The Mushroom Cook Book

Cookbooks like to offer up a count on the recipes held with in. It would seem that the two favorite measurements in cookbook girth are "101" and "365." The 365 recipe book is an easy one to understand as there are 365 days in the year and these cookbooks offer up a recipe for each day of the year. One might assume that the 101 variety are just one better than an even hundred. one will often find the phrase, "over 100 recipes," used quite often in cookbook descriptions. So we were rather amused by Garibaldi Lapolla's The Mushroom Cook Book as it offers up 111 Successful Easy Recipes. Why? Well, your guess is as good as mine. Perhaps 111 recipes were the sum total of all of his mushroom recipes.

Lapolla believes that almost all cookbooks feature at least one or two recipes for mushrooms but he laments the fact that no cookbook in existence has, "made a special fuss over them." For Lapolla it is because the mushroom is neither meat nor vegetable and it smells funny, or as he would say, "pronounced." this book was written in the early 1950's at a time when, perhaps, mushrooms had a pronounced smell, but most of the mushrooms we find in today's supermarkets would be hard to find even with a bloodhound on the case.

I will say that Lapolla makes a valiant effort at making the mushroom the star of the recipe as opposed to merely sticking it in a tomato sauce. To that end, he is very fond of stuffing things into mushrooms.

I have a steadfast rule in my kitchen -- no nuts in my food. It is a personal thing and while I have been known to make an exception, the rule stands. So I was as surprised as anyone when I kept coming back to this recipe. There is a distinct possibility I might just make an exception here. But don't count on it.

Sautéed Mushrooms with Nuts

3 tablespoons of olive oil r melted butter
1 onion, minced fine
1 pound of small mushrooms, whole, or large ones, quartered
1/2 pound of unsalted nuts -- almonds, Brazil, filberts, or pignuole
Salt and pepper
Pinch of nutmeg

In a skillet, melt butter and add onion, Do not brown, Add mushrooms and saute over fairly high flame, uncovered, for 15 minutes until golden in color. (Mushrooms need watching and stirring to avoid burning.) Add nuts and seasonings and heat thoroughly.

Aside from a 111 easy mushroom recipes, we were drawn to this cookbook when we saw the author's photo.


It would seem that Mr. Lapolla is cooking on a Garland range much like one we posse in Lucindaville. And we do love our stoves.

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The Wild Table

What happens when 1960's foraging guide, Stalking The Wild Asparagus hooks up with 1990's darling, The French Laundry? The most attractive love-child -- The Wild Table. Connie Green has been a long time forager who began offering her bounty to chefs in California. Needless to say, they were thrilled. The foraging grew into a flourishing business: Wine Forest, one of the first and largest wild foods companies in America.

Clearly, the more foraging, the more cooking. Connie Green joined forces with Sarah Scott who spent many years as a chef at the Robert Mondavi Winery. Together they have created a cookbook that combines the rustic simplicity of living off the land with the sophistication of fine dining. The mesh is mouth watering. While there is some leeway in substitution, one really should approach this book with the desire to cook the recipes with the actual ingredients. Sure, grilled mushrooms are grilled mushrooms, but an overly simplistic desire to substitute common ingredients for their foraged brethren seems defeatist to the very nature of this cookbook.

Instead, strap on your books and and head out into the woods. (If you are not used to the woods, one might benefit from signing up with a foraging guide to lead your enthusiastic venture. Frankly, you might be surprised just how many people out there participate in such foraging, even in such unlikely places as New York City. But don't expect to find ramps in Central Park. you will need to come to West Virginia for the best ramps.)

So here is a Matsutake mushroom recipe. Make it with Matsutake mushrooms! Seriously.

Foil-Wrapped Matsutake with White Soy and Ginger


3 tablespoons white soy sauce or 2 tablespoons soy sauce plus 1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons sake
3 tablespoons mirin
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 green onion, white and pale green parts only, finely minced
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vegetable or peanut oil, plus more to brush packets
1 pound matsutake mushrooms, cleaned

Whisk together the white soy sauce, sake, mirin, ginger, green onion, lemon juice, and oil in a medium bowl.

Slice the mushrooms lengthwise into 1/4-inch slices. Layout four to six 12-inch square pieces of aluminum foil on a flat surface. Brush the surface of the foil with oil. Divide the mushrooms among the foil squares, fanning the slices slightly in the center of each square. Brush the soy mixture over the mushrooms, enough to coat them generously. Fold in the sides of each packet, then fold the opposite sides together, rolling or tucking in the edges so that the mushrooms are snugly enclosed and the liquid won't leak onto the grill.

Prepare a grill to medium heat.

Place the aluminum foil packets over the heat, fold side up, and cook until they are fragrant and sizzling inside, about 8 minutes. Check inside a packet at this point to make sure the mushrooms are tender. Continue cooking for 1 to 2 more minutes, if needed.

Remove from the grill and let sit for 1 to 2 minutes before serving.

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