Porcini mushrooms, full of strong, robust flavours, are a meat substitute of the best kind
Mushroom-hunting is a dangerous business. It is not the iffy specimens I'm worried about; it's finding my way back to the car. I've "done" some of the Wicklow forests several times now, and, were it not for the local knowledge of my companions, I have little doubt I would still be there.
Porcini are the big prize for me. Saffron milk caps with their beguiling underskirt score highly on appearance, but fall short on flavour. I am very partial to a morel, but it is the wrong time of year for them, and as for the prized "chicken of the woods", I have never found enough to get excited about them. This is a problem with many varieties.
Not porcini, though. My record is two kilos of prize specimens, on which we feasted for several days.Porcini, also known as boletus edulis and penny bun, are a meat substitute of the best kind. Livery in texture and full of strong, robust flavours, they can be used to dress pasta; served in a rich sauce with polenta; added to stews, and - my favourite - sliced thickly and sauteed in butter and garlic and served with parsley and bread. I once had a restaurant customer complain that his sauteed porcini was in fact liver. It was only when we brought him down to the kitchen that he calmed down.
If you are lacking a forest, you need a good vegetable supplier, a friendly hunter or an Italian market. Failing that, the dried packets of thinly sliced porcini come up a treat when soaked in warm water to reconstitute them. Prices and quality vary. You pay for shape - although one dried porcino tastes much the same as another, providing it is of good quality.
If you are adding them to a stew, or making a sauce, the "bits" are just as effective. Roast chicken looks much better, however, with some T-shaped porcini on the plate. Recipes serve 4
ROAST DUCK, LENTILS AND PORCINI
1 large duck
olive oil
Chinese five-spice powder
2 sticks celery, roughly chopped
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 carrots, roughly chopped
2 tbsp dried porcini
2 leeks, trimmed and finely chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
200g lentils
200ml red wine
2 tsp redcurrant jelly
Remove the breasts from the carcasses. Place the meat in a bowl with two tablespoons of olive oil and a heaped teaspoon of five-spice powder. Season with pepper and toss gently, so everything is coated.
Place the carcasses, roughly chopped, in a roasting pan with the celery, onion and carrots. Drizzle two tablespoons of olive oil over the contents of the pan, season with salt and pepper and roast in a preheated oven, 180 degrees/gas four, for 20 minutes, or until just coloured. Remove, discard the oil, and place the carcasses and vegetables in a saucepan with one litre of water.
Bring gently to the boil and simmer, uncovered, for one hour, or until reduced by half. Strain and check the seasoning. Increase the oven to its highest temperature.
Place the porcini in a bowl and cover with hot water. Leave to soak for 10 minutes. Heat two tablespoons of olive oil and gently saute the leeks for five minutes, then add the garlic and continue cooking for a further two minutes. Add the lentils, coat well in the oil and then add the stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes, or until cooked. You may need to add a little more water.
Heat a dry frying pan and when it is hot, sear the duck breasts on both sides. Transfer them to the oven and roast for 10 minutes (for pink meat), or 12-15 minutes if you like your duck well done. Remove and allow the meat to rest in the pan for five minutes. Transfer to plates and keep the duck warm. Pour off the excess fat (it's great for making roast potatoes) and deglaze the pan with the red wine, porcini and soaking liquor. Reduce by half. Stir in the jelly. Slice the duck and serve on top of the lentils with a generous spoon of the sauce.
LAMB'S LETTUCE SALAD WITH SAUTEED CHICKEN LIVERS AND MUSHROOMS
225g button mushrooms, cut into quarters
half tsp turmeric
olive oil
350g chicken livers, cleaned
1 tbsp chopped shallots
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
1 dessert spoon well rinsed capers
1 dessert spoon sherry vinegar
4 generous handfuls lamb's lettuce
Blanch the mushrooms, with the turmeric, in boiling water for two minutes. Drain and refresh under cold water.
Heat three tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan and when it is hot add the chicken livers. Saute for five minutes, turning gently. Add the shallot and saute for a further two minutes. Add the garlic and a moment later the parsley and capers.
Stir in the mushrooms and splash the sherry vinegar over the top, with a seasoning of salt and pepper. Add two tablespoons of water and, stirring, make sure everything is heated through.
Arrange the lamb's lettuce on four plates, spoon the chicken livers and mushrooms on to the plates and serve.