Pasta with mushroom-whisky sauce ON FIRE!

The mushroom season is in full bloom, 

and I still haven't posted our favorite mushroom recipe of all time, yet. 

But this is about to change... 

NOW!

Forest in Schorfheide/Barnim near Berlin - photo by Beau Lark

Wil and I came up with the idea to this recipe cause we wanted to do something different than just mushroom risotto. So we decided to make pasta with a delicious self-created mushroom sauce you cannot go wrong with. The top-components for cooking mushrooms are definitely rosemary, onions, pepper and (smoked wooly pig-)bacon, and guess what: you can find all of these in this wonderful dish! Plus cream, whisky (WHISKY!) and balsamico-date essence. 

Me and the Steinpilz (Porcini) - photo by Beau Lark

Our harvest: Chanterelles, Porcini, Slippery Jack and Bay Boletes

We picked the mushrooms ourselves (I even found a pretty neat looking porcini!), and took tomatoes and rosemary from our little vegetable garden. The wooly pig bacon was from a small local market and the balsamico-date essence was a gift my best friend Kirsten gave to me a while ago.

Cooking at Anna and Beau's - photo by Beau Lark

What you need for a maximum of 4 people:

500g pasta (fussili, penne...)

400-500g mushrooms (about 2 cups, or a small basket, e.g. chanterelles and/or porcinis)

200g-250g bacon cubes/bits (for example from happy wooly pigs...the smokier the better!)

200g cream

3-4 twigs of rosemary, chopped

1 onion, chopped

2-3 garlic cloves, chopped

(a handful cherry tomatos, halved)

3-4cl whisky (same as with the bacon: the smokier the better e.g. a nice Bourbon)

1 Tbsp balsamico-date essence

4 Tbsp parmesan, freshly grated 

Ceaning and cutting the mushrooms - photo by Beau Lark

Clean the mushrooms by brushing them gently to remove the dirt. Do not wash them! Otherwise they'll lose their aroma. If too big cut the mushrooms into slices or smaller pieces. 

Wil cutting wooly pig bacon - photo by Beau Lark

Fry the bacon in a pan until crisp, remove from pan and set aside. 

Sautee the onions and garlic in the remaining bacon fat until translucent and golden. 

 Add the bacon, mushrooms sautee all-together for a minute or two on medium heat. 

Right before the fire action - photo by Beau Lark

Turn up to maxium heat, add the whisky and carefully 

with a lighter or long match set the whisky on fire. 

Flambé until the fire goes off (after about a minute or so). 

Rosemary and tomatoes - photo by Beau Lark

Add cherry tomatoes and rosemary, let the sauce simmer for another two minutes. 

Add the cream and the balsamico-date essence. 

Let it reduce for a few minutes. 

In the meantime cook the  pasta in boiling water with salt until al dente 

(9-12 minutes, depending on what the packaging says). 

Season the sauce with pepper and salt, if required 

(careful, the bacon and parmesan are already salty).

Dish up the pasta and pour the mushroom whisky cream sauce over it. 

Sprinkle with parmesan. 

Serve!

Ready!

PS:

• If you don not have balsamico-date essence, you can use a  plain balsamico essence or balsamico vinegar mixed with maple syrup, honey or brown sugar, instead. 
• This sauce is also good with a nice piece of meat (deer or beef). 
• I tried to write down the measurements as exact as possible, which isn't that easy, cause you can pretty much vary everything. Add more or less rosemary, garlic or balsamico-date essence, use more pasta, less mushrooms...whatever you want. It is really hard to ruin this one! 

Bon apetit.

Special thanks to Beau Lark for taking all these wonderful pictures I didn't take...

Chanterelles tutorial...

Like almost at every weekend so far, today Wil and I went mushroom picking again. We are getting better and better at it; means we slowly figure out how to look for them and to find where they hide. Especially chanterelles are in season right now. It is so much fun to walk through the forest and search for them. A nice side effect: you get out of the city and get some exercise. Your eyes and legs get, anyway. And if you don't find any mushrooms, the mosquitos will find you for sure! Or you just run into one of the many spiderwebs...argh.

Besides that it's fantastic, I promise. Here is my very short amateur chanterelle video tutorial. You might even get to see a chanterelle in there, if you look closely...

Okay. it's not really a tutorial. 

All I wanted to do is to brag a little bit about our mushroom picking skills...

So, who is in for next weekend?

Wil looking tough-ass, with our harvest...

Mushroom Risotto

The mushroom season just started and the past days here in Berlin rather felt like fall then summer.

So Wil and I decided to leave the city behind for a few hours 

and take a train ride to the German forests to go on a mushroom hunt. 

Last year we almost came too late. 

Most mushrooms were picked already or rotten. 

So this year we wanted to make everything right...and were a little too early. 

Nevertheless we found some chanterelles!

I never found them myself and didn't know exactly where to look for them.

But then we spotted them underneath some birch trees.

I really have to say: mushroom picking is so much fun! 

It's like looking for easter eggs and you're outside in nature.

 When we came home I decided to use the chanterelles for a mushroom risotto.

For this you should mainly use dried mushrooms, since they are much more flavourful and aromatic.

But adding a few fresh ones, especially when you picked them yourself, gives it the final touch.

What you need:

500g Arborio/Risotto rice 

250g white wine 

2 Tbsp finely chopped rosemary 

1,5 to 2 l vegetable broth 

4-5 tbsp butter  

one medium sized onion, chopped  

2-3 finely chopped garlic cloves 

3-4 tbsp parmesan, freshly grated 

30-50g dried mushrooms (e.g. chanterelles, porcino) 

fresh mushrooms (approx 100-150g), 

cleaned from dirt and cut into small pieces. 

salt, pepper

photo by the wonderful Anna Coe

 In a bowl of water soak the dried mushrooms for at least 1 hour. 

In a large pan melt about 2 tbsp of butter. 

Add onion and garlic cloves and sautee them until golden. Add the chopped rosemary. 

Rinse the arborio rice under cold water until the water is clear. Add the rice to the onion, garlic and rosemary.

Pour 250ml of white wine over the rice.

On low to medium heat stir and let boil until the wine has evaporated. Strain the formerly dried mushrooms, but keep the water in which you soaked the mushrooms in. Add them and the fresh mushrooms to the rice.

Meanwhile in a saucepan mix the mushroom water and the vegetable broth and bring to boil.

Using a dipper slowly pour the broth-mix over the rice (1-2 full scoops at a time) and stir slowly until the rice  absorbed all the liquid. Then pour another one or two scoops of broth over it. 

Repeat the procedure until the 1,5 l of broth got fully absorbed by the rice. 

If the rice is still too tough you might have to add a little bit more liquid.

Risotto is supposed to be creamy and soft, but not mushy!

It's important that you keep stirring on low to medium heat.

When the rice is ready add salt and pepper and stir in 2 Tbsp of butter and 3-4 Tbsp of freshly grated parmesan. 

It gives the risotto the final creamy texture.

Serve with a small salad on the side!

Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes!

So, Wil is a very, very good and dedicated gardener and has been taking care of our tiny balcony and the plants. 

We grew tons of tomatoes this year which are all ripening now.

As promised, here are some pics of our harvest!

before picking

after picking

 

 

They taste sweet and fruity... almost like candy.

 

Wil made a salad with our first tomatoes adding arugula, mozzarella, 

chanterelles sauteed in butter and balsamico, bacon and pine nuts...