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Wild Mushroom Tart

July 28, 2013 by TheWhiteRamekins

Wild Mushroom Tart

Mushrooms have been our favorite family food and I have seen my mother cooking the quintessential mushroom and green pea curry, almost every week. She used to add a bit of yogurt to give the curry a richness and also a bit of sour flavor. That was one curry, which I used to love and would wipe my bowl clean with an unleavened bread.

Wild Mushroom Tart 4

My mother used to tell us proud stories, how her father {my grandfather} included these in their family food. But those were the wild variety, which would grow up during rainy season. According to my mother, my grandfather smartly knew which one  were edible and to be picked up. And those would taste far better than the cultivated ones we get normally.

Wild Mushroom Tart 3

I as a child, never got to taste those wild mushrooms, but I always thoroughly enjoyed my mother’s repeated stories about them and remained nonetheless contented. Even today, she sometimes enjoys telling those old stories. Probably, this story telling takes her back to her childhood days and she likes taking us along as well to her times.

Wild Mushroom Tart 7

Recently, I got to have wild mushroom risotto at two of the restaurants, I visited with friends and I really liked the taste of both versions. Taste of wild mushrooms really paired well with the sharp cheeses that must have gone into the dishes. If accompanied with a light salad and a glass of red wine, that could turn into one gourmet meal.

Wild Mushroom Tart 1

And that taste and my mother’s interesting food story inspired me to bake/cook something with wild mushrooms. So I baked this wild mushroom tart from Smitten Kitchen Cookbook.  Sadly I could not find fresh mushrooms and had to resort to the dried ones I found at a local grocery store, a mix of shitake and oysters.

Wild Mushroom Tart 6

The crust was perfectly buttery and crumbly, to which I had added whole wheat flour too. Mix of shitake, oyster and button mushrooms paired really well with smoked gouda and the parmesan reggiano cheeses. Mascarpone added to the richness. And the red onions brought in the sweetness to balance out the sharp flavor of cheese and mushrooms.

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A perfect Sunday brunch tart, to be served with a light green salad and to be enjoyed with friends and family!

Ingredients

Tart Crust:

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
85 gm butter
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg

Filling:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
2 medium red onions, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove minced
400 gm button mushrooms, sliced
250 gm wild mushrooms (mix of shitake and oyster), sliced
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp fresh oregano leaves
1 tsp salt
freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup mascarpone cheese {homemade recipe}
1/4 cup milk
2 large eggs
1/2 cup grated gouda cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Instructions

  1. For the crust, pulse both flours, cornmeal and salt in a food processor. Add chopped butter and pulse 15-20 times, to make fine crumb.
  2. Add the egg and pulse for another 10 times to bring the crumbs together.
  3. Place the dough between two large sheets of cling wrap to form a round disc. Roll the dough into a 12 inch circle. Peel one side of cling wrap and invert the rolled pastry loosely onto a 9 inch tart pan. Using your finger tips, gently snug the pastry into the tart pan, peel the other cling wrap. Cover with aluminium foil and bake for 10 minutes in a 375 degree C oven.
  4. Remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes, until tart becomes golden.
  5. For the filling, heat butter and oil in a pan. Add onions and garlic and cook on medium heat until onions become pale and translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the sliced mushrooms, oregano and thyme leaves and cook for about 10 minutes, until all the water from mushrooms is evaporated and mushrooms are cooked through. Add salt and pepper and mix well.
  6. In a bowl, whisk mascarpone with milk. Add gouda and parmesan cheese and mix. Mix in cooked mushrooms.
  7. Preheat the oven at 350 degree C. Place the tart pan on a baking sheet, fill the tart shell with the filling. Bake the tart for 35 – 40 minutes, until filling is cooked through.
  8. Let cool for 10 minutes. Serve warm.

Filed Under: Pastry, pies Tagged With: brunch recipe, Cheese, food, Mascarpone, Savory, smitten kitchen, tart, wild mushroom

Olive Oil Wheat Crackers

June 25, 2012 by TheWhiteRamekins

It was day two of the week long vacation and I was half way done with pleasing the young ones with these Vanilla Bean Cupcakes. I was enjoying totally basking in the warmth of the attention and the affection which I got in return from them.   Though I found myself highly busy on the very first day, I was equally enjoying being on my toes.

So right after we finished our lunch and all the elders were ready for the afternoon nap, I heard a loud voice. It was my mommy to me. “What’s in afternoon tea time surprise today, honey?” And it occurred to me that why shouldn’t I bake her something which is acceptable to her palate. I have a very sweet tooth mouth actually which you might have guessed it right by now. Quite easy to know…huh? But my mommy, she is just the opposite. She likes her food intensely spicy, tangy; in nutshell completely full of Indian flavors.

I had previously thought of baking something sweet for the kids again, but then I changed my mind at last moment and opened my to-bake list and started to look down the list for something savory, snacky, which is perfect for tea time. And then my eyes stopped at these Olive Oil Crackers recipe from 101Cookbooks.

Original one is wonderful, but I needed to adjust it to my mother’s taste buds. So I adapted the recipe by adding some cayenne pepper and some paprika for color. I also adjusted the proportion of flour and added some leavening agent to it. And trust me, the adapted recipe did some great wonders.

Ingredients

100 gm plain flour
50 gm whole wheat flour
50 gm semolina flour
1 tsp baking powder
120 ml water
50 ml extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for brushing
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon paprika
cayenne pepper adjusted to taste
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp mixed dried herbs {oregano, thyme, rosemary}

Instructions

  1. Mix all the ingredients together and knead into a ball of dough for 5 minutes.
  2. Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Roll into circular discs and wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 3o minutes.
  3. Take out the dough from fridge, place between two large sheets of cling wrap and roll it using a rolling pin as thin as you can. It’s nice tip to roll this kind of dough by placing it between two sheets of cling wraps. This helps avoid using extra flour for dusting over the work surface.
  4. Cut into any shapes you like. Place them on to a baking tray lined with parchment paper and prick them using a fork to prevent from puffing up.
  5. Brush lightly with olive oil and bake for 8-10 minutes in a 220 degree Celsius preheated oven or until golden brown in color.
  6. Once cooled, serve them with any kind of dip or cheese you like.

Filed Under: cookies Tagged With: crackers, oilve oil, Savory, snack, vegetarian, wheat

Indian|One Pot Herbs & Pepper Smoked Chicken…A guest post

April 13, 2012 by TheWhiteRamekins

Coming from a strict vegetarian family, I never got the chance to dabble into this side of culinary adventures. Probably this is the reason I find Indian non-vegetarian dishes a bit complicated. I don’t know why I never get that proportion of spices right. And that is when I surely can count on my friends. There is a friend of mine, Mona, who cooks these curries so beautifully, that all the spices are always in a right proportion, neither too bland, nor too spicy to burn your mouth or underlips. God knows what magic she does. Probably it is her patience and devotion which she pour into every single dish she prepares for us.

And it’s been a while she’s been throwing dinner parties at her home, inviting us to indulge into these wonderful recipes of hers. I always felt the desire to share her creations to you all, but never got a chance before. But this time I managed to coax her to prepare a dish exclusively for my blog. The day had already been decided one week in advance, and so was this wonderful simple one pot recipe. Yes you are reading it correct, Indian dishes could also be cooked in a single pot. The simplicity and the beautiful aroma of herbs and spices, juices and tenderness of the chicken and the mild infusion of the burning coal’s smoke makes this dish divine. Perhaps those are flavors which gods enjoy in heaven. I would have asked my friend to present this dish here, by herself, but she’s quite shy of displaying her talent on this public forum. So this post is kind of a pseudo-guest-post. But ultimately her talent gets presented off, and I am happy about this.

Ingredients

1 kg chicken cut into small pieces (with/without bones)
1/2 kg curd
250 gm mint leaves
2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
black salt as per taste
freshly ground pepper as per taste
For smoking chicken :
a small piece of charcoal
1 tbsp of ghee/melted clarified butter

Instructions

  1. Clean and rinse the chicken thoroughly under running tap water.
  2. Take a large non stick vessel with lid and put all the ingredients inside except those for smoking the chicken.
  3. Using your hands mix the ingredients well.
  4. Cover the vessel with lid and let simmer for 30 minutes on low flame until chicken is cooked through.
  5. Uncover the vessel and let the extra juices dry off and take the vessel off the flame.
  6. Take the charcoal and burn it on high flame for 5 minutes, till is starts to look burning hot red.
  7. Place a small clean iron bowl in the middle of vessel, surrounded by cooked chicken.
  8. Place the charcoal in the metal bowl carefully with the help of tongs.
  9. Pour the melted ghee or butter over the charcoal and immediately cover the vessel, preventing the smoke to escape from the vessel.
  10. Let the chicken stand and infused with the smoke for 5 minutes. Uncover and pour the ghee from the metal bowl over the chicken using a spoon.
  11. Enjoy it hot as an appetizer or with a piece of tandoori butter naan bread and fresh mint and coriander chutney.

Filed Under: Indian Tagged With: appetizer, Chicken, Indian, one pot, poultry, Savory

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Hi! I'm Himanshu - a home chef who loves to cook, bake, style and photo shoot... Read More…

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