It’s Back!

After a bit of a hiatus, you know, Covid (blame everything on Covid), life, laziness, the usual, I am restarting my bitty blog about nibbles. Those of you who subscribe may be happy (I hope so), hopefully some new followers may appear. With a New Year and resolutions pushing at me, the time seems right. So without further ado, let’s get started

RED WINE MUSHROOM RAGOUT.

This will be an easy start. I made this mushroom ragout with an excess of what I purchased for my duxelles for Christmas Beef Wellington (another post). Fairly simple, but so delicious, I served it along with chicken cutlets coated with garlic breadcrumbs which were made with leftover bread for the same holiday. You can serve it on toasts, topped with an egg for a Sunday brunch , or toss in pasta. The world is your mushroom!

Back to the mushrooms. I had an assortment. In addition to chopped and shredded mushrooms, I minced a garlic clove and a scallion. You can use shallot or onion, I had some scallions left so I used them before I lost them. A sprig of rosemary or thyme A bit of chicken stock or just water and 1/2 cup red wine whatever you have. I had some Beaujolais and I used that. Salt and pepper to taste.

Heat skillet over medium high and then add some neutral oil along with some butter (you can use any fat, but add a bit of neutral oil like grapeseed or canola to raise the heating point). Toss in the mushrooms taking care not to crowd. If you can see some space between the shrooms, you are ok. Otherwise, they will steam and not brown (thank you Julia Child).

As soon as the mushrooms start to brown (about 5 minutes or so) add the garlic and scallion. Waiting after the cooking process has started will prevent the garlic from burning. Allow the scallion and garlic to soften and flavor the mushrooms. Toss in the chicken stock or water to deglaze and then add the red wine and the rosemary. It should look like this.

Let the red wine cook down until the sauce becomes a purple color and thickens the dish. Salt and pepper to taste and that’s it.

Not the best photo but you can see the purple hue of the finished product. The wine has cooked off and all you have is the flavor.

So there you have it. Nibbles and Bits.2 for 2025.

3 January 2025