MUSHROOM STRATA WITH GRUYERE AND THYME

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This Mushroom Strata with Gruyere and Thyme would be an ideal accompaniment served alongside roasted turkey at your holiday table. I firmly stand by my belief that strata > stuffing. Both are bready casseroles but stratas swap stock for milk and cheese. In my book the addition of dairy is always a good thing.

If you aren’t a mushroom person (gasp!), you could substitute in browned bulk Italian sausage and/or sautéed leeks and celery for a more traditional vibe.

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PIZZA STRATA

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Ever made a strata? I like to think of them as a cross between stuffing and frittata — deeply crunchy croutons bound together with a highly flavorful eggy mix. They are endlessly versatile but a family favorite is Pizza Strata. It has definite deep dish vibes with a super crisp outer shell and soft, cheesy, tomatoey interior. I love mushroom pizza so used those here but swap in your favorite pizza “topping”.

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WILD MUSHROOM AND FARRO VEGGIE PATTIES

Posted on by Laura Geraty – By

I put a good amount of thought into what to title this recipe and the best I could come up with is… Wild Mushroom and Farro Veggie Patties. Hmmm. What would be better? Veggie burgers? Too hippy-dippy / health food-y. Croquettes? Too dated. So “patties” it is, which I’m guessing still doesn’t have you running to the kitchen.

I hope you look beyond what we’re calling these here and see the potential for deliciousness in the recipe – earthy mushrooms and chewy farro bound together with satisfying cannellini beans and amped up with plenty of garlic, shallot, fresh herbs and parmesan.

Serving Suggestions

You could absolutely serve these Wild Mushroom and Farro Veggie Patties as you would a traditional burger, layered between a bun or english muffin with all the fixings. But they are also the perfect vegetarian topper to a hearty salad – something like this caesar-ish kale and roasted broccoli salad or this kale and brussels sprout number – or served simply with a roasted vegetable.

While I haven’t tried it yet, I’m also guessing you could make these vegan by trading the parm for a vegan cheese or nutritional yeast and the egg with a flax egg or aquafaba. If you do that, report back below and let us know how it went.

I hope you enjoy these as much as I do and make this recipe yours. If you do, leave a review, snap a picture and tag me on Instagram @whatweeat.nyc.

Happy cooking!

WILD MUSHROOM AND FARRO PATTIES

Ingredients
  • 1 Tbsp butter
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil (plus more for cooking patties)
  • 3 cups finely chopped mushrooms, ~1 lb (use the best you can get your hands on – I used a combination of maitake and shiitake)
  • 1 medium shallot, minced (~3 tbsp)
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced (~2 tsp)
  • 1 14-16 oz can cannellini beans, drained
  • 2 cups cooked farro (equivalent to generous cup uncooked farro)
  • 1 packed cup fresh herbs, finely chopped resulting in ~1/3 cup (I used parsley and basil)
  • 1/3 cup finely grated parm
  • 1 egg
  • Kosher salt and black pepper to taste (you’ll probably need around 1 tsp salt)
Method
  1. Melt the butter and oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat and add the finely chopped mushrooms. Stir so the mushrooms are evenly coated with the fat then leave undisturbed until mushrooms begin to release their liquid, then begin to brown on their undersides, ~5 minutes. Give a good stir, then leave alone to continue browning on second side, ~5 minutes more. Finely, add in the minced shallot and garlic and season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Saute for another ~3 minutes to take the raw edge off of the shallot and garlic. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
  2. Meanwhile, roughly mash the drained cannellini beans in the bottom of the mixing bowl. Most of the beans should be broken up, almost like very roughly mashed potatoes (see picture above). Add in the cooked farro, chopped herbs, parmesan, cooled mushroom mixture and 1/2 tsp kosher salt. Mix thoroughly then taste for seasoning. Adjust with more salt and black pepper if necessary.
  3. Once you are happy with the taste, crack in the egg and work it into the mix with your hands. The mixture should hold together relatively well when shaped into a ball.
  4. Shape into 8-9 patties, each with ~1/3 cup of the mixture. I used a measuring cup to help me portion these. Place on plate or sheet pan, cover snugly with saran wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour so that the mixture has time to hydrate. This help them hold together when frying.
  5. To cook: Return cleaned skillet to stovetop over medium heat and coat bottom with olive oil. Cook the patties for ~4-6 minutes a side until nicely golden.
  6. Enjoy!

Serves 4 (each person having 2 patties)

Lacinato Kale, Roasted Wild Mushroom and Avocado Salad

Posted on by admin – By

After a week eating my way through Italy, then an indulgent Thanksgiving holiday with family in New England, I was ready to be return to my own kitchen in Brooklyn on Sunday.

It’s funny that the same reason I crave vacation, namely to bust out of my well-worn routines, is the same reason I can’t wait to get home.

Because I cook for a living, being fed by others for a sustained period is heaven. No menu planning. No grocery shopping. No cooking. No dishes. Don’t get me wrong, I love what I do but we all need a break.

Before I leave, I obsessively peruse the internet, reach out to friends and read through favorite travel guides to discover the best of what’s to eat wherever I go. Then, with every delicious bite at every carefully selected restaurant, it’s like I’m consuming a little bit of that chef’s culinary point of view.

But there comes a time when I am ready to eat my food again. To return to the meal routines that work for me. Namely, meals that revolve around vegetables.

The very first thing I made when I got home was this massaged lacinato kale, roasted wild mushroom and avocado salad. It touches on all of the elements of a crave-worthy vegetable dish: ingredients that are seasonal, both raw and cooked, and vibrantly colorful, and that provide contrasting textures, a little indulgence and a few surprises.

Both kale and mushrooms are at their peak during fall and winter. In fact, kale gets better as the weather gets colder. For this salad, I roast the mushrooms to concentrate flavor, essentially transforming them into little crunchy umami bombs. I top the salad with deep red, slow-roasted cherry tomatoes for color. (I added them after taking the salad shots this time because they were still hot from the oven and I was too hungry to wait…typical.) The additions of avocado, toasted walnuts and shaved parmesan lend both contrasting texture and enough indulgence to keep me coming back for more. And finally, I finish the dish with lemon zest, thinly sliced scallions and a tiny bit of fresh mint and basil for a touch of freshness to balance the earthy mushrooms.

I’ve made this kale salad about a gazillion times since I first threw it together on a whim and realized I was onto something. While I see the kale, mushrooms and avocado as mandatory, all other ingredients are flex. Don’t have time to slow-roast tomatoes? Leave them out! Prefer shallots to scallions? Swap’em! #Putaneggonit and/or serve it over a cooked grain like farro to make it more of a complete meal. You get the picture.

Lacinato Kale, Roasted Wild Mushroom and Avocado Salad

Ingredients

  • 1.5-2 lbs mixed mushrooms (oyster, king oyster, hen of the woods and maitake are great wild varietals but the more widely available shitake is equally delicious – this will seem like a lot but they shrink up when roasted)
  • Pinch red pepper flakes
  • Few shakes of granulated garlic (1/2-1 tsp)
  • 2 bunches lacinato kale, washed, de-stemmed and torn into bite size pieces
  • 1 ripe avocado, sliced
  • 1 cup slow-roasted tomatoes (optional)
  • ½-1 cup toasted and chopped walnuts (hazelnuts are equally delicious)
  • ½-1 cup shaved parmesan (use a vegetable peeler)
  • 4 scallions, thinly sliced
  • Small handful of fresh torn basil
  • Small handful of fresh torn mint
  • Zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • 2 garlic cloves, lightly crushed
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper

Method

Roast the mushrooms:

  • Preheat oven to 425.
  • Prep mushrooms and break them into bite-size pieces. For shitake, this means removing their stems and tearing them into halves or fourths. For king oyster, this means slicing off a tiny bit of the root end and thinly slicing them lengthwise. Prep varies by varietal so purchase shrooms you’re comfortable with or Google proper prep technique.
  • Place shrooms on a sheet pan (lined with parchment for easy clean-up) and drizzle generously with olive oil, then season to taste with salt and pepper, a few shakes of granulated garlic and a pinch of red pepper flakes.
  • Roast in the center of the oven for 25-35 minutes, turning the mushrooms halfway through, until they shrink down by nearly half and are very crisp around their edges. Cool on sheet tray.

Make the vinaigrette:

  • Zest lemon and reserve for salad. Juice zested lemon into small bowl, add in a large pinch of salt, then drizzle in an equal amount of olive oil by volume or a little more. Add in the two crushed garlic cloves and allow to steep while finishing the rest of the salad.

Assemble the salad

  • Combine the prepped kale (watch Char’s video tutorial!), cooled mushrooms, sliced avo, slow-roasted tomatoes (if using), toasted walnuts, shaved parm, sliced scallions, torn basil and mint and lemon zest in a large salad bowl. Remove garlic cloves from vinaigrette and drizzle over vegetables. Using clean hands or salad tongs, gently toss salad until every nook and cranny of every vegetable is dressed.
  • Enjoy!

Serves 4 hungry peeps.