where the wild things are no. 9. wild pantry

The first time I saw mushrooms drying in great abundance was in Northern China in the Shanxi Provence. We stopped for some tea at a tiny morning market where the women had piles of wild mushrooms laid out on cloth drying in the morning sun. They had collected the mushrooms from the peaks of the Wutai Mountain, a luminous, foggy, pine and temple covered wonder. Though i don't speak their language, they managed to explain to me perfectly their continuous pilgrimage to collect the mushrooms from the mountain during the different seasons. I will never forget it, it was such a beautiful moment. I dried many wild mushrooms in the summer and fall of this year inspired by those women. It was my first time doing so and I am really happy with my stockpiled pantry of little treasures. Wild mushrooms are easy to dry. Though there are different ways of drying mushrooms I sliced most of mine thinly with a very sharp knife and laid them out to dry on a board. The oyster mushrooms I tore gently in long tin strips. Depending on the weather (if it was very humid for instance) I sometimes put a fan on the mushrooms or used a clip light to speed the drying process. In the end you want the mushrooms to be cracker dry before you put them up for storage. I know our children's friends thought us fairly insane with mushrooms drying all over the place but for the most part I think they kind of liked it, especially when I make them late night pizza or breakfast pizza with mushrooms and a fried egg on top! They are willing to put up with almost anything for pizza.

Some mushrooms dry and store better than others. Some of the varieties that dried well for me were; Black Trumpets, Chanterelles, Chicken Of The Woods, Hedgehog, Porcini, Yellow Foot, and Oyster mushrooms. Dried mushrooms should be soaked in water to re-hydrate them. Some mushrooms need to soak longer than others. Save the water that you soak the mushrooms in, never throw it away, it is like flavor gold! Once the mushrooms have plumped up from the water, Gently spoon them out of liquid and give them a rinse. Set them aside for your recipe. Put the remaining mushroom liquid through a sieve to get any bits out of it. You can use that liquid to flavor soups and broths. Dried mushrooms can also be pulverized in a food processor in order  to make a powder to use in soups and stews and other recipes. I recently made a gin drink with wild ginger syrup and used a mushroom salt for a little flavor on top. I am already fanaticizing about next mushroom season! In the meantime I am going to invent some new ways to use all these dried beauties.

When the mushrooms are cracker dry, I put them up in sealed weck jars for storage.

 A good source for wild mushrooms on line is wildgourmetfood.com

Recipes to come!

to see a gallery of wild mushrooms click here

 Copyright ©2011/ 2012 Andrea Gentl all rights reserved 

 

winter sherbet and sorbetti.

I have become obsessed with making winter sorbets. It started with the pile of beautiful tropical fruits from Maggie at Flying Fox. We ate as much as we could and then the frugal New Englander in me took over and I set to work on a buttermilk, citrus and passion fruit sherbet. It was such a hit that I had to pry it out of Lula's hands just so I could photograph it! There was no singular flavor that took over, instead, hits of passion fruit and mixed citrus mingled with the sourness of the buttermilk perfectly. I think the addition of buttermilk is here to stay and perhaps sherbet will even make a comeback in our house! The next morning I made a wild ginger and lemon sorbet. I happened to have wild ginger but you can use regular ginger just as easily. It was both tart and a little spicy, like my favorite wintery drink, the ginger steamer. Today, with two pink grapefruits in hand and a desire for some brighter color, I set to work on a grapefruit-beet sorbet. I know this may sound a little strange but I added a beet for color and bit of flavor to the grapefruit juice and sugar mixture while heating. The beet added just the right amount of pink as well as a little earthiness.  

Pink Grapefruit Beet Sorbet

2 large juicy pink grapefruits

1 beet

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup of water

Juice the two grapefruits this should give you about two cups of grapefruit juice. (if you find you need more juice, then squeeze a couple more until you get two cups)

Peel the beet and cut in half and quarter.

In a large saucepan combine the grapefruit juice, the beet one 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup of sugar.

Heat on medium and bring to a boil for two minutes.

Remove from the heat and strain the juice into a separate bowl removing any pulp or seeds and beet parts.

Set the juice aside to cool.

When cool add to your ice cream maker and follow manufacturer's instructions.

Mixed Citrus and Buttermilk Sherbet

2 cups of mixed citrus juice

2 passion fruits

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup sugar

Juice the citrus until you get two liquid cups. Don't worry about seeds and pulp you will strain later.

(I used pink and white grapefruit, tangerines, honey oranges and lemons. You can use whatever citrus strikes you.)

Cut the passion fruits in halves and scrape the seeds into the juice mixture.

In a large saucepan combine the citrus and passion fruit mixture with 1/2 cup of buttermilk and 1/2 cup of sugar.

Heat on medium and bring to a boil for two minutes.

Remove from the heat and strain the juice into a separate bowl removing any pulp or seeds.

Set the juice aside to cool.

When cool add to your ice cream maker and follow manufacturer's instructions.

Wild Ginger and Lemon Sorbet

2 Cups lemon juice

1 inch piece if wild ginger or a 1 inch piece of ginger

1/2  cup water

1/2 cup of sugar

Juice the lemons until you get about two cups of juice. 

Coarsely chop the ginger or the wild ginger and add to the lemon juice.

In a large saucepan combine the lemon juice, the ginger, 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup of sugar.

Heat on medium and bring to a boil for two minutes.

Remove from the heat and strain the juice into a separate bowl removing any pulp or seeds or ginger.

Set the juice aside to cool.

When cool add to your ice cream maker and follow manufacturer's instructions.

When serving grate a little ginger on top.

I find that making sorbets is a little tricky. They never freeze solidly nor are they meant to. Experiment with the amount of sugar you use depending on whether or not you like sweetness or tart but do remember that sugar lowers the freezing temperature of water so the more you use the less solid it will become.

I use a standard Cuisinart ice cream maker, nothing fancy. The only drag is that the bowl must live in the freezer and you can only make one batch at a time in between refreezing the ice cream maker bowl. I do know there are more expensive versions that do not live in the freezer. For now, I am content with the one I have but perhaps soon I will step it up to a more pro version.

Have fun and be inspired!

I am thinking pomegranite next...

Mixed Citrus and Buttermilk Sherbet                         Wild Ginger and Lemon Sorbet

Pink Grapefruit Beet Sorbet

Wild Ginger and Lemon Sorbet

Copyright © 2011, andrea gentl. All rights reserved. 

rainy day bellocq.

There is nothing quite like a cup of tea on a rainy afternoon. With rain on the horizon this weekend what better thing to do than to head to Greenpoint, Brooklyn to visit the beautiful new Bellocq Tea Atelier. It is a veritable visual feast in there! Every corner is an insanely beautiful tableau. Tea tasting  at Bellocq is a must and it should not be rushed!! My favorites of the moment are the Afghani Chai, Hindu Holiday and Gypsy Caravan.  

If you can't make it to Greenpoint any time soon, you can sometimes catch Bellocq at The New Amsterdam Market at South Street Seaport on Sundays. Check the market list for and update of weekly vendors.

Bellocq teas can also be ordered on line here.

 Copyright © 2011 Andrea Gentl all rights reserved 

prop styling Kim Ficaro

food styling Susie Theodorou

maltagliati. cut brooklyn.

Maltagliati or (badly cut pasta in italian) is my favorite kind of pasta to make. Its large irregular cuts speak to my rustic imperfect side and this knife from Cut Brooklyn the object of my current obsession, is just the knife to cut it! I am seriously obsessed with the knives of blade smith Joel Bukiewicz. I first spotted one of them at the stall of Brooklyn Butcher Blocks at the New Amsterdam Market. I have since used Joel’s knives in any editorial I can squeeze them into. I like to have them on set so I can pine over them! Last week while shooting a feature for a European editorial on Brooklyn Artisans the knives came up again when Joel appeared on the list. I had never been to his studio/shop in Gowanus and was excited to check it out. It happens to be just down the block from Hungry Ghost favorite Four and Twenty Blackbirds and not surprisingly, the  Brooklyn knife maker and pie making sisters are friends!

Joel started making knives about seven years ago when he was living in a small town outside Atlanta. He came to be a blade smith via a hiatus from writing in which he has a degree. Metal work and furniture building eventually led him to this pure precise craft. His knives feel alive, each one carefully crafted for precision, balance and control. They are both light and powerful in hand, each feels as though it has a story to tell.

The knives of his assistant Moriah Cowels, a former blacksmith from Northern Vermont are just as beautiful in their own right. Where his are dark and masculine hers are more feminine and whimsical, but no less powerful.

 

 Knife Cut Brooklyn, Bladesmith Joel Bukiewicz

 

Knives Moriah Cowles at Cut Brooklyn 

where the wild things are. no.4. black walnuts. a tough nut to crack.

 

I am definitely into squirreling away Black Walnuts this year!

While working in Hudson, New York this past week we stopped to gather a bushel that had fallen from a tree we spotted at the woods edge.

Gathering and cleaning Black Walnuts can be a bit of an ordeal, but totally worth the time.The walnuts can be gathered once they have dropped to the ground. Pick them up when they have a green husk. They can then be laid out to age in a dry spot until the husk turns a yellow brown. At that point the outer husk will come off fairly easily, however if you have any trouble just circle around the husk with a small sharp paring knife. Make sure to wear gloves while removing the husk, as the tannins will stain your fingers. The hull should be removed to allow the walnuts to dry out. If the husk is left on, the heat caused by the decomposition of the hull will change the flavor of the walnut. I do know some people who prefer to leave the nut in the hull for a year or more before removing it because they feel it ages the walnut like a great wine or cheese. 

Once the nuts are free of the husk it is best to let them sit a month or two to age. Lay them out on newspaper or brown paper bags. The dryer the nut, the easier it will be to remove the nutmeat without damaging it. I leave them to dry for a few months or more in a well-squirreled proofed place! 

There is much written about the black walnut being that it is a very tough nut crack. You will find many bizarre and unfamiliar suggestions  such as driving over it with a car or wearing heavy work boots to crack the shell, however I have found that a small hammer or a vice will do just fine without damaging the meat inside.

The black walnut has a distinct taste and smell that is unlike the commercial walnut that most of us are used to. Black Walnuts taste of dirt, mushrooms and wine and smell a tiny bit sour, but I promise they taste delicious! The taste is very earthy and lends an interesting rich flavor to many foods. Use them anywhere you would use walnuts.

Recently I made a raw milk panna cotta with a maple and black walnut glaze. I also dropped some into a jar of local honey and served the honey and walnuts with an aged tilsit. Add them to a pesto for an earthiness or to a traditional brownie recipe for an earthy bite.

Next year I will  try pickling black walnuts which has to be done before the shell starts to harden. 

 PANNA COTTA WITH MAPLE AND BLACK WALNUT

Adapted from an Alice Water's recipe from the Chez Panisse Cookbook.

1/4 ounce package of unflavored gelatin

flavorless vegetable oil or almond oil

vanilla bean

3 cups of heavy cream

1 cup of whole milk (I used raw milk)

1/4 cup sugar

Put three tablespoons of cold water in a stainless steel bowl, sprinkle on the gelatin and set aside to soften.

 Lightly brush the ramekins or vessels you will be using with the almond oil or vegetable oil. Set them aside in the fridge to chill while proceeding with the recipe.

Cut the vanilla bean and scrape the inside into a medium sized sauce pan along with the cream, sugar and milk.

Bring to a simmer and cook for about a minute.

Remove from the heat and let the cream mixture cool, stirring occasionally for ten minutes or so.

Pour about one cup or so over the softened gelatin.

Stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved, pour it back into the remaining cream mixture and stir well.

Strain through a fine mesh sieve and pour into ramekins or vessels.

Refrigerate for four hours or overnight.

If you are turning the Panna Cotta out of the ramekin, slide a knife around the outside the panna cotta and turn out onto a dish.

I choose to leave them in their vessels.

Maple Black Walnut Glaze.

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

4 black walnuts 

shell the walnuts and coarsely chop. Set aside.

Put the 1/2 cup of maple syrup in a sauce pan and heat on medium heat until it just simmers. Turn it down to low and cook for 5 minutes to thicken slightly.

Spoon the warm maple syrup over the individual panna cotta and add a few pieces of black walnut to each.

Serve while the syrup is warm.

 

 

 Copyright © 2011 Andrea Gentl all rights reserved