black chanterelle with pork chop

It's been a year since our last black chanterelle experience. At least in Davis-California, these delights, also know as black trumpets, seem only available for a short period of time in the winter. We were happily surprised to see and purchase the last bag today at the Farmers' Market from the local mushroom man. While rain is generally good for shrooms, it rained so much over the last two weeks that I had expected most mushrooms to be destroyed. Following a solid week of rain last week, we took opportunity of a few hours of blue sky and went hiking on the Stebbins Cold Canyon Blue Ridge trail. The five miles (8.05km) of slippery mud aside, we were delighted and disappointed to see so many soggy mushrooms =(   No joke, we saw mushrooms every step of the way, but all were destroyed from having absorbed too much water.   Thus, as you can imagine, we were truly delighted when we saw the last bag of black chantalles at the Farmers' Market =D

Recalling our last preparation of these lovely devils, we promptly biked over to the Co-Op and purchased two pork chops for this evening's dinner.  But not before getting some seasonal collard greens =)

Servings: 2

Ingredients: 
Black Trumpet
1/8lb (55g) fresh black chanterelle
1tbp butter
pinch of salt
Pork Chop
2 pork chops
1 clove garlic
1tsp dried rosemary
1 tbsp olive oil
pinch of pepper
pinch of salt
Collard Greens
5-6 leaves of collard greens
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp butter
dash olive oil

Procedure:

Pork Chop
1) Pre-heat grille to 350 - 400 Fahrenheit
2) Grind rosemary, olive oil, pepper, and crushed garlic into a paste with pastel and mortar. Rub into pork chop.

3) Cook on grill until internal temperature reaches at least 145 Faherheit.
4) Set on plate and let sit for at least 5mins.
Mushrooms
1) Soak mushrooms in warm salted water and rinse of dirt
2) Heat olive oil and butter over skillet
3) Sauté mushrooms for 4 - 5 mins
4) Season with salt. Stir. Turn off heat.
5) Top onto pork chops on serving plates.
Collards1) Heat skillet with butter and crushed (or finely chopped) garlic
2) Add chopped collards. Stir. 
3) When greens begin to brown (or stick to pan), add ~2tbsp water and let evaporate. Continue stirring.
4) Stir in pepper and salt.  Turn off heat.
5) Add to serving plate.

Enjoy.

winter veggie root stew

It's winter again... True that I am no fan of the cold, but I must admit, the winter vegetables available here in davis, ca, is beyond my imagination! For our first grocery shopping in 2010, we went dutifully to the Co-op. To our delight, we noticed several more varieties of root vegetables, and almost immediately, a hearty veggie stew came to mind. For this stew we tried out a couple veggies that we have either never seen or never tried before, including the romanesco broccoli and watermelon radish. Because these are seasonal veggies, they were inexpensive: most costing between $0.80 - $0.90, with the most expansive ingredient being the romanesco costing almost $5.00 per head.

Despite the cost, the texture and flavor of the romanesco was fascinating; well, having never even heard of this vegetable, I was surprised to find that it tasted very similar to the cauliflower, but sweeter. The watermelon radish was also a delight: cutting the radish in half immediately explained where its name came from! The other veggies were equally tasty. And the stew as a final product was spoonfuls of sweet, healthy, comforting goodness =D

Here is how I made it:

Ingredients
1 celery root
1 golden beetroot
1 watermelon radish
1 parsnip
1 sweet potato
1 hailstone radish
5-6 stalks of celery
1/2 head of romanesco broccoli
6-8 button mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped rainbow chard stalks

1-2 springs of dried rosemary
1 small dried red chili
2-3 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup brown rice
pinch s&p

Procedure
1. Start boiling 8-10 cups water in a moderately large pot
2. Wash and chop all vegetables (~2cm or 1" cubes); add to the pot of water
3. Finely chop rosemary, chili, and garlic; add to soup
4. Add rice to soup
5. Once boiling, reduce heat and let simmer for 30min, stirring occasionally, adding more water (1/4 - 1/2 cup) if evaporating too quickly (if veggie & rice begins to stick to bottom of pot).
6. After 30mins, most of the veggies would have softened and started to break apart and the rice should also be soft (for brown rice standard). If not, simmer for longer (maybe another 15mins). Otherwise, turn off heat. Stir in salt & pepper to taste.

May be served with a tbp grated cheese (Parmesan or Cheddar) and/or a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon.

Enjoy.