(As read and prepared by Alex Tuller for the May 4, 2006 podcast)
There are mushrooms out there, go get the fresh ones that are local. If you know what you are doing, then go find them and pick them.
This is a bright delicious bowl of food that I accompany with a salad, crunchy bread and roasted garlic in olive oil to dip the bread.
This recipe is for 3-4 people
Chicken stock 5-6 cups
2-3 cups Aborio rice
3/4 cup White wine or Dry Vermouth
Handful of roughly chopped fresh mushrooms, stems trimmed off and discarded
Small handful of sorrel, washed and chopped
Onion, small, chopped into small dice
Shallot chopped into small dice
Crème fraiche or heavy cream
Butter
Olive oil
Parmigiano
Heat your stock to a simmer and keep it semi covered until you start to use it.
Make the sorrel sauce. This is pretty simple. Grab a handful of sorrel (about 2 ounces). Break away the stems and chop. Toss in a tablespoon or so of butter into a fry and bring it to a bubble. Then toss in the sorrel and watch it melt before your very eyes. Once it has melted, add three tablespoons of heavy cream or creme fraiche, stir until it thickens and add salt.
Next you’ll briefly sautaé the mushrooms in about a tablespoon or two of butter and olive oil over a medium high heat. You want to get them to the point where they have released some of their juices. Set them aside.
In a heavy bottomed pan that has a good sized surface area, melt a tablespoon each of butter and olive oil over medium heat and sautaé the onions and shallots until they are translucent. Add the aborio rice to the pan and coat it with the oil and onions stirring for about a minute. Add white wine/vermouth and stir until evaporated. Add a cup of stock and stir the rice. You want the rice to be bubbling so check the heat and if it needs to be a little higher then increase it. Stir frequently and add a cup of stock when the last batch has been absorbed, keep on doing this for about 15 minutes at which point you’ll add the mushrooms with some salt and taste the rice. Adjust the salt and check for doneness. You may need a little more stock, but if the rice is al dente, add the sorrel sauce to the pot, stirring it in and then remove the rice from the heat and add the parmigiano and about a tablespoon of crème fraiche.
Serve immediately. Great with a nice bright white wine.