Wild about mushrooms

FOOD:LOTS OF FOOD writers complain about the fact that "wild" mushrooms is a bit of a false term for what are in fact, fancier versions of cultivated mushrooms. There is nothing very wild about the mushrooms we buy in vegetable shops; if anything they should be called exotic, but cultivated, not-so-wild, mushrooms. Hmm.

I always think of them as “meaty” in flavour, along with aubergines, and, like aubergines, they tend to be very sponge-like, so they can soak up hideous amounts of fat.

But have you noticed that when you fry button or Portobello mushrooms (even when the pan is hot and you don’t overfill it with too many mushrooms), they start to ooze tonnes of water, and the whole pan starts to simmer rather than fry. You’re left with soggy mushrooms that don’t taste great. But persevere because mushrooms are made of 90 per cent water, so inevitably when they are subjected to intense heat, they are going to bleed.

The thing is not to give up. Keep the heat on high and after five minutes or so you will find that the mushroom water starts to evaporate and eventually the simmering sounds will be replaced by the sizzling sound that means flavour is on the way. At this stage, a knob of butter and extra seasoning will start a small bit of caramelisation. But do remember that if you fill the pan too full, it will be hard to generate enough heat to get rid of the excess water. So keep the mushrooms in an even and relatively thin layer.

With this in mind, the following gratin of “wild” mushrooms caught my eye, although I was sure it was going to end up a bit too watery, rather than rich and creamy, as the mushrooms didn’t need a huge amount of frying. However, the bread which is used to soak up the juices does its job beautifully.

Although I’m not a huge fan of a sweet bread and butter pudding, this recipe from Annie Bell is a fantastically savoury bread and mushroom pudding. It was perfect as a full-blown supper dish on its own, but if you were spoiling someone, serve it up with a juicy steak. The roasted winter vegetable dish is a lot more modest and certainly a good way to use up those root vegetables we can all be a little belligerent about cooking.

Gruyère and wild mushroom gratin

4 tbsp olive oil

3 red onions, peeled and sliced

200g wild mushrooms, peeled and sliced

Salt and pepper

275g Gruyère, grated

Big knob of butter

4-6 slices of stale white bread

3 eggs, beaten

200ml milk

300g crème fraiche

50g Parmesan

Use shiitake, Portobello, brown, oyster mushrooms, whatever you can get. I baked this in a 30x22-centimetre Pyrex dish, which holds enough to feed six. Heat an oven to 180 degrees/gas four. Fry the onions in half the olive oil, till they are soft and golden. Season them and transfer to a bowl. Sauté the mushrooms in the rest of the olive oil till they are soft, then season them. Mix them with the onions and grated Gruyère and set aside. Butter the bread generously and slice in half into triangles. Line the bottom of the gratin dish with the bread. Scatter the mushroom mix on top. Whisk the eggs, milk, and crème fraiche together, season it, and pour on top of the mushrooms. Sprinkle with Parmesan and bake for at least 35 minutes until bubbling and golden. Leave to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Winter vegetable salad (serves 4-6)

1 red onion, peeled

1 sweet potato

2 carrots, peeled

2 parsnips, peeled

1 celeriac, peeled

2 beetroot, peeled

100ml olive oil

Salt and pepper

Handful of chopped walnuts

Approx 100g feta (optional)

Dressing

2 tbsp olive oil

1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

1 tbsp Balsamic vinegar

1 tsp Dijon mustard

Squeeze of honey

Juice of 1 lemon

Heat an oven to 220 degrees/gas seven. Chop all the vegetables into similar-sized chunks and put them in a large bowl. It’s okay to leave the skin on the sweet potato. Mix in the olive oil and season well. Throw the vegetables into a roasting tin and bake for 30 minutes or so, giving the pan a shake every now and then. Throw the walnuts in for the last few minutes of roasting, so they get some flavour. When the vegetables are soft and staring to caramelise at the edges, they are done. Set them aside. Mix all the ingredients for the dressing together and pour on top of the vegetables. Serve while still warm, with some feta crumbled on top.