the meditative power of chopping mushrooms

is a force to be reckoned with.

though I was also glad it was over at some point.

this mushroom ragoût (halfway done in the picture above) has been a favorite over the years. the recipe is from nadine abensur's cranks bible, an impulse buy almost ten years ago now at the vegetarian cookbooks section in my local bookshop. it was one of my better impulses, if I may say so myself. nadine's writing sometimes borders on the smug (you know, vegetarian people are Better than meat eaters and that), but her recipes are fantastic. I love the sense of abundance in her style of cooking, the celebration, her love for vegetables, her true respect for food.

I used to be a vegetarian, and although I still largely eat vegetarian (maybe meat or fish once every two weeks), I am not anymore. the underlying reasons for becoming a vegetarian are still there, I just no longer believe not eating meat is the best way for me to express those reasons. the subject is still very important to me. maybe I'll write about it some more here in the future.

a rich mushroom ragoût with vermouth

adapted from nadine abensur's recipe in the cranks bible
it's great with pasta, but as nadine notes, there's very little this ragoût doesn't work with - eat it over brown rice, use it as a filling in a pale, rich omelette, eat it on toast, with roasted potatoes and steamed brussel sprouts (as we did one christmas eve)... we had some simple slices of cucumber alongside it yesterday, because it was what I had in the house. I can also imagine a shaved fennel salad being an extraordinarily nice accompaniment to this.

start by slicing all the mushrooms. I used three punnets of white button mushrooms for this - about 750 grams all in all. that seems like a lot, and it is, but mushrooms do cook down an awful lot. it was not an extravagant amount of ragout for the two of us. nadine uses all kinds of mushrooms in her recipe, from dried, soaked cèpes to otherworldly looking enoki. that would be wonderful, I think, but I never used anything but plain button mushrooms or brown button mushrooms, because, well, mushrooms are expensive.
melt a pat of butter in a large, heavy pan, on the lowest heat possible. finely chop two cloves of garlic, and let them soften gently in the butter, stirring all the while. when the garlic is softened, but not brown, start adding the sliced mushrooms. the pan I use can't hold all the raw mushrooms at once, so I add them in batches. they will cook down quick enough. turn up the heat to a medium, and when the mushrooms start softening, add a dash of tamari, a dash of tabaso (or a pinch of cayenne pepper), and a little bit of regular pepper. nadine uses salt here, too, but for me the tamari is salty enough.

when the mushrooms start softening even more, and have released some of their juices, add a good slosh of vermouth, 2 teaspoons of dried thyme (or the chopped leaves of a sprig of fresh thyme) and a handful of chopped fresh parsley. a note on parsley, by the way - the last couple years there has been some talk about 'regular' parsley not being very tasty. true foodies are supposed to buy flat leaf parsley. I say flat leaf parsley is fine, but so is the regular stuff, if you buy - or indeed grow - organic. anyway, where was I? oh yes, let the mushrooms cook down some more. when about half of the juices they've released are cooked down (this can take some time, and give it time, the flavour will only improve), add 4 tablespoons of cream. turn the heat down low again, and let the ragout simmer until it's reached the desired consistency. check for seasoning, add some more fresh chopped parsley, and apply to face.

- anne