PINE MUSHROOMS, A STRATEGY.

Dry-roast, then turn them into stroganoff. And put cocoa powder in it.

Hmm, mushrooms. A wild, nutty, meaty pleasure, or a slimy, watery bore?  It can go either way.

Which is why I believe dry-roasting them is technically a zillion times better than wet-frying. Dry-roasting reduces the moisture content so you get more umami, savoury, earthy, woodsy mushroom flavour, AND the mushrooms hold their shape and almost caramelise in the pan. Frying in loads of butter is nice, but the juices release into the pan and everything gets a bit same-same and wet.

A windfall of pine mushrooms (thanks, Peter and Nigel!) went straight into the pan to roast, before I even worked out what I wanted to do with them. It turned out to be a quick and easy stroganoff (which is a bit like saying a wet and liquid rain, tautologically speaking), which in turn called for a gamay, which made the perfect autumnal dinner.

No friends dropping in with a bag of pine mushrooms this week? I hear you.

Mix it up with swiss browns, shiitake, white buttons, portobellos. If you have any dried wild mushrooms in the cupboard, soak in water and chuck them in, too. Slippery jacks are also stupendously wonderful, and lend themselves to the dry-roasting strategy perfectly.

I have covered beef stroganoff before, but this one is a celebration of the mushroom season; no beef required.  If you have any left-over roast chicken or similar treasure hanging around the fridge, just shred-cut into bite-sized pieces and fold through. 

And serve with something that works with the sauce – mashed potato, buttered noodles, pasta, herbed rice (big fan of the rice). Add peas, silver beet or spinach for something green.

The cocoa powder? It sounds a little weird, but it gives a chocolatey roundness to the flavour and takes the edge of the earthiness.

This would also make a great sauce for pasta, gnocchi, meatloaf, roast chicken, with steamed leafy greens or roast vegetables.

The Dry-Roast Mushroom Strategy

• Never wash a mushroom, they don’t like water. Either brush it, or wipe it with a damp cloth.

• Don’t get ahead of yourself and cut or slice the mushrooms too far ahead of cooking, as they will oxidise if exposed to air.

• Cut into chunks – maybe thirds? – because they will shrink a little when cooked, and you want nice broad sides to colour in the pan.

• Heat a large, dry pan (no oil, no butter), and place the mushrooms in, cut-side down. Leave them alone to cook over low to medium heat for 5 minutes, then drizzle in a minimal amount of olive oil and let them start to caramelise. You can add finely sliced garlic at this point as well.

• Turn the mushrooms with tongs - once, or maybe twice - as they brown and start to soften. When done, work out what you want to do with them.

At its simplest, this could mean just adding fresh butter, chopped parsley and capers to the pan, tossing well and dumping the lot onto grilled sourdough.

Or alongside scrambled eggs.

Or into this:

PINE MUSHROOM STROGANOFF

• 1 glug of olive oil

• Half an onion, finely sliced

• 500 g small to medium pine mushrooms or mixed mushrooms

• sea salt and pepper

• 250 ml chicken or vegetable stock

• 1 tbsp tomato paste

• 1 tsp smoked paprika

• 1 tsp bitter cocoa powder

• 125 ml sour cream or crème fraiche, extra for serving

• 2 tsp Dijon mustard

• Dash of Worcestershire sauce if you have it

• 2 tbsp chopped parsley, dill or chives

• 2 tbsp cucumber pickles or cornichons

Heat oil in a fry pan, and gently cook the onion for 10 minutes, until soft and translucent. Tip out and set aside.

Slice the mushrooms into good-sized chunks or slices, whatever feels good.

Reheat the pan and cook the mushrooms, cut side down, for 5 minutes until browned.

Add 1 tbsp olive oil and turn with tongs to cook the other sides, allowing time for the browning.

Return the onions to the pan, add the stock, tomato paste, sea salt, pepper, paprika and cocoa powder, stirring to combine.

Simmer for 10 minutes or until mushrooms are tender.

Add the sour cream, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and half the herbs, stirring. Add more stock if you need it runnier; it should be nice and velvety.

Serve on warmed plates, with a dollop of sour cream, remaining herbs and  pickles or cornichons. Serves 2.

Tip: If your pine mushrooms have some green tinges, that’s just a bruise, where the orange sap has bled and turned green (ah, mother nature). Totally edible, and the green disappears in the cooking.

Tip: If you are foraging for your own mushrooms, please make sure they are legit pine mushrooms (saffron milk caps). I’d hate to lose a subscriber.

Thanks for dropping by! And as always, thanks for your comments and suggestions. Thanks Peter and Nigel of Pott’s Point’s lovely Zinc cafe for the pinies. They also run them as a special on the menu during the season, piled onto sourdough; so good. Special thanks to Terry for insisting on the pickles or cornichons, which add a charmingly European accent.

I would also like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands and waters upon which I work, live, cook and play; the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, and pay my respects to Elders past and present, and to the continuing strength and resilience of First Nations people, communities and cultures.