Portobello Cookbook: 40 Quick and Easy Recipes - Hardcover

Czarnecki, Jack

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1885183755 ISBN 13: 9781885183750

Publisher: Workman Publishing, 1997

Synopsis

Focusing exclusively on the portobello mushroom, this cookbook provides 40 recipes for basic preparations, main courses, side dishes, and snacks. The recipes are designed to be simple to make, and using a minimal number of ingredients.

About this title

From the Back Cover

Jack Czarnecki, America's foremost authority on cooking mushrooms, has written the first book focusing exclusively on the versatile portobello mushroom. The portobello, also known as the "portabella," "portabello," and "portobella," is deliciously satisfying and low in fat and calories. Portobellos also provide a depth of flavor that is difficult to achieve with vegetables alone, making them invaluable to vegetarians and others who want to reduce their consumption of meat.

The Portobello Cookbook provides some forty recipes for tasty soups and salads, satisfying main courses, tempting side dishes, and irresistible snacks. Most of the recipes are simple and quick to make. Using flavors and cooking methods from around the world, Czarnecki presents such treats as Shaved Portobello and Lemongrass Soup, Portobello-Vegetable Stir Fry, and many more delicious recipes. The book is beautifully designed and illustrated by Alexandra Maldonado.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Basic Braised Portobellos with Herbs

This may be the simplest and quickest method for preparing portobellos as a side dish or a garnish for meat or fish. Older portobello caps work well in this recipe, but reduce the cooking time by about 1 minutes.

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 6-ounce package sliced portobello caps

Salt

1 tablespoon chopped fresh herbs, such as oregano, thyme, or basil,

or a combination, or 1/4 teaspoon dried herbs

Pour the oil into a 9-inch saute pan and place over high heat for 30 seconds, then lower the heat to medium. Add the sliced mushrooms and sprinkle lightly with salt. Add 2 tablespoons of water to the pan and cover with a lid. Let simmer, covered, for 3 minutes.

Remove the lid (the mushrooms should have given up more liquid); the liquid should be at a vigorous boil. Add the herbs, stir, replace the lid, and simmer for another 2 minutes, until the flavors meld. Remove the lid and serve as a side dish.

Serves 2

Crab Cakes with Portobellos and Warm Mustard Vinaigrette

This recipe, which uses duxelles, is from Harry Holden, my chef at Joe's Bistro 614. Fresh lump crabmeat is the best, but you can use any kind, including frozen or pasteurized.

For the crab cakes

1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs

1/2 cup Portobello Duxelles (page 25)

or duxelles made from white button mushrooms or cremini

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon fresh or 1 teaspoon dried dill

1 egg, beaten lightly

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 pound crabmeat

For the mustard vinaigrette

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon crushed black peppercorns

1/4 teaspoon minced garlic

1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons melted butter

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Stir together the bread crumbs, duxelles, cayenne, dill, egg, and mayonnaise. When the mixture is completely blended, carefully fold in the crabmeat, taking care that it does not break up. Refrigerate this mixture for at least 1 hour.

While the crab mixture is in the refrigerator, make the vinaigrette. Combine the vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, and mustard in a blender. Blend thoroughly, then set aside.

When the crab mixture is cold, form crab cakes by rolling a small (about 3-4 ounces) amount of the mixture between your palms gently to form a ball. Then gently flatten the ball into the shape of a cake. Repeat for the rest of the mixture. You should have about 8 cakes.

Place a medium saucepan over medium heat and pour in the butter and oil. When the oil begins to bubble vigorously, add the crab cakes, 4 at a time. Fry until the cakes begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Flip over the cakes and repeat on the other side. Repeat this procedure for the remaining cakes. Keep the finished crab cakes warm.

Heat the vinaigrette very gently over medium heat in a saucepan or in the microwave until it is just warm. Spread the sauce in an even amount over 4 plates. Place 2 crab cakes on each plate and serve.

Serves 4

Portobello Duxelles

Duxelles is a mushroom paste that has been cooked down to release most of the liquid, a reduction of mushrooms to a concentrated form. My first book contained more than twenty variations on this basic recipe. Duxelles can be combined with fresh herbs, smoked salmon, chopped oysters, and many other strong-flavored ingredients to produce a great canape topping or a wonderful coating for fish or meat. Frozen, duxelles can be kept for months, and I recommend that you prepare this in a large quantity so that you can pull from your freezer as needed.

This classic recipe uses champignon de Paris, or as we know them, button mushrooms, but portobellos are equally good---especially the stems, which make a more attractive and firm duxelles. Older caps are also good candidates for duxelles. You should chop the mushrooms by hand, rather than in a food processor. Duxelles should have some texture, which comes only from reducing finely cut, rather than mashed, mushrooms. It's good exercise.

3 tablespoons melted butter

2/3 cup chopped onion

2 cups finely chopped portobellos, about 8 ounces

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

Place the butter in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Saute the onion until just translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms, salt, sugar, and soy sauce and stir slowly. The mushrooms will begin to give off liquid. Continue to stir the mushrooms until all the liquid has evaporated and the mixture resembles a semidry paste, 8-12 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool. Store in the refrigerator or freezer.

Makes 1 cup

Excerpted from Portobello Cookbook. Copyright (c) 1997 by Jack Czarnecki. Reprinted with permission by Artisan.

Edition details

• Publisher: Workman Publishing
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1885183755
• ISBN 13: 9781885183750
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Maldonado Alexandra
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 80