Posted By Greg on January 19, 2009

(I should probably be dragged behind a truck for that pun)

There is very little that we work with that inspires such joy and giddiness as wild mushrooms. For some reason, these little fungi just make us happy when we have a chance to work with them.

Perhaps it’s that fact that they are relatively hard to find in our glorious warm, humid, mosquito ridden, swamp land of our home State, which makes them such a novelty. Perhaps it’s the fact that these little fruits of fungi defy cultivation, and are truly wild, having to be hand harvested from the forest floor. Or perhaps it’s the fact that they just taste really, really freakin’ good. Were not talking about those stark white, slimy button things. These babies are meaty, savory, and intoxicating.

Going back the better part of 20 years, the only wild mushrooms that were going to be found around here came from a can. Tiny, pallid chanterelles, packed in a putrid liquid to be allotted in dibs and dabs atop a grilled veal chop. This was a far cry from other, more temperate areas of the country, where, before regulations prohibited such things, fresh morels, chanterelles, hedgehogs, and hen of the woods could be had by waiting for a random hippy to knock on the back door of the restaurant.

“Hey bra’, I’ve got some mushrooms for sale, you want some?”

“Where did you get them and how much do you want?”

“Uhh, up on Mt. Hood, bra’. I’ll sell these chanterelles for 2 bucks a pound.”

Done and done, friend. Yeah, constant rain and gloom aside, the Northwest did have it’s advantages (besides paying 2 guys $10 for their day’s work).

We recently had dinner with a few friends. There was a plethora of ingredients to get excited about due to someone’s awesome Xmas booty, but a box full of wild mushrooms from Marx Foods (who also happens to be holding a TRUFFLE giveaway. Uh, yeah. We entered.)  had Greg saying “Hello, Lova’”. (Brand of mushrooms from that night forth-coming.)

There was no real game plan of what to do with them, but rummaging through our bag of tricks, we arrived at a simple, yet almost deadly delicious gratin, using the beautiful chanterelles, hedgehogs, black trumpets and a little hazelnut-smoked bleu cheese from Oregon. And so, we give it to you. Enjoy Blogosphere. Enjoy.

The photo just does not do it justice. It’s smack-yo-mama good.

Wild Mushroom Gratin

Serves 4

1 lb wild mushrooms, cleaned (you can use just about any mix of oyster, portabella, shiitake, or whatever you can find at the store)
1 shallot, minced
1 pint heavy cream
1 tablespoon butter
¼ lb bleu cheese (Stilton, Maytag, Gorgonzola, or the like. But that smoked bleu was a good choice.)
Kosher or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Preheat your oven broiler.

Melt the butter in an ovenproof sauté pan over medium heat. When the butter starts to foam, add the shallot and sauté for 1 minute. Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and sauté for 2-3 minutes, just until they soften.

Add the cream to the pan and cook until the liquid has reduced by ½ - about 2-3 minutes. Add the bleu cheese and stir to incorporate it into the cream. Check the seasoning and adjust the salt and pepper, if necessary.

At this point, if you want to be all fancy and stuff, you can divide the mushrooms into 4 individual serving ramekins, or you can just leave them in the pan for family style fun. Either way, put the vessel containing the mushrooms under the broiler and let the heat work it’s magic – in 1-2 minutes, the cheese and cream should get nicely brown and bubbly. This would mean that it’s done, by the way. Remove from the oven and serve, being careful not to burn you, the people around you, or any pets running around the house.

Categories: Our Comfort Food, Side Dish, Vegetables
Tags: awesomeness, gratin, wild mushrooms