chef's corner Directions: • Sift and break Mix the minutes.and cut plastic minutes. • Beat • Divide Foraging Makes (4 servings) Ingredients: 4 eggs 2 cups 1 lb mix (Ask remove sausages) Butter Salt,Dill Boiling Rolling 2” round Small is the new fad for restaurants. It’s cool to see items on the menus that have been locally foraged – herbs, berries and mushrooms. One reason you don’t see it as much is not because we live in a city and not in the woods, but because most people don’t know how to forage or what an edible berry looks like versus one that might be extremely poisonous. Foraging, like “organic” products, are fashionable. Restaurants and grocery stores can charge a lot more for products labeled “organic,” “local” or “foraged.” But if you think about it, we have been eating organic, locallysourced and foraged foods since the beginning of time. Okay, yes it’s not that easy anymore and who has the time to go out and forage for your own mushroom and berries? Who has the time to drive out to a farm for some fresh meat or eggs? It’s much easier to stop at a store and fill up your shopping cart versus a foraging basket. This natural calling to eat locally, forage and hunt has spurred a growing interest for urban farming, bee keeping and urban mushroom hunts. Many of our large city parks are home to very healthy and edible mushrooms – if you know where to look. Don’t go out and just start picking up stuff at the park. It takes a very trained eye to know the right thing to eat, so always consult an expert or an experienced forager before picking and eating anything in the wild. As a child, I used to go mushroom hunting with my grandparents. The mushroom hunt always left me with a sense of strong connectivity to the earth. If you can’t get out to the woods for mushrooms, try your local farmers market. Ask the farmers about where the mushrooms came from and for ideas on how to cook them. Each mushroom type requires special preparation. In a lot of ways, mushrooms are like different cuts of meat. Some cuts of beef are good for burgers, others for stews and steaks. Mushrooms are similar. The hen or chicken of the woods mushrooms are great for roasting and braising, shiitake and chanterelles are great for sautéing, portabellas hold up good on the grill. But the most versatile mushroom and widely available is the white button or crimini type. Raw, they are not very flavorful and are often used as fillers, but with the right recipe they can be a standout dish on their own. Here is an original recipe I use in my restaurant. Safe foraging and bon appétit! Chef Natasha Pogrebinsky Executive Chef and Owner of Bear Restaurant 12-14 31st Ave., LIC www.bearnyc.com www.ChefNatasha.com CHEF NATASHA POGREBINSKY HUNT RECIPE Makes about 1 pint of mushroom spread Ingredients: 2 pounds crimini, baby bella, or white button mushrooms 1 medium yellow onion, sliced 3 cloves of garlic 1/2 cup chopped dill 1 cup sour cream Sliced rustic bread 2 tablespoons of butter 1 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock Tools: Sauté pan, knife, cutting board, mixer or immersion blender Directions: • Wash and dry all the mushrooms. Slice mushrooms about 1/4 inch. • Place into a large sauté pan with a teaspoon of oil. • The mushrooms will begin to cook and produce a lot of water. Keep the flame on medium until all the water has cooked out and the mushrooms begin to brown. • Add sliced onion and 1 1/2 teaspoon of butter, mix and continue to brown until the mushrooms and onions begin to caramelize. • Add 1 1/2 cup of stock and scrape the bottom of the pan. • Add 1 cup sour cream and reduce for about two minutes. • Add zest of garlic and chopped dill. • Melt the rest of the butter and brush on top of some sliced rustic bread. Grill the bread, or broil until golden and crispy. • Remove the mushrooms from the pan into a bowl and serve with crostini, pasta, or eggs. • If you want the mushrooms to be less chunky, place into a processor and blend on medium until the consistency of a spread. Hint: add a couple drops of truffle oil and shaved parmesan to give it a real gourmet taste and look. MUSHROOM Photo by Bradley Hawks
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