SHITACOS!

Here is my good mate Alice chillin' on some toadstools in Central Park. She was once wisely told the following:
"My dear, here we must run as fast as we can, just to stay in place. And if you wish to go anywhere you must run twice as fast as that"."But I don’t want to go among mad people," Alice remarked."Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.""How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice."You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."

My love affair with tacos began in this magnificent city (New York) on a blistering hot summer's day in the grounds of the Old Tobbaco Warehouse, a stunning red brick ruin, in DUMBO. I was here doing a J1 and as luck would have it, I landed a job on my second day working for Choncho's Tacos at the Brooklyn Flea Market. The menu was simple and so flippin' delicious (2 fish options, 1 Chicken option, and all of the coriander!) To say that I fell hard for these little delectable pockets is an understatement. Needless to say, I have eaten my body weight in tacos since I returned 3 weeks ago. In this patchwork quilt of cultures and cuisines I found myself living a few subway stops from a taco factory who make, package, sell and eat their corn tortillas in full sight, on an assembly line, beside your table.  Praise the lord!  It is unassuming, kitch, dimmly lit with red lights, decorated with Virgin Mary's,  incredibly cheap and altogether bizarre! The fire behind my love of tacos has been well and truly reignited. And so, I have decided that my first recipe shall be an ode to my last summer spent here and a good way to kick start this new chapter in a city where there is always an abundance of new food, places and people to experience. 

Ideally, I would have bought the mushrooms at the farmer's market in Union Square which I pass EVERYDAY and I would have made the short trip to the taco factory to buy the tortillas. Ideally. But alas, the past few days have been rather hectic, what with starting a new job in a cheeseshop (yay!) and coming up to Thanksgiving...and having one too many beers last night. Sooooooo, here's how I actually gathered my ingredients:

1) Went to nearby supermarket only to find they had only pickeld mushrooms and 1 box of tortillas which was sitting in a pool of water underneath a leak (see photo on the right also featuring my finger)
2) Left said supermarket and trekked to another, fully stocked,  higher priced store.
3) Found mushrooms.
4) Rejoiced.
5) Spent 5 minutes debating whether 'spicy spanish sausage' meant chorizo.
6) Decided to risk it and threw said sausage into basket laden down with shitakes.
7) Got to checkout and remembered that my roommate, Ciara, had asked me to surprise her with 'a little savoury treat'. Cracked under the pressure and threw an energy bar amongst my purchases. Oops.
8) It was 12 already at this stage and was in need of coffee. So, forgetting how bad I am at multitasking (even simple things like walking whilst holding a cup are a struggle) I got a coffee en route home.
9) Accidentally made eye contact with a man in a truck who proceeded to roll down his window and scream 'Are you Ukrainean? Cause yo hot, girl!' which NATURALLY sent me into a fluster causing me to spill my coffee down my top. (Fun fact: I'm not Ukrainean but was most definitely hot from the scalding coffee on my skin)
10) Made it back to my front door and realised that there's a small shop 2 doors down that sells ALL of what I needed. 

After my not so successful morning, I then made some well earned Mushroom Tacos which I'm coining 'Shitacos' cause they're made with shitake mushrooms. And plus, its fun to say.

Here's how it goes:

Ingreedyents:
Splish splash of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt'n'Pepper
(Oooh a honey) honey
10 Corn Tortillas
15ish Shitake Mushrooms ( I chose these cause I always think their texture is kinda meaty. But obviously also add actual meat)
5 Chorizo Sausages
1 Large White Onion
1 large knob of Truffle butter (cause when it comes to butter I'm a princess)
Grated Parmesan

And here's how this:

Became this:

1) CTC (chop the chorizo)

2) FTC (fry the chorizo)
3) Stop using acronyms and get back to cooking.
4) Finely chop the onion. Cry a little in the process. Also chop the shitakes into slender strips. Cry here too if you're not emotionally cleansed.
5) Pop the truffle butter in a pan and when that's all melty and stuff add the onions. Season with salt and pepper.
6) Then add the sexy shitakes for approximately 7 minutes of heaven.
7) Whilst all this madness is happening pop the tortillas in the oven to warm up.
8) Drizzle a smidge of honey over the chorizo.
9) When all of this is, as the wise R Kelly would say 'hot'n'fresh out tha kitchen' you can assemble the tacos and sprinkle (and by sprinkle I mean smother) with parmesan.
10) Eat. 

Les Petits Champignons

So, I have been living in the South of France for the better part of a month now and what have I learned? Besides how to order an Americano (with OR without a drop of milk) nearly like a native…until they throw curve balls at me, like “milk on the side or in the coffee” where my limitations in speaking the French language begin to slip through, I have learned a lot about the cuisine of Nice; the niçoise cuisine if you will.

Cuisines of the Côte d'Azur area (the south east region of France) differ to typical French gastronomy in their excessive use of olive oil (gone through 2 bottles already!) and the heavy Mediterranean influences in the cooking; seafood and big vibrant vegetables often being the stars of the dish. Oh and the herbs, the herbs!! The provençal flavours in the niçoise dishes owe a lot to the use of specific herbs… so often used, they have their own mix “Herbs de Provence” which typically contain thyme, marjoram, savory, rosemary and oregano.

 

A speciality dish of the region, and the one I have chosen to recreate for our mushroom challenge is called “Farcis” or “Petit Farcis”, depending on the petiteness of said farcis. Petits Farcis are a classic specialty of Nice, they are hollowed out vegetables, usually tomatoes, courgettes or aubergines which are stuffed with a delicious pork meat mixed with herbs, parmesan and breadcrumbs. I see them as a type of street food, but as we’re in France, everything is classier and this street food is usually accompanied with a lovely glass (or pichet if it’s a weekend) of rosé.

 

Apologies, whilst enjoying our petit farcis we

opted out of the traditional rose and instead opted in for a glass of “Vin Chaud” another tasty niçoise treat. My lovely friend Chloe, who knows these parts like a local insisted we have to have Vin Chaud as it only comes available this time of year. I’ll let you off this time Chloe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As it is mushroom challenge, I replaced the usual vegetables used in petit farcis with, you guessed it, mushrooms!

 

First things first, learning about French cuisine does not just mean being able to make the dishes. It’s so much more than that. Every dish here starts with the morning at the market. I live about 3 minutes away from the “Marche aux Fleurs Cours Saleya”, which has been ranked by France’s National Council for the Culinary Arts as being one of France’s special markets. It. Is. Amazing. Just take a look!

 

As I fought off the urge pick up any one of the crates of mushrooms pictured below and run away, I was faced with a choice, what mushroom will I use? This was difficult for me, as I knew I had to be practical in my decision. I needed a mushroom that would be quite hollow on the inside so the stuffing could go in, but all I wanted was those gorgeous chanterelles or shitakes in my belly. I battled with myself, and eventually my tummy and my head reached a compromise. BUY THEM ALL. And I did. I bought the chanterelles and shitakes for my own personal enjoyment (currently writing this whilst eating my shitake laden ramen) and the biggest white mushrooms for stuffin’.

 

 

After the morning market, it was afternoon butcher time (quite aware there is no ring to the latter). I went to my local butchers around the corner from my house “Chez Francis” where I attempted to order 4 of their finest pork sausages in French. There were a few discrepancies during the interaction and a lot of vigorous pointing, but he did put four pork sausages into a bag for me, so I’m seeing it as a success.

 

Man Wearing Trackie

Okay, so we have the backround on the dish and the ingredients for the dish, now let’s get cooking!

Firstly, we need alongside our meat and mushrooms, lots of garlic, grated parmesan, bread crumbs (warning, it is very difficult to crumb bread by hand), basil, parsley, tomato puree, onions and copious amounts of olive oil. Add a few nice books on the region for added pleasure. Preheat your oven to 180C and you’re all set.

 

Step 1: Chop the garlic and onions. Clean all the mushrooms with a paper towel and take the stems out of each one (or get your friends to do this part mwahaha). Place the mushrooms on an oiled baking tray.

Step 2: Remove the sausage meat from the coating, you will either enjoy this or not. I enjoyed it.

Step 3: Throw the onions and garlic into a hot pan, drenched in olive oil and add all the herbs and salt and pepper. After 7 minutes, add the sausage meat making sure it’s broken up.

Step 4: After meat is browned add the tomato puree and cook for a further 5 minutes. Remember to keep tasting, adding seasonings as you please. Salt, yum.

Step 5: Remove from the heat and stir in the parmesan and bread crumbs

Step 6: Scoop the mixture into the mushrooms, be generous, and then drizzle a little olive oil around the mushrooms and pour some of the white wine in.

Step 7: Pop them in the oven for 45 minutes and you’re laughing!

Enjoy once again with a glass of rosé (we had already opened the white wine for the drizzling so we just kept going with that..) and some bay leaves for the photo.

 

And it's as easy as that, minus the waiting for the food...that bit is hard.

Now, as we say in France, bon appetite!

Up next is our lovely NY city slicker Philippa. I’m sure she’ll make your mouths water and tummies grumble like ferocious hungry beasts for whatever she’s a cooking!

Mushrooms as...Dessert?

The first memory I have of mushrooms is not exactly food-related. Well, it's zero food-related. I was first introduced to them by my close friend Hanna-Barbera, as the place that The Smurfs called home. In Brazil, mushrooms were not a staple in every mother's kitchen and good and fresh mushrooms were expensive and hard to find. Luckily for me, that all changed when I moved to Ireland, where I was able to try loads of different types and open my mind and heart to them. Since I arrived, I 've enjoyed mushrooms as my starter and I've had them as as my main with every possible combination ever. In all these years, however, I've never had them as the best part of any meal served in any part of the explored universe: dessert. The very idea of having mushrooms as part of any kind of dessert was unthinkable. I wouldn't dare.

That was until I came across something called chanterelles. I saw (on my laptop screen) those beautiful, yellow, weird looking mushrooms and I felt a tingle in my mouth. Something I hadn't felt since I tried peanut butter for the first time. It was love at first sight. On my research about chanterelles (officially now my favourite mushroom name) I discovered they were in season in November and they could easily be found in Ireland and that they are often used to make, believe it or not..ice cream. It was too good to be true. I had to try it.


And so I went on a quest to find these babies. I visited every single Asian market my legs could bring me to and I couldn't find them. I went to specialty shops and they we not there. I tried Marks & Spencer and nothing. I was about to give up when it came to me. It was obvious. I went back to the place Emma, Philippa and I first met: Fallon & Byrne. And there they were and in all of their glory. I brought them home and adapted a recipe I found online for Chanterelle Sorbet.




Here's the step by step:

1) Arrange them in a paper bag and take a picture to put on your wall and show your kids one day. 

2) Wash and chop them roughly

3) Blend them with the simple syrup (recipe below), lime juice, vanilla extract and the peanut butter for 1-2 min, until smooth.

4) Pour the mixture in the ice cream maker (or the freezer if you are a normal person) and wait until it becomes ice cream.

5) Grab a spoon and experience what raw mushrooms and sugar taste like when they are blended together and frozen: INCREDIBAMAZING!
The final product tastes sweet and nutty and has a lovely texture. I would definitely recommend trying it at home. If not for all the reasons above, for the weirdness of it.Complete list of ingredients:2 Cups of Water / 1 Cup of Sugar / 1/2 Cup of Chanterelle Mushrooms / Juice of Half a Lime /  1 Tablespoon of Peanut Butter / 1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract / Patience Simple Syrup:- Add water and sugar to a pan and bring it to a boil. Let it simmer for 5 minutes. Let it cool before blending with mushrooms.
I shall now pass the blogging batton to my beautiful Emma in Nice, who I'm sure will blow your minds with whatever she comes up with. Go, Emma!