Portobello Mushroom Salad

I really liked Jason Epstein's casual handling of crustaceans in his book Eating. I really like condiments to sea food on a checkered table: ketchup, hot sauce, cracked pepper, lemon juice, Rettich, whatever. As if I were eating oysters, here is a Portobello Mushroom Salad. Courtesy of The Swiss Guy (see other posts under this Label), who says: rinse mushrooms, then eat them raw. The hot sauce is my idea. I'm no mushroom lover, but this is really great.


Portobello Mushroom Salad

Two Portobello Mushroom heads
1-2 spring onions, chopped
cracked pepper
lemon juice
hot chilli sauce
dash of olive oil
some chopped chervil or parsley for garnish

Everything has to be done quickly. I know one doesn't rinse mushrooms, but being no Italian from Piemonte I do. Rinse them quickly under running water. Cut the mushroom heads in long medium thick slices.

Sprinkle with lemon juice, olive oil, season, liberally coat with the hot chilli sauce, twist the pepper mill, be careful with salt, add the chervil. Serve and eat at once. Prep shouldn't take more than 5 minutes in all.

Now chase your mushroom bias.

Hard times: brandade with grey shrimp and cauliflower

It's hot, but not so hot that I don't crave some potatoes. I don't often eat potatoes, but potatoes are currently a craving. Brandade, usually with salt cod and potatoes, is a poor man's dish. Geert Van der Bruggen has a version with some of our goodies: cauliflower, white fish, grey shrimp. Last week I had a simple evening meal of oven-baked potato and cauliflower. That too might have easily passed for a poor man's dish.

Brandade with grey shrimp and cauliflower

By Geert Van der Bruggen, in: Velt zine De seizoenen, No. 4, 2010, p. 21.

Serves 4

200 g fillet of white fish (i.c. plaice, the only MSC-labeled* fish I could lay hands on)
100 g freshly shelled grey shrimp
500 g potatoes
8 slices of dried bacon
1 small cauliflower
2 eggs
fresh chives
1 dl sour cream
juice of 1/2 lemon
olive oil
pepper, salt

*MSC: Marine Stewardship Council. A must in your vocabulary when it comes to fish.

Preheat oven at 140 °C.

Peel potatoes, cut them and boil them in salted water.

Season fish with salt and pepper, sprinkle with olive oil and put in the oven for 2 minutes (I let it in the oven somewhat longer-7 minutes)

Softly boil the eggs and peel them.

Drain cooked potatoes, let them dry, then mash. Add eggs, fish, chopped chives (keep some chives for decoration). Finish the brandade with sour cream, shrimp, lemon juice, pepper.
Taste; finish with a bit of olive oil.

Put the brandade onto plates, and sprinkle with very finely cut raw cauliflower. Put some dried bacon on top, and decorate with some chives.

My variations:
I used MSC-approved white fish (plaice)
I skipped the dried bacon and the sour cream.
I steamed the cauliflower to a translucent green al dente perfection: courtesy of de Leonie de Sounin's Magic in Herbs, see my post on the perfect cauliflower cooking method here.
For taste, I added some argan oil and chipotle chilli powder (my current fave in the spice rack)

Stop worrying about your finances and eat!

Why pico de gallo here in winter is a very bad idea

Black beans work their charm on me: when seeing this rarity in a supermarket here, I instantly want to eat them. And that's where my fantasy of conjuring up the Great Texan Tastes finds its spark.

Not only did I start a reverie about Tart Black Bean Salsa, I was so overly reckless to add Texas Pico as well.

When having to decide how long to cook black beans, I choose to be on the safe side: 2 hours, as say Grady Spears and June Naylor in The Texas Cowboy Kitchen, which has the recipes.

Tart Black Bean Salsa with Texas Pico de Gallo

From The Texas Cowboy Kitchen

2 cups of dried black beans (I had leftovers of about 250 g)
16 cups of water (or 1,5 times the amount of the beans)
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
2 large ears of yellow corn (omitted here, replaced by a few tablespoons of tinned corn)
1 red bell pepper
1-2 granny smith apples (omitted here)
1 cup Texas pico
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chile powder (I used chipotle chile)
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon white vinegar

First, let the black beans soak overnight in plenty of water. The next day, rinse them.

Secondly, cook the black beans in water. Bring to a boil first, then reduce the heat and let simmer for 2 hours.

(Skipped here): Preheat the over at 450 °F, remove the husks and silks from the corn, brush with vegetable oil and place them on a baking sheet. Roast for 15-20 minutes, turning to roast evenly. Remove from oven, let cool, and cut the corn from the cob.

In a bowl, combine the cooked corn, the black beans, and everything else. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Texas pico de gallo

6 jalapenos, sliced (replaced by small red and green chile peppers)
1 red onion
6 green onions, thinly sliced (I used scallions)
2 tomatoes, diced
2 bunches cilantro leaves, stems removed and minced
juice of 2 limes
salt

Combine everything, drizzle with lime juice, and salt, toss again, let sit for 15 minutes before serving.

I hereby solemnly declare that on account of the tomatoes, the limes and yes, even the cilantro, albeit tended to with the utmost care by destemming every leaf, making pico de gallo in Belgium in winter is a totally futile attempt. It certainly looks the part, but doesn't taste like it. I drowned my disillusion in a dollop of sour cream.