooms, such as maitake, royal trumpet, oyster, black trumpet, etc.

1/4 cup (60 ml) light olive oil

Salt

2 tablespoons butter

DIRECTIONS

Start by making the peppercorn sauce. In a small saucepan over medium heat, toast the cracked peppercorns until fragrant, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add the white wine. Reduce the wine to nearly dry, then add the Porcini Jus, heavy cream, mustard, and tarragon. Bring the sauce to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low and simmer until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 20 minutes.

While the sauce is simmering, prepare the mushrooms. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Cut the mushrooms into large chunks about 1 1/2 to 2 inches in length. Some mushrooms will cook faster than others, so if you are using a mix of mushrooms, keep them separate from one another.

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Toss the mushrooms with the olive oil and enough salt to lightly coat the mushrooms. Lay on a baking sheet in a single layer, leaving plenty of space between the mushrooms. Roast the mushrooms until they have cooked through and are browned on the edges, about 25 minutes.

Remove the mushrooms from the oven and add them to the peppercorn sauce. Add the butter and stir until it incorporates to make a rich, glossy sauce. Adjust the salt to taste and serve.

— Courtesy Katie Reicher, “Seasons of Greens” (Weldon Owen, $45).