November 15, 2009

Mushroom Pie!

My roommate and I love mushrooms! Over a year ago I had the pleasure of eating a mushroom pot pie at Kalapawai restaurant in Kailua and was totally smitten. Unfortunately for me, the last time I was there the pie was no longer on the menu. Tonight, we've gone and attempted our own. This recipe is not for those who are afraid of butter!


Ingredients:

Mushrooms! - I used Oyster, Shimeji, Ali'i, and Pioppini - total 12 oz.
butter - about 6 T. total
1 onion
white wine - I used sauvignon blanc
heavy cream
1 T. thyme
pinch of sage
potato - I used 1 red skin and 1 russet
2-3 leaves swiss chard
salt and pepper to taste
2 pie crusts - I cheated and bought it

Directions:

I started by chopping the onion and sauteing it in the butter (about 2T.) at medium heat until the bottom of the pan was coated in brown deliciousness (which I just looked up - it's called "fond" according to reluctantgourmet.com) and the onion was caramelized. While this was cooking, the mushrooms were washed and chopped or separated depending on how big they were. Once the onions were finished, I added 2 T or so of butter to the pan and the mushrooms. I turned the heat down a little and stirred them up so the muchrooms all got a little coated in the butter, then I added maybe 1T. of thyme and a pinch and a half of sage.



I let that cook for about 5 minutes or so, then I added enough white wine to scrape the fond off of the bottom of the pan. I let that cook a little bit (maybe another 5 minutes), then I added the salt and pepper, heavy cream, and more wine - I wanted enough liquid to make sauce that would coat the mushrooms and the potatoes inside the pie crust.



At this point I also had chopped up the potato and had that boiling. Once they were soft (but not too soft) they were strained and set aside in the pot with 2 T. of butter and salt and pepper and partially mashed.





Once the sauce in the mushroom pot had thickened and settled sufficiently, we mixed 2 big spoonfuls of potato into the mushroom mixture. This was mixed until smooth then 2-3 leaves of chard were chopped and mixed in. This was poured into the pie crust and covered with a second pie crust and then put in the oven at 375 deg for 25 minutes.






It was more delicious than I can really describe!