Escabeche Roasted Mushrooms & Tomato Melon Salad

Recipe by Adrian Villarreal

9/1/18

Roasted mushrooms:

5 lbs                       mushrooms, mild and meaty (button, oyster or hen of the woods are ideal)
½ cup                    olive oil (or as needed)
¼ cup                    garlic sliced
1 cup                     onions diced
½ cup                    guajillo peppers, or other smoky non spicy dry chili pepper
1  bunch               cilantro
2 ea                        lime, juiced
TT                           salt
As needed          tortillas

Squash escabeche:

4 cups                   crookneck, zucchini or other summer squash, sliced
2 cups                   escabeche base
As needed          salt

Salad:

3 cups                 melon, sliced
3 cups                 tomato (heirloom or slicer), chunks of
3 cups                cucumber, thick sliced
1 1/2 cups            salty crumbly cheese
TT                       fresh herbs (mix of chives, parsley, basil or as available) 
As needed          salt & fresh cracked black pepper

method:

     Salt, squash, let rest.  10 minutes later pat dry and mix with as much escabeche as needed.  Reserve. Blend some escabeche to a dressing consistency.

    With mushrooms prepped. Add oil to a large, heavy sauté pan and place on high heat. Once oil is shimmering add mushroom without overcrowding pan. Season to taste.  Keep on high heat and sauté until mushrooms lose their water and start to golden in color. Add onion and garlic, peppers. Cook until mushroom deepen in color and onions garlic start to caramelize, finish with cilantro and lime.

     Dress salad with blended escabeche and fresh herbs.

    Serve the mushrooms on a tortilla or tostada as desires with squash on top, and salad on the side.

Escabeche base:

PART A
2 cups EVOO
1 cup carrots, dice
1 cup bell peppers, diced
2 cups Onions, sliced quarter moons
10 ea garlic cloves, sliced

PART B
1 bunch parsley
5 ea star anise
5 ea cloves
1 TBS coriander seeds
1 TBS whole peppercorn

PART C
1 1/2 cups vinegar, white
1/2 cup lemon juice, fresh
1/2 cup lime juice, fresh
1/2 cup orange juice, fresh
2 TBS salt

METHOD

Mix A & add B in preferably wrapped in cheese cloth with twine. Bring to a “boil” on stove while stirring, till veggies get tender. Pull off stove, add C.  Reserve

Polenta with Glazed Spring & Summer Vegetables

Polenta with Glazed Spring and Summer Vegetables
Recipe by Stella Dillard of Atlanta Culinary Connection
5/26/18
Yield: 4 Servings

¾ cup Polenta
3 cups Water  
4 ounces Goat cheese, fromage blanc, labneh or creme fraiche
as needed Butter or oil  
1 each Spring onions, tropea onions or green garlic
1 bunch Hakurei turnips
4 ounces Sugar snap peas, English peas
    OR  
1 bunch Broccolini
2 ounces Mushrooms
1 each Lemon  
1.5 cups Water or vegetable stock  
to taste Salt & Pepper  

Instructions:

• Dice onions or slice garlic.

• Separate turnips from greens. Quarter roots and slice greens into 3/8" ribbons.

• String peas, and shell if using English peas. Otherwise, quarter pods.

• If using broccolini, separate florets from stems. Cut stems into 1/4" slices, and leaving florets intact.

• Remove stems from mushrooms and halve or quarter depending on size.

• Bring water to a boil over high heat, and salt for desired flavor. Whisk in polenta and lower heat. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes, until tender.

• Heat cooking oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add mushrooms and sear until brown, fragrant, and slightly crispy. Reserve, and return pan to low heat. Deglaze with a splash or water or stock.

• Heat butter or oil in a pan over medium heat until foamy (butter) or just shimmering (oil).

• Add onion or garlic and a pinch of salt. Stir until fragrant and translucent, adding water or stock if necessary.

• Add turnip roots and broccolini slices, if using. Cover about halfway with liquid and bring to a simmer. Cook for about 5 minutes, and check for tenderness. If necessary, add more water.

• When turnips and broccolini are almost tender, add peas, if using. Cook until peas are bright green and tender, 35 minutes.

• Stir cheese or crème fraiche into polenta. Taste and correct seasoning with salt & pepper.

• Zest lemon over vegetables and taste. Add any soft herbs you'd like, and correct seasoning with lemon juice and/or salt.

Mushroom a la Grecque

Mushroom a la Grecque

Recipe by Terry Koval of Wrecking Bar Brewpub

Yield: 2qts

Note: You can cut this recipe in half and follow the same directions to make a smaller batch.

 Ingredients:

 2.5# Oyster mushrooms                               HEIRLOOM GARDENS
½ cup shaved garlic
½ cup Julian shallots
½ cup celery, brunoise
½ cup, carrot, brunoise                                  RODGERS GREENS & ROOTS
tablespoons of kosher salt
½ qt Champagne vinegar
1qt extra virgin olive oil
½ cup chopped fresh thyme
Fresh cracked black pepper
2 cups scallions {thinly sliced}
2 tablespoons chili flakes or fresh chilies

 Method:

In a large wide pot add ½ cup olive oil, bring up to high heat. Add your mushrooms to the pot. With a wooden spoon gently sauté the mushrooms for 3 to 4 minutes and to try to achieve a good sear. Add your fresh shaved garlic, shallots, celery and carrot. Sweat all your ingredients on medium heat for 5 minutes or till veggies are tender. Add your champagne vinegar and deglaze your pot, with your wooden spoon push along the bottom of the pot removing anything {FLAVOUR} that might have stuck to the bottom of the pot.* Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes and reduce 25% to burn off the raw vinegar taste.

 Remove from heat and add your fresh thyme, scallions, black pepper, chili flakes and olive oil, let cool at room temperature.

 Serve over Wilted Chard and Kale Salad

2 tbsp olive oil
1 bunch chard                                                    HEIRLOOM GARDENS
1 bunch kale                                                       HEIRLOOM GARDENS

 Remove large stems and rough chop chard & kale. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in large frying pan over medium high heat. Sauté greens until just wilted. 

 *Fun Fact: this technique is known as deglazing: a cooking technique for removing and dissolving browned food residue from a pan. When meat or vegetables are roasted, pan-fried, or prepared in a pan, a deposit of browned sugars, carbohydrates, and/or proteins forms on the bottom of the pan, along with any rendered fat. The French culinary term for these deposits is sucs. These browned bits are super tasty and help develop the intensity of flavor in a dish.