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When
Phi and I were first married we used to go to Trader Vic’s
and have this appetizer. We convinced ourselves that we were being
frugal, having just appetizers and a couple of drinks. I always had
to have a Scorpion because it had a fresh gardenia floating in it.
We also couldn’t have just one order of the mushrooms. We
spent more than if we just went ahead and ordered dinner. We never
learned.
Package
of dried Morel mushrooms (about 10 pieces)
3/4 cup chicken broth (canned broth is fine)
1 tablespoon butter
1 shallot
1 tablespoon brandy or cognac
3/4 cup heavy cream
Toasted good white bread
Soak Morels in chicken broth until they are soft, at least
an hour. Strain broth through a coffee filter. Set aside
mushrooms and broth.
In a medium sized sauté pan gently sauté finely
diced shallot, add the broth and cognac and reduce by about half.
Add cream
and cook until sauce seems thick enough, taste for salt, then
add morels and cook a minute or two longer. Make white bread
toast, trim
crusts, cut in small triangles, serve on warmed saucers.
Makes
2 portions, but you can stretch to 4 if serving enough other
stuff.
You can also make a lot more in a batch, but they are very expensive.
This is great with any dried mushrooms. Experiment.
Note: adding the cognac early allows the alcohol to cook off
leaving the good flavor. This holds true in most recipes calling
for alcohol.
This recipe is wonderful adapted as a sauce for veal scallops
or cutlets. Just use the skillet you used to sauté the cutlets
for the sauce. The pan drippings will loosen and add more flavor
to the sauce. Serve cutlets with the sauce and mushrooms poured
on top.
-Kate (Trader Vic’s was better)
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