#mushrooms in cream sauce

[petermorwood]

Mushrooms in Cream Sauce...

...or Pilze in Sahnesoße.

This is for @killerblackberrypie, who went looking for the version on our "European Cusines" site and found the site gone.

@dduane had taken it down for maintenance, a new theme and to take some new photos, but while the site was down it web-provider went belly-up. These things happen.

"European Cuisines" Will Return - just not quite yet.

Our recipe was, ironically, one of the recipes slated for new pics, so while this text is from the site's offline backup (with a couple of tweaks from me, because why not?) photos are sourced from the web.

There are many, many other recipes online; they're mostly in German, but Google Translate handles Rezeptedeutch well enough. I've linked to a couple, which is only fair since I'm using their pix.

You'll also see the French word "champignons" in German recipes as often as German "Pilze"; I don't know whether this indicates a French origin for the recipe, or refers to a specific mushroom, or makes the dish sound more classy.

Here's one: Champignons in Sahnesauce mit Spätzle.

And here's ours...

*****

Pilze in Sahnesoße from European Cuisines.

Contrary to popular belief, Germany is not a vegetable-free zone.

In fact, unless you find yourself buried in some tiny backwater in the Black Forest or someplace similar, Germany is much kinder to both vegetable-lover and vegetarian than a lot of other places. It will be rare to find a menu that doesn't have at least a few vegetarian or at least mostly-vegetable options on it, often far more creative than you might expect.

But leaving aside for the moment the issue of vegetarianism per se, Germans really do like more vegetables than potatoes and cabbage, especially seasonal ones in their prime. Asparagus season, for instance, has its own name: Spargelzeit - "asparagus time".

And mushrooms (all right, not as true veggies, but at least as fungi) turn up as stars in many entreés, especially in dishes meant to be served in the autumn, "Pilzsaison", mushroom season, when the good little creatures are coming up all over in the woods and the supermarkets.

This recipe calls for the mushrooms to be sautéed with onions in bacon fat (the bacon is added later). The pan is then deglazed with white wine, and various spices are added, one of them being paprika, which instantly suggests that this recipe probably sneaked over the border from Austro-Hungary, possibly via the Czech Republic.

Finally the cream and bacon go in.

The result is substantial, surprisingly elegant, and yummy.

This is definitely a recipe for a high-end Hobbit menu: an entrée for anyone who doesn't want their mushrooms upstaged by overly large amounts of meat.

The bacon-fat and bacon CAN be left out completely, making the dish meat-free. Use more butter along with more mushrooms and a red pepper diced small, and add 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika.

*****

INGREDIENTS

NB, we work in metric so that's "correct"; Imperial is converted and "approximate", though it won't make much difference. Just don't combine them or your mushrooms might crash into Mars...

1 kg / 2 lb fresh mushrooms, domesticated or a mixture of wild types to taste

125g / 1/4 pound bacon, diced

60gr 1/4 cup butter or margarine

2 large onions, diced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon paprika

60ml / 1/4 cup (or more if needed to deglaze) white wine, preferably a medium or medium-dry one

A pinch of nutmeg

A pinch of mace

250ml / 1 cup heavy cream

The juice of half a medium-sized lemon, strained

2 sprigs of fresh parsley

METHOD

Clean the mushrooms with a soft brush or dry cloth. (Never wash mushrooms.) If they're big, cut them in half.

Fry the bacon in a wok or large pan until lightly browned. Remove the bacon from the pan and set it aside.

Add the butter to the pan drippings. Add the onions; sauté until lightly browned.

Add the mushrooms; cook them until they're tender, stirring often.

When they're tender, raise the heat slightly and stir in the wine, salt, pepper, paprika, nutmeg, and mace. Cover the pan and cook over low heat for 15 minutes.

Remove from the heat. Add the cooked bacon, cream and lemon juice. Reheat until just warm. Do NOT let this mixture boil!!!

Garnish with parsley and serve with noodles, dumplings, mashed potatoes, whole potatoes... And some crusty bread to chase the last of the sauce.

*****

Our original photo used Spätzle, as in the first pic. Ribbon tagliatelle works just fine as well, while here is Saure Pilz-Sahnesoße served alongside Bohemian Dumplings, a long bread dumpling boiled in water or stock then cut into thick slices.

From the same site, here's a simple potato treatment, Pilz-Sahnesoße mit Kartoffeln:

As far as we've been able to make out, the main difference between mushrooms in cream sauce as a main dish, and creamy mushroom sauce for use with something else, is the proportion of mushrooms to everything else, and often the size of pieces into which they're cut. Really small bits are one more ingredient, large generous chunks are much more front and centre.

Ours is definitely a main course, and though we haven't made it for a while, the memory of that last time still makes my Mind Palate go...

Soon. Soon...

[daily-deliciousness]

Creamy Tuscan chicken

[babyblueetbaemonster]

Local Alchemist needed to be stopped.

My formula of restore fatigue:

Spring salad: lettuce, radish, potato, (optional: apple, orange, watermelon). Unfortunately it has Burden side effect. (if choose orange, you'll get a bonus Shield effect) Can also side with Ranch dressing: cheese wedge, leek, onion, garlic. And this one has Damage Agility side effect. It can be fix by removing the garlic.

Potato soup: potato, garlic, leek. This recipe has Frost Shield side effect. Perfect choice for a cold weather.

Corn salsa: corn, tomato, onion, garlic. Unfortunately it has Damage Agility side effect, but you can get Detect Life in the process.

Grilled cheese sandwich: bread loaf, cheese wedge, cheese wheel. Unfortunately it has Damage Agility side effect. I should have removed the cheese wedge. Sorry Baurus :(

Classic ham sandwich: bread loaf, cheese wedge, ham, lettuce. Unfortunately this recipe also has Damage Agility side effect, but bonus Fire Shield woohoo!

Gyudon: beef, onion, rice

Mix berries: blackberry, strawberry, (we only have two kinds of berries?) (optional: apple, orange, pear). Actually, don't put apple or pear in it. They will cause Damage Health.

Crabby corn soup: crab, corn, onion. You can add cheese wedge for bonus Fire Shield (and Damage Agility) effect.

Chili con carne: beef (/boar meat /mutton /venison), onion, garlic, tomato. Side effect is Detect Life. (Beef flavor will grant you Shield effect. Unfortunately Boar meat will have burden side effect and Venison is Damage Health)

Pumpkin pie: pumpkin, sweetcake (/flour /sweetroll). Unfortunately both flour and sweetroll has Damage Personality side effect

Carrot cake: carrot, sweet cakes

Strawberry cheesecake: strawberry, cheese wedge, flour (/sweetcake /sweetroll). The flour version has Reflect Damage side effect. I highly recommend it.

[morethansalad]

Vegan Truffle Cauliflower Mash with Shiitake Bacon

[are-we-really-doing-this]

The only girls in red I need in my life

[fluorescentbrains]

this smells so good i’m gonna fucking lose it

[buffetlicious]

Pizza Hut Singapore recently expanded their menu to include the Hut Melts, which was previously only available in locations such as the US, Japan and Thailand. For S$7.90, you get two triangles of folded melts that resembled a thin crusted pizza. You get to choose from the following flavours - Hawaiian, Beef Pepperoni, Spicy Chicken Pop, Cheesy Corn ‘N’ Shroom and Tuna.

Mum wanted the Hawaiian Hut Melts while I took the Cheesy Corn ‘N’ Shroom Hut Melts. When you picked up a slice, you know that the crust will be crispy and it tasted just like pizza too with all the gooey melted cheese. The only difference here is you get to choose between the normal and spicy tomato sauce which acted as a dipping sauce instead. While mum don't fancy it, I on the other hand love this and would be trying out the other flavours soon.

Selected images from Pizza Hut Singapore.

[downthepub]

so proud of myself bc today i ate a food i haven't willingly eaten in over a decade and it was...okay!

[thealanwrightblog]

Nice lunch at Goyos. Not been there for ages.

Onion soup, chicken in mushroom sauce, ice cream pancake and coffee.

[rabbitcruiser]

National Eat What You Want Day

Drop your rules and restrictions around eating and just enjoy life a little by eating what you want on this health and body image conscious day.

Many people spend time stressing over their diet, and what they should or shouldn’t eat, mainly because today’s world is filled with magazine covers sporting perfectly toned, perfectly tanned models that constantly make us feel inadequate.

The various health food fads that seem to come and go every few weeks definitely don’t help, either—as it turns out, a gluten-free diet is not particularly good for anyone who isn’t actually allergic to gluten, juice cleanses deprive us of the protein and fat our bodies need to function properly, and taking too many vitamin supplements just makes our urine expensive when our bodies flush the excess.

If you, like many people these days, are beginning to feel disillusioned with all of these things, you will be glad to hear about National Eat What You Want Day.

History of National Eat What You Want Day

National Eat What You Want Day was created by Thomas and Ruth Roy to help people break away from the frustrating health and diet trends of our times, if for only one day, and just let go and enjoy life a little.

Most nutritionists seem to agree that giving yourself a break every now and again can actually be good for us, and that forcing ourselves to eat only low-calorie, tasteless foods for prolonged periods of time is likely to cause us to suddenly gorge on everything in sight when our determination wears off.

Why should you celebrate National Eat What You Want Day?

We’re big advocates of this holiday! A lot of people have a structured way of consuming food. They have to be careful about what they eat, otherwise, they will put on weight and their health will suffer. Not everyone is blessed with a naturally fast metabolism. However, National Eat What You Want Day gives you the perfect opportunity to have the freedom to choose what you want without feeling guilty about it. It is also perfect if there is something that you have wanted to try for a while but you’ve been holding out because you don’t want to cheat your diet.

How to celebrate National Eat What You Want Day

It shouldn’t be too hard to imagine how to celebrate this holiday, really. You can eat whatever you want, isn’t that enough cause for celebration? Everyone is different, so for some people, this will mean pigging out on junk food.

They will stop counting calories and go berserk, eating everything from ice cream to chocolate to cake and pie, and then some cookies with ice cream washed down with hot chocolate, and then some ice cream cake. You get the picture.

However, nowhere in the holiday’s description does it say that you have to take this route to gastronomic satisfaction. Aficionados of gourmet cuisine can choose to celebrate by splurging on a meal at a five-star restaurant. Do you love lobster, but rarely order it because of its price tag?

Understandable, but today is the day to take a break. So call the poshest place in your city and spend an evening feasting on your favorite delicacies and perhaps washing them down with a nice bottle of wine.

Or, alternatively, you can try to recreate a favorite childhood meal in your home. Did your Mom use to make the best macaroni and cheese? Call her up and get the recipe!

Nothing beats a good comfort food to make us feel full, happy and sleepy all at the same time, so forget about fat and carbs just this once and enjoy a bowl (or pot) of that filling, creamy goodness.

Or maybe you’re a strict vegetarian who can’t help but miss steak or shrimp every now and then—if so, maybe you should treat yourself to something you wouldn’t usually eat just to reward your body for the tasty things it has to go without on a daily basis?

The key is to eat something that you truly enjoy, so whatever food that is for you, get celebrating!

What is everyone going to be eating on National Eat What You Want Day?

You may be wondering what everyone else is going to be eating on this holiday. Data that was gathered by the Top Agency may give you some answers! They have revealed that the number one food Americans would eat every day if they did not have to worry about the consequences is pizza! This was closely followed by pasta, and then both burgers and ice cream were in joint third place. In the fourth spot, it was a tie between French fries, chocolate, and burritos or tacos. We then have donuts, cake, chips, and cheese and cookies.

Make National Eat What You Want Day fun

There are a number of different ways you can make this day fun! Why not switch the typical meals around? You can have dinner for breakfast, and breakfast for dinner! After all, who doesn’t love tucking into Chinese leftovers the morning after? Or, if you want to have breakfast for dinner, why not put together a fluffy stack of pancakes with some maple syrup and bacon for dinner? After all, no rules apply on National Eat What You Want Day, so you may as well switch things up a little bit!

If you have got children, why not allow them to be in charge for once? Most of the time, parents are in charge of what’s for dinner. If we weren’t, children would probably never see a vegetable in their life! But, for this one day, why don’t you let your children decide what’s on the menu? You may end up with a random concoction of delicious treats, but it will certainly be a lot of fun, and it will get them interested in cooking as well, which is always a good thing.

Another way to make National Eat What You Want Day fun is to break your typical routine. For example, if you usually take a packed lunch to work, why not gather your colleagues and enjoy lunch together at a local restaurant? Of course, your children won’t be able to ditch their school lunches and dine out, but you can still make their packed lunches exciting. Look for fun ways to make their lunches, for example, you can cut their food up into different shapes and add some edible glitter to the mix to keep things exciting.

Source

[morethansalad]

Charred Cabbage with Vanilla Miso Hazelnut Dressing (Vegan)

[food-inspiration-photos]

[maudeboggins]

whenever i watch jamie oliver's "quick and easy" recipe videos (sponsored by tesco) i feel very like that "damn bitch you live like this" meme

not that i think he actually does live like this. but that's the vibe he gives off.

[wisegirlandseaweedbrainforever]

Added chicken to green bean casserol, and somehow turned it into roast beef??? Very confused.