Mushrooms and Egg Noodles with Watercress Salad

Last night I made a real stinker of a meal. I went shopping all over the place, spent hours getting it ready, taking photographs all along the way, and when it came time to eat, everything was done at the wrong time and tasted somewhere between eh and terrible.

My cute little $14 Amish chicken was dry after about an hour and a half in the oven, and yet still bled when pierced in the leg. The gorgeous curly garlic scapes (tops) from the farmers market were either overcooked or stringy and the green beans which didn't look great to begin with were like petrified wood by the time I got them home. The only thing that came out okay were the roasted potatoes and carrots with little caramelized garlic cloves and chicken fat.

I was disgruntled but determined. Dessert would save the day. I thought of my beloved, domestic, children's book hero, Amelia Bedilia. She was always screwing things up and I felt a certain kinship to her yesterday. When her employers asked her to dust the furniture she would take a powder puff and coat the sofa and chairs with talcum, when they asked her to draw the curtains in the afternoon she would set up an easel and do a lovely illustration and when she was asked to make a sponge cake, a stack of fresh kitchen sponges from under the sink were neatly cut and stirred into the batter. But right when the family, tearing their hair, was ready to give her the boot, she would whip out a fabulous cake or pie she happened to have thrown together earlier that day and everyone would be lulled into a sugar coma and agree, Amelia should stay.

I was hoping to do the same but my strawberry shortcakes, well, they fell short. They were dry and flavorless and I have to apologize to the strawberries and homemade whipped cream which were really quite good, I should never have spooned you on to those sad little sand dunes. 

Come dinner time tonight I was not inspired, to say the least. My mind was an empty colander, nothing sounded good and I didn't want to order out. I called Chris for a suggestion, "egg noodles and cream of mushroom soup with greens on the side." Hm.

I find most cream of mushroom soups taste like a wet dog so I didn't want to go out and shop for a can of Campbell's, but it gave me an idea. At home I had left-over heavy whipping cream, a little rose wine, some garlic and macerated strawberries. I didn't want to have to cook greens, because between the soon to be boiling pasta and a hot skillet for the mushrooms we'd blow a fuse with one more plugged in appliance, so a salad seemed like a good idea. I decided to make creamed mushrooms and egg noodles with a watercress, fennel and herb salad. For dessert, strawberries, peaches and mint with a dollop of cream. It was fresh, decadent and completely satisfying.

Yesterdays lemons, today's lemon aid. 

Mushrooms and Egg Noodles

4 fresh shitake mushrooms, sliced 1/4" wide

4 pom pom mushrooms (or porcini, chantarelle or baby bellos), sliced 1/4" wide

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup white wine (or rose)

2 tbs. butter

2 large garlic cloves, minced

1 tbs. chopped flat leaf parsley

salt + pepper

1/2 a 12 oz. bag of egg noodles

Boil a pot of salted water and cook the noodles until al dente. Meanwhile, heat the butter in a skillet on medium heat. Add the garlic and saute about a minute, lower the heat if garlic starts to brown. Add the mushrooms and toss around another minute. Then add the white wine, 1/4 cup of cream, a pinch of salt and few grinds of a pepper mill. Cook about 5 to 8 minutes until the mushrooms are soft adding the parsley before the last minute of cooking. Turn off the heat and add the drained pasta to the pan of mushrooms along with the last 1/4 cup of cream and stir gently, scraping up any juices from the bottom of the pan. Taste for salt and pepper, serve hot. 

*note

I didn't measure the cream or wine while I was cooking so you may want to add a few extra tablespoons of each if it seems dry.

Watercress and Fennel Salad

1 bunch watercress

1 small bulb fennel, thinly sliced

1 tbs. chopped parsley

1 tbs. chopped mint

sherry vinegar

olive oil

pepper

Wash and tear up the watercress. Lay the fennel on top and scatter with the herbs. Splash a little vinegar and olive oil over the salad and give a turn of a pepper mill.

Portobello Sandwich

I once ate wild mushrooms in an old country estate in the center of France. The house sat at the top of a hill, exposed on all four sides and filled top to bottom with old books, antiques and threadbare sofas. I was fifteen and spending a few weeks abroad with a French family who were friends of friends. This was an uncles house and everyone was coming together for a family weekend in the country.

One cloudless morning, while their daughter Emily and I swam in their mediterranean blue swimming pool, the women went into the woods to forage mushrooms. I'm not sure why we didn't go with them, perhaps the location of the mushrooms was so top secret that not even the children were invited or it may have been that swimming just sounded better to a couple of fifteen year olds. Regardless, I now wish I had gone along.

The first I saw of the mushrooms, which I believe were mostly chanterelles, was in a skillet in their rustic kitchen, being sauteed with gobs of fresh butter and garlic. There was a buzz of excitement. This was clearly something they didn't do all the time and their trip had been profitable.

We sat down in the grand dining room for a lunch of chanterelles, salad, fresh baguettes and red wine. A table cloth had been laid, there were flowers from the garden, good china and polished silverware to assist. The mushrooms made you want to die a little, in the French way, they were so good. Tender, earthy and sweet. And if I recall correctly, I washed it down with a rather large glass of red wine.

I will never forget that meal.

Mushrooms are magical and not just in the trippy way. Dr. Andrew Weil believes they grow with lunar rays rather than solar and they fall somewhere between plant and animal. And because some of them can kill its best not to forage without some serious training first.

Last night the weather was beautiful so I scrambled to make portobello sandwiches to take to the river for dinner. They were not even comparable to the chanterelles I had years ago but delicious nonetheless and a good substitute for meat if you're looking for one.

Portobello Sandwiches (for two)

2 portobello mushrooms

humus

roasted red peppers

olive oil

salt + pepper

1 garlic clove sliced in half

pain de compagne

Brush any dirt off the mushrooms with a paper towel. Coat them each in about 1 tbs. olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place them top side up under the broiler (I used my toaster oven) for about 8 minutes or until they are cooked through turning once. If they dry out a little on top spoon a little more olive oil on top. Cut four slices of fresh bread and rub it lightly on one side with the garlic (if the bread is a day old you can toast it). Spread humus on all four slices and lay a few pieces of roasted red pepper on two. Slice the portobellos in half and lay them on top of the peppers. Sprinkle a little salt and fresh ground pepper on top and sandwich with the other slices of humus bread.

Strawberry Salad

6 leaves red leaf lettuce

6 strawberries

goat cheese

balsamic vinegar

olive oil

fresh ground pepper

Wash, dry and tear the lettuce. Put in a bowl. Slice the strawberries and crumble about two tablespoons of goat cheese on top. Give the salad a splash of balsamic and olive oil and grind some freshly ground pepper on top. Spinach would be good with this too.