FANTASTIC POLENTA

While in Bergamo this winter I was honored to meet "Chef Enrico", a true bergamasco chef or cuoco with a twist.
During my time there he made several fantastic dishes and this original polenta was the first one of a series of unforgettable meals.

He made one mini omelette for each of us, sauteed some mushrooms with parsley and the best organic extra virgin olive oil in the world, cooked some polenta, sliced some smoked cheese and roasted some potatoes.

After that he assemble the dish by setting the polenta in the middle of the dish with the smoked cheese on top, above the cheese he set the omelette and cover it with the sauteed mushrooms.

All surrounded by the roasted potatoes.

The dish was delicious and great looking.

I have had polenta with mushrooms before and I really like it but I hated that the mushrooms turn the polenta kind of grayish looking. By placing the mushrooms on top of the omelettes, that problem was solved.

Thank you chef Enrico.

Delicious fresh wild mushrooms

Winter just started in this part of the world.
A couple of days ago we went to collect some pine cones for the fireplace.
Not only we found plenty of them but we were also very lucky and we found some wild mushrooms.

I believe they are Pine Mushrooms, Hongos de Pino locals called them; they were right under at the bottom of a pine tree. I had them at home for a couple of days, Google them over and over, but I was afraid to eat them. What if I’m wrong and they are poisonous?
Well…I guess they were not! I had them today and they tasted fantastic; it’s been 5 hours and I’m still alive (and hungry again).
We had a delicious lunch: Grilled meat and sausage (Salchicha Parrillera), green salad, sautéed mushrooms, roasted spicy peppers, cauliflower fritters and some Pita bread.

The cauliflower fritters was a recipe from Food and Wine.
The pita bread was a recipe from the King Arthur's cookbook; I’ve made this bread several times, it’s a yummy, easy, fool proof recipe.
The peppers I bought at the market and roasted them myself in the oven then peeled them and marinade them in olive oil with a whole garlic clove.
The mushrooms came out scrumptious. They smelled so good.

Sautéed wild mushrooms:

Fresh wild mushrooms, sliced
Olive oil
Whole garlic cloves
Worcestershire Sauce
Chopped parsley

Just warm up the oil, add the garlic cloves and don’t let them burn.
Add mushrooms, sauté for a couple of minutes and season with the Worcestershire sauce and parley.

We enjoy the meal in the terrace, it was little cold but such a nice day we just bundle up a bit.

It smelled so good we attracted some visitors.

Mushrooms

When I was a child, a few decades ago, there were some foods that really did not like.
Some of them where my mom’s favorites and I so wanted to please her that I would eat them any way, swallow them whole not to taste them, and tell her I love them.
Crazy!!!
One of those foods where mushrooms. I remember summers by the beach and my mother running out after a rain storm to see if there were any wild mushrooms around.
She could always find them and inevitably end up in an omelette.
At some point in my life, I have no idea when, I started liking mushrooms and now I really, really love them.
I while ago I found this recipe in the BBC Good Food web site and decided to give it a try. It turned out delicious.
I didn’t post it for a long time because I did not like the picture I took, but Ilva from Lucullian Delights, inspired me to share it any way. It is truly a nice recipe.

Pan-fried chicken in mushroom sauce:

2 tbsp sunflower oil
6 large, free-range chicken legs , halved at the joint so you have 6 thighs and 6 drumsticks
700ml/1¼ pts chicken stock
50g butter
1 onion , finely diced
400g mixed wild mushrooms (about a pound)
300ml/½ pt dry white wine
284ml pot double cream (1 1/4 cup)

Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan. Fry the thighs for 8-10 mins, skin side only, until golden brown, then transfer to a casserole dish. Fry the drumsticks for about 5 mins each side and add them to the thighs.
Pour the stock over the chicken legs in the casserole. There should be enough stock to just cover the chicken, if not add a little water. Bring stock to the boil and cover, leaving lid slightly ajar. Cook at just below simmering point for 30-35 mins until chicken is cooked.
While chicken is simmering, drain oil from the pan. Heat the butter in pan and add onion. Sweat onion for 5 mins until soft, but not coloured. Turn up the heat, add the mushrooms, then fry for 3 mins until they soften and start to smell wonderful. Pour over the white wine, raise the heat to maximum and boil rapidly for 6-8 mins until reduced by two-thirds. Turn off the heat and leave until chicken has cooked. Once chicken legs are cooked, strain stock into pan with the onion, mushrooms and white wine, bring back to the boil and reduce again by two-thirds until it is thick and syrupy. Pour in double cream,
bring it to the boil, season if you want, then pour it over chicken. Heat chicken through in the sauce for 2-3 mins then turn off the heat and leave for a few mins before serving. This is such an aromatic and beautiful looking dish you should serve it straight from the casserole with the lid on.