I got the hankering for some Fall foods last week. We had gone to a dinner party, and I had wanted to contribute something. I started to think about something light yet satisfying, and wanted it to taste like autumn. Mushrooms. I flipped through some ideas in my cookbooks, went online to Food Network for some inspiration, and settled on a mushroom pate posted from Emeril's recipe. But I don't follow recipes, so if you do then I think Emeril's looks great. If you want some inspiration to make your own concoction, here's what I did. I soaked 1 package of dried porcini mushrooms and 1 package of dried crimini mushrooms until tender. Reserve the mushroom broth, after draining out any sand or dirt. Put a large saute pan (any deep, wide pot would work) on medium high and added 2tablespoons of butter, 1 large shallot and 1 clove of garlic to saute. I added to my Cuisinart in batches the following: 2 prewrapped packages mini-bellos, 2 prewrapped packages button mushrooms, 4 portobello mushrooms, and then the reconstituted dried mushrooms. Blend until finely chopped, and then add to the saute pan. I added 1 heaping teaspoon of thyme after the mushrooms had cooked for a few minutes, and salt and pepper to taste at this point. Saute until very well cooked, about 10-15 minutes on med. high. Add some reserved broth if they don't give off a lot of juices on their own. Add 2 heaping tablespoons of cream cheese and mix well. I think Emeril's recipe used goat cheese, but I didn't want any competing flavors. At this point, I added everything back to the Cuisinart and blended until it reached a "pate" texture. It didn't look pretty, but I loved the intense mushroom flavor from the porcini. For extra decadence, drizzle truffle oil over before serving. I served on toasted crostini.
Mushroom Ravioli
We had lots of leftover mushroom pate and I didn't want it to go to waste, so I used it for filling in a ravioli. I added 1/2 cup of grated parm cheese to the 2 cups of filling. I set up the flat pasta dough attachment to the Kitchen Aid, only to discover it must have broke during our last ravioli marathon. So I hand rolled the dough for the ravioli, not something I was too happy about adding another step. Sophia helped make the dough and knead it.
I used the simple pasta dough recipe in Joy of Cooking, and found it to be a better texture than the recipe we use from the Kitchen Aid cookbook. I made a very light cream sauce with sage that Sophia picked (sage was her idea, my little chef in the making) from the herb garden, and also added some lemon zest to brighten up the flavors. I was thinking I could have made something similar except in lasagna form next time, maybe add a ricotta layer and spinach.
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Pumpkin Pie
We had 7 pumpkins from our garden this year, so I had to do something with at least one of them. Sophia wanted pumpkin seeds, and I decided to roast the flesh for pumpkin pie, maybe use some of the leftover flesh for Ava to eat. I don't typically bake, so pumpkin pie from scratch was a learning experience. Next time, I will let the pulp drain overnight. It was too runny straight from the blender. The leftover flesh that I cubed and stored in the fridge overnight had a lot of excess moisture, so lesson learned there. However, the pumpkin pie had a good flavor, just not the texture I was used to. I see why the canned pumpkin is so popular.
Pumpkin Risotto
I had at least 5 more cups of pureed pumpkin, so I made a risotto, using 1 cup of the puree that I added to the chicken broth. I also added some of the Cocoa Spice Rub from Napa Style at the last minute, which gave it a sweet savory taste. This would make a mean rice pudding with some heavy cream, hold the onion.
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