Postings from Germany

Mushruuuuums

We like mushrooms.

Funny - I can hardly think the word without remembering Inspector Clouseau's faux French pronunciation of the same in the Pink Panther movies. Besides that, years ago a French waiter in New Orleans actually said mushruuuums to us when explaining a menu item. I don't think I managed to not giggle.

And it's not only fun to cook and eat the mushrooms we know, but fun too to discover new ones. Our favorite veggie market stand has had these new mushrooms - Kräutersaitling - for a few weeks now. They're very much like porcini. I think I have found the American equilvalent - trumpet royale - and if you can find them, I would definitely recommend trying them.

But we didn't cook them pur (pure, all alone, not blended with others). We used some shitake mushrooms we'd bought a few days earlier and then some of these: blue foot mushrooms. They are BLUE. Werner asked if I was trying to poison him. I wasn't.

Here they are cooking in the cream and onion and bacon and chives and arugula ( I was out of parsley). Use an iron skillet. That works best.

And here it is on the plate. Really, I should have pictured our faces because they looked really, really satisfied and pleased and all the yummy feelings in the tummy were reflected there on the cheeks and mouth and eyes. Really. You just don't know what you're missing.

DON'T think that those noodles are spaghetti, though. You really need spätzle, a special egg noodle that's a bit more firm and hearty than the usual spaghetti. It's German (and Austrian) but you can find it there in the US of A.

Here's the recipe.

A lot of mushrooms of various types, about a pound
One shallot, chopped small

A few slices of bacon, chopped
Salt
Pepper
Cream

Sauté the bacon with the onion till the onion is soft, raise the heat and cook the mushrooms, add a bit of sherry if you like, pour in as much cream as you want for a sauce, cook it down a bit and throw in the fresh herbs at the end. Serve over spätzle or noodles.

I KNOW that isn't really a recipe, but honestly, that IS the recipe. It is so good. You can't improve on it. I promise.

Oh, good bread and butter is nice, too. Y U M