A 100% mushroom menu

The Olympic and Paralympic Games are over, the children have gone back to school and autumn is inexorably approaching. The days are getting shorter, the grape harvest is starting and the surrounding nature is beginning to adorn itself with its autumn colours. It is true that the visual spectacle is revealed in particular in the forests where the trees see their foliage slowly turning yellow-red. But even if you will have to look up to admire these remarkable colours, do not forget to scrutinise the ground because the mushroom season has well and truly begun in our French regions. Picking them will become a national sport for a few weeks. This prospect has given us the desire to offer you some recipes to thrill your taste buds during a highly mushroom-based meal!

Mushroom Crème Brûlée

As an appetizer, revisit in a savory version an essential dessert of French cuisine that you have undoubtedly already tasted: crème brûlée. This recipe borrows from its sweet version the creamy texture and the crispiness of the grilled cap.

Ingredients (for a party of 4)

• 500 g of button mushrooms

• 2 shallots
• 4 eggs
• 30 cl milk
• 10 cl liquid cream
• 1 sprig thyme
• 5 cl Madeira
• 1/2 lemon
• 1 tbsp oil
• 50 g brown sugar
• salt
• pepper

Put your apron on !

1. Peel and slice the shallots. Clean the mushrooms: cut off the stalks, brush them under running water then pat them dry. Finely chop them with a knife and sprinkle them with the juice of half a lemon.
2. Heat the oil in a frying pan, melt the chopped shallot for 5 minutes over low heat. Add the chopped mushrooms, crumbled thyme, salt and pepper. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring, until all the water has evaporated. Pour in the Madeira, let it evaporate again then divide this preparation into 4 ramekins.
3. Preheat the oven to 170° (gas mark 5-6). In the bowl of a food processor, pour the milk, cream, salt and pepper. Mix for 1 minute then add the eggs one by one, mixing constantly.
4. Pour the mixture into the molds, on top of the mushrooms. Place the ramekins in a baking dish half filled with hot water and bake for 25 to 30 minutes in a bain-marie.
5. Check that the cream is no longer liquid by dipping the blade of a knife into it. Then leave to cool outside the bain-marie and place the creams in the fridge for 6 to 12 hours.
6. Before serving, sprinkle the creams with brown sugar. Turn on the oven grill, caramelize the creams for 5 minutes underneath. Serve immediately, accompanied by slices of toasted bread.

Find this recipe on marieclaire.fr

Cream of porcini mushroom soup

It is in oak, pine or chestnut forests that you will have the best chance of finding the cep, this mushroom belonging to the boletus family. There are about a hundred species of boletus, four of which are ceps: the Bordeaux cep, the black-headed cep, the pine cep (with a red-brown cap) and the summer cep. Let's start the meal with a classic that is generally appreciated when the first cool evenings of autumn arrive: velouté and more specifically velouté of ceps. A recipe that is as tasty as it is simple...

  Photo ©Canva

Ingredients (for 4 persons)

• 500 gr of porcini mushrooms
• 3 shallots
• 1 clove of garlic
• 40 gr of butter
• 60 cl of chicken stock
• 40 cl of crème fraîche
• salt and pepper

The chef's guidelines :

1. Start by melting the butter.
2. Then brown the shallots and garlic for about 2 minutes.
3. Then add the porcini mushrooms.
4. Moisten with the chicken stock.
5. Cook for 20 minutes over low heat.
6. Add salt and pepper.
7. Finally, blend and add the crème fraîche.

It's ready, enjoy! We suggest you accompany this dish with our Château La Perrière 2022.

Caesar's Amanita carpaccio, smoked duck breast and Lectoure melon

©Canva

Here is a mushroom that seems to have come straight out of an oviparous animal. In fact, the Caesar's amanita is found in an egg at the very beginning of growth. The hatching of the mushroom can be observed during its growing season which is short, from the end of summer to autumn. It is all the more precious! It is yellow and has a "skirt" ring at its top. This mushroom is often eaten raw or cooked in carpaccio.

Moreover, today we suggest you taste it in a sweet and sour carpaccio version with this recipe for Carpaccio of Caesar's Amanita, smoked duck breast and Lectoure melon.

Ingrédients (for 4 persons)

• 6 nice Caesar's Amanita mushrooms of good size (as big as a plum)
• a few oak leaf salad leaves
• a few slices of smoked duck breast
• 1 melon (ideally Lectour melon, they are very fragrant)
• a few small sprigs of lemon thyme
• olive oil
• cider vinegar
• fleur de sel and pepper from the mill

The recipe

1. clean the mushrooms using a large, slightly damp brush or absorbent paper
2. remove the small white film that may cover them
3. slice them thinly with a mandolin
4. place a bed of oak leaves on the bottom of the plates
5. arrange the thin slices of mushrooms in a rosette shape
6. drizzle with a dash of olive oil, cider vinegar and season with a little salt and pepper
7. place a few slices of smoked duck breast and a few melon balls
8. drizzle with a drizzle of olive oil again then sprinkle with small thyme leaves
9. set aside in a cool place for an hour before tasting

To accompany this carpaccio, nothing beats a young, light and fresh red wine. We recommend our Pinot noir La Rose Perrière.

Mushroom and spinach risotto

Mushrooms are found in many pasta and risotto recipes. A classic! Today we suggest you take a look at risotto, the Italian specialty par excellence, by combining mushrooms with spinach. A tasty vegetarian recipe for the whole family.

Ingrédients (for 4 persons)

• olive oil
• thyme
• 2 onions
• 400g arborio rice
• 1 grated lemon zest
• 250g fresh spinach
• 300g button mushrooms
• 3 cloves garlic
• 25cl dry white wine
• 1.5 L chicken stock
• 50g parmesan shavings

Cooking

7. In a sauté pan, brown the finely chopped onions in olive oil and add the garlic cloves passed through a garlic press.
8. Cut the mushrooms into quarters and add them to the pan, with the lemon zest. Cook for 3-4 min.
9. Then add the rice and brown for 1-2 min until the grains are translucent.
10. Then add the white wine and stock. Cook for 10-15 min then add the chopped spinach.
11. Continue cooking until the rice has absorbed all the stock.
12. At the end of cooking, add the thyme.
13. Off the heat, add the parmesan shavings.

It's ready! You can pair this risotto with our Château La Rose Perrière Blanc 2023 (organic).

Find this recipe on Marmiton.org.

Pear tart, porcini powder, caramelized mushroom crisps

Let’s finish this 100% mushroom meal with a touch of audacity for dessert: a pear tart with porcini powder and caramelized mushroom chips.

Photo ©Canva

Ingrédients (for 6 persons)

• 1 tablespoon(s) of brown sugar
• 2 button mushrooms

For the dough

• 150 g softened butter
• 2 eggs
• 120 g sifted icing sugar
• 100 g cornflour
• 300 g flour
• Fleur de sel
• 30 g almond powder
• 20 g porcini mushroom powder

For the garnish

• 60 g soft semi-salted butter
• 80 g white sugar
• 150 g almond powder
• 10 g porcini mushroom powder
• 2 eggs
• 90 g flour
• 3 pears
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

Let's get cooking!

1. Prepare the dough: in the bowl of a food processor, beat the butter with the eggs, then add the icing sugar, cornstarch, flour, a pinch of fleur de sel and the almond and porcini powders. Knead quickly until you obtain a ball that you will film and place for 1 hour in the refrigerator.
2. Preheat the oven to 200°/gas mark 6-7. Roll out the dough on a floured work surface, then line a buttered tart mold.
3. For the filling: mix the butter and white sugar in the mixer, then add the almond and porcini powders, the eggs and finally the flour. Peel and cut the pears into slices. Spread the cream on the dough, distribute the pear slices, then sprinkle them with brown sugar. Bake for 30 minutes then leave to cool.
4. Brush the mushrooms and cut them into very thin slices. Sprinkle them with brown sugar. Arrange them on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and brown for 5 minutes under the grill, leave to cool. Arrange the mushroom chips on the tart and enjoy immediately.

Find this recipe on Elle à table.fr.

Culinary treasures

Photo ©Canva

True versatile culinary treasures offered by nature, mushrooms bring a multitude of interesting elements to the kitchen, both in terms of taste and nutrition, thanks to their diversity and different textures. Whether in a velouté, risotto, lasagna, omelette, as a simple accompaniment or in sauces, they occupy an important place in French cuisine in particular, bringing flavors, texture and a touch of elegance to many dishes. Button mushrooms, porcini mushrooms, morels, oyster mushrooms, truffles, chanterelles and mushrooms are the most used in cooking, whether sautéed, in gratins, in soups or in sauces. Do not hesitate to flavor your dishes by choosing seasonal mushrooms that you will find on market stalls. For those who would like to prolong the pleasure, it is possible to freeze them in optimal packaging to enjoy them out of season. You will also find dried or canned mushrooms on the shelves of your supermarket to vary your mushroom recipes throughout the year! Enjoy your meal!