Mushrooms for Oktoberfest
Mushrooms are crazy healthy for you besides being gorgeous and delicious. Our Doylestown Farmers Market is blessed to have Primordia Farm as our mushroom vendor. In addition to what they grow, they bring us foraged wild mushrooms such as chicken of the woods and chanterelles (my personal favorite).
Mushrooms are the perfect stand in for meat if you’re trying to recreate a dish for a vegetarian or plant-based crowd. But mushrooms are so fantastic on their own, they don’t need to be the substitution for anything. They are perfect on their own and deserve to be highlighted on the plate. I love the simple pleasure of sauteed mushrooms in butter on top of a nice thick slice of Nord Bread. Since I'm getting in the spirit for the market's 3rd annual Oktoberfest, I thought I’d share a recipe from my Oktoberfest Cookbook by Julia Skowronek - Creamy Wild Mushroom Stew. In this recipe, chanterelles and porcini are used because they are usually in season at the time of Oktoberfest. However, you can use any hearty mushroom available this week like trumpets, cremini and portobello. This dish is served with German Bread Dumplings but I also like this with boiled or steamed potatoes or over pasta or spaetzle. Unsalted butter is used here because adding salt at the wrong time during cooking will cause the mushrooms to lose all of their liquid and wilt. Enjoy!
Creamy wild mushroom stew
By Julia Skowronek from Oktoberfest Cookbook
Serves 4
1 onion
1lb 2oz mixed mushrooms (such as chanterelles, porcini, cremini or white mushrooms)
Clarified unsalted butter for frying
3 ½ fluid ozs while wine
Salt and pepper
1 ¾ cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Prepare the vegetables: peel the onion and dice it finely. Cut the mushrooms in half or slice them, depending on their size.
Heat a little clarified butter in a large pan. Add the onions and mushrooms and saute over high heat for about 5 minutes. Add the white wine to deglaze the pan and cook until the wine has completely evaporated. Only then, season the mushrooms with salt and pepper. Pour in the cream and boil for about 5 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened slightly.
Ladle the mushroom stew into bowls, sprinkle with chopped parsley, and serve. Bread Dumplings are the perfect accompaniment.
