Category: main dish

Duck with Garlic Thyme Sauce

18 December 2025

Breast of Duck (Margret de Canard) is often paired with sweet ingredients, such as figs and oranges. We love the combination of duck with a green pepper sauce, because the sharpness emphasises the natural sweetness of the duck meat. In this recipe we do something similar. The sauce with thyme and mustard is aromatic and a touch sharp, which is very nice with the duck. The grated garlic adds spiciness to the sauce, making the dish more complex and bold. Delicious when combined with the sweet and sour caponata and crunchy fried polenta.

Wine Pairing

To balance the flavours of the dish, we suggest a fruity, dry red wine, one with subtle tannins and lots of freshness. We enjoyed a glass of Nero d’Avola, made in Sicily. The unoaked wine had a ruby red colour and aromas of cherries and plum. Serving the wine slightly chilled (meaning 15°C or 16°C (59°F or 61°F)) enhanced the freshness, acidity and fruitiness of the wine.

What You Need
  • 1 Breast of Duck
  • Thyme
  • Chicken Stock
  • Garlic
  • Mustard
  • Crème Fraîche
  • ½ grated clove Garlic
  • Black Pepper
  • To serve with the Duck
What You Do
  1. Check the breast for remainders of feathers
  2. Remove the vein on the meat side of the breast (and other bits you don’t like)
  3. Place on a dish, cover with foil and transfer to the refrigerator
  4. Leave in the refrigerator for one hour, making sure it’s nice, firm and cold
  5. Fry the duck in a hot, non-sticky skillet for 10-12 minutes on the skin side. Reduce the heat after a few minutes. You don’t need oil or butter, the ducks fat will do the trick
  6. Now fry for 2-3 minutes on the meat side and remove
  7. Cover with aluminum foil in such a way that the crispy skin is not covered. The foil should only cover the meat
  8. Remove most of the fat from the pan, but not all
  9. Add chicken stock and thyme
  10. Deglaze the pan
  11. Start building the sauce by adding juices from the duck
  12. Add mustard. This will not only add complexity and sharpness to the sauce, it will also make it thicker
  13. Add crème fraîche
  14. Add stock, mustard and crème fraîche to taste
  15. After 10 – 15 minutes add grated garlic, this will give a boost to the sauce
  16. Slice the duck (we like fairly big slices; you may prefer thinner ones)
  17. Add the last juices to the sauce and serve the duck with the sauce, caponata and fried polenta
Duck with Garlic Thyme Sauce ©cadwu served with caponata and polenta
Duck with Garlic Thyme Sauce ©cadwu

Risotto with Porcini

20 November 2025

Risotto is amongst our favourite dishes, especially risotto with mushrooms. Preparing risotto is not difficult, as long as you pay attention to the cooking process and use the right ingredients.
It’s nearly the end of the porcini-season. We enjoyed them several times this year, but not yet in a risotto. Time to start cooking!

Wine Pairing

We enjoyed a nicely oaked, buttery South African chardonnay with our risotto with porcini. A full-bodied white wine with aromas of tropical fruit and toast. A wine that paired very well with the earthiness of the risotto and its rich flavours.

What You Need
  • 90 grams of Carnaroli or Arborio rice
  • 1 Shallot
  • Olive Oil
  • 150 grams of fresh Porcini
  • Chicken or Vegetable Stock
  • Parmesan Cheese
  • Butter
  • Black Pepper
What You Do
  1. Peel and chop the shallot
  2. Clean the porcini
  3. Slice the porcini; cube smaller parts
  4. Warm the stock
  5. Add olive oil to a pan and glaze the shallot
  6. Add the smaller parts of the porcini
  7. Add the rice to the pan and coat for 2 minutes
  8. Keep the pan on medium heat; be patient
  9. Start adding stock, spoon by spoon and stir frequently
  10. Heat a heavy iron skillet and fry the sliced porcini in butter and oil
  11. In total it may take 15 – 18 minutes before the rice is al dente
  12. 5 Minutes before the risotto is al dente, coarsely cut some of the fried porcini, making sure you have a few nice slices for decoration
  13. Add the coarsely cut and fried porcini to the risotto
  14. When the risotto is ready, transfer the pan to the kitchen countertop and leave to rest for 2 minutes.
  15. Add grated Parmesan cheese and combine
  16. Add butter and combine
  17. Add some black pepper, taste, add more Parmesan cheese and/or butter if so required.
  18. Decorate with slices of porcini
  19. Serve immediately.
PS

We have four other risotto recipes, with squid, with beetroot, with mushrooms and with peas.

Risotto with Porcini is a delicious combination of creamy, rich rice and nutty, umami flavours. Risotto is not difficult to make if you use the right ingredienst and follow the instruction.
Risotto with Porcini ©cadwu

Kimizu (with a Twist)

16 October 2025

A few years ago we enjoyed an excellent Kaiseki dinner at Yamazato in Amsterdam. One of the dishes on the menu was Kimizu-Ae: a combination of white asparagus and Kimizu. A few days later we prepared Kimizu, a rich and light sauce. It comes with a velvety mouthfeel, a natural note of sweetness, a bright yellow colour and perfect acidity. Over the years we used it as a base for Béarnaise and Sauce Perigord.

Kimizu combines rice vinegar, mirin and egg. Compared to Hollandaise, Kimizu is lighter, easier to digest and fresher, because it does not contain butter (the egg yolk being the only source of fat).
The vinegar used to prepare Hollandaise or Béarnaise is often a flavoured vinegar, for instance with tarragon, shallot and black pepper. An idea we simply had to try when making Kimizu, with a twist!

Using a microwave oven to make Kimizu is a great idea (see our recipe for Hollandaise), although it does require more whipping and more attention compared to making Hollandaise.

What You Need
  • For the Castric (35 ml)
    • 5 ml Vinegar
    • 50 ml dry White Wine
    • 20 ml Noilly Prat
    • One corn of Black Pepper
    • One small Shallot
  • For the Kimizu
    • 35 ml Castric
    • 25 ml Water
    • 1 teaspoon Mirin
    • 2 Egg Yolks
What You Do
  1. Start by making the Castric
    • Chop the shallot
    • Combine all ingredients and leave to reduce by 1/2 on low heat
    • Pass through a sieve; try to capture the juices of the shallot
    • Set aside
  2. Make the Kimizu
    • The castric should be at room temperature
    • Whisk the egg yolks
    • Add the castric, the mirin, the water and whisk some more
    • Now transfer to the microwave and give it let’s say 10 seconds of 30%. Power and duration very much depend on your microwave
    • Remove from oven and whisk
    • Repeat
    • You will now feel the consistency changing. If not, don’t worry, just keep repeating the step
    • You may want to reduce the power or the duration
    • Whisk, whisk again and feel free to find your own way
    • When the Kimizu is ready, take it out of the oven and serve immediately
  3. We served the Kimizu with excellent beef and pommes dauphinois
Kimizu, the Japanese golden sauce
Kimizu with a Twist ©cadwu

Saffron Milk Cap and Halibut

9 October 2025

Earlier we wrote about Antonio Carluccio’s A Passion for Mushrooms, published in 1989. The book includes some wonderful recipes and intriguing combinations. The book also includes a chapter on conservation techniques. We prepared two dishes from the book, Sandwiched Parasol Mushrooms and Halibut with Saffron Milk Cap.
A Passion for Mushrooms is a must have for mushroom-lovers. The book is available via the usual channels and perhaps at your local second-hand bookstore. Prices will vary.

Halibut with Saffron Milk Cap

We were keen to read his chapter on mushrooms and fish because the combination is both challenging and surprising. We spotted a recipe with saffron milk cap, a popular mushroom in Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Scotland, Poland, Russia and many other European countries. Earlier we combined it with chorizo, with squid and we prepared a stew with eggplant and potatoes. Carluccio used the mushrooms to create a rich, creamy mushroom sauce which he combined with poached halibut. The fish is supported by the flavours and texture of the mushrooms and vice versa. Is it about saffron milk cap or about halibut? Absolutely delicious.

Wine Pairing

We opened a bottle of Rosenstock Grüner Veltliner, produced by Markus Huber in the Traisental region in Austria. Markus Huber is a young, internationally successful winemaker. The vineyards and the winery are organic and sustainable. He made a fresh, dry, fruity and aromatic white wine. Great accompaniment of the fish and the light character of the wine worked also very well with the rich mushroom sauce.
In general we suggest a light, refreshing, aromatic white wine.

What You Need
  • Filet of Halibut (skin on)
  • Butter
  • For the sauce
    • Saffron Milk Cap
    • Shallot
    • All Purpose Flour
    • Butter
    • Fish Stock
    • Vegetable Stock
    • Double Cream
    • Parsley
    • Dill
    • Mint
    • Mustard
    • Black Pepper
  • Crusted Bread
What You Do

Details of the recipe can be found in A Passion for Mushrooms. Buy the book and enjoy this dish and many more!

  1. Clean the mushrooms and slice.
  2. Chop the shallot finely.
  3. Chop and combine equal quantities of parsley, mint and dill.
  4. Add olive oil to a heavy iron skillet and fry the shallot.
  5. After a few minutes add the mushrooms. Reduce heat and fry for 5-10 minutes.
  6. Remove the shallot and the mushrooms from the pan.
  7. Use flour, butter and stock to make a basic sauce.
  8. Allow to integrate for a few minutes.
  9. The sauce should have a clear but not overpowering fish flavour.
  10. Add cream and mustard to the sauce. Mix.
  11. Add half of the herbs to the sauce. Mix.
  12. Add the mushrooms to the sauce.
  13. If necessary, add more stock to the sauce. Taste.
  14. In parallel, add butter to a non-stick pan and fry the halibut, skin down.
  15. When nearly done, turn the fish, colour the meat side, remove the skin and turn again.
  16. The sauce should be ready by now, so add the remainder of the herbs and some black pepper.
  17. Serve the fish on top of the sauce.
  18. Serve with crusted bread or steamed new potatoes.
Saffron Milk Cap and Halibut ©cadwu
Saffron Milk Cap and Halibut ©cadwu

How to Make a Roulade (part 2)

11 September 2025

Earlier we wrote about ‘butterflying’ meat, a technique that allows you to turn a bigger piece of meat into a roulade. Ideal for pork loin or turkey. But what to do when you have smaller pieces of meat and butterflying is not possible? Then it’s a matter of flattening the meat, for instance with a hammer. Better to ask your butcher to do it for you with the head (blade) of a butcher’s axe: easy, quick and a much better result. Thin is better!
Once you have flattened pieces of meat it’s a bit of a puzzle to create the roulade. Just give it a try and see what works best. When you think you have the right combination, make sure the kitchen twine is in place and the filling ready.
Obviously, you want to match the filling with the side dishes. We served the roulade with caponata and decided to make a filling with sage and thyme.

Wine Pairing
homemade roulade: chicken thighs, sage and pancetta. Served with caponata

We enjouyed a non-oaked Nero d’Avola from Sicily. The ruby red coloured wine has aromas of cherries and plum. The taste is fruity and long with subtle tannins. Great combination with the Mediterranean flavours in both the roulade and the caponata.

What You Need
  • 4 Boneless Chicken Thighs
  • 1 small Shallot
  • 1 clove of Garlic
  • 10 leaves of Sage
  • Thyme
  • Butter
  • Pancetta
  • Olive Oil
  • Lemon
  • Black Pepper
What You Do
  1. Ask your butcher to flatten the chicken thighs
  2. Chop the shallot and the garlic
  3. De-vein the sage
  4. Remove the thyme leaves from the stalk
  5. Grate the butter
  6. Add olive oil to a heavy iron skillet and gently fry the shallot
  7. After a few minutes reduce the heat
  8. Add garlic and thyme. Stir
  9. Add some lemon juice
  10. Allow the filling to cool
  11. Put strings of kitchen twine on your work top
  12. Decide on the pattern for the meat and put it on top of the kitchen twine. This way you can easily roll up the meat and tie the twine
  13. Cover the meat with sage
  14. Spread the mixture over the sage. Keep the edges free
  15. Add grated butter
  16. Cover with slices of pancetta
  17. Roll up the meat
  18. Tie with kitchen twine
  19. Tightly wrap in plastic foil and transfer to the refrigerator for at least 2 hours
  20. Remove the roulade from the refrigerator and allow to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes
  21. Preheat your oven to 180 °C or 350 °F
  22. Remove the foil
  23. Put the roulade on a rack (this way it will brown evenly)
  24. Add water to the pan
  25. Fry in the oven until the internal temperature is between 70 °C and 75 °C, or 160 °F and 165 °F
  26. Transfer to your worktop, wrap in aluminium foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes
  27. Serve with caponata
Homemade roulade: flattened chicken thighs, sage, pancetta, thyme, butter, shallot and garlic. The roulade is prepared in the oven on a rack. after 10 minutes resting it is served with caponata

How to Make a Roulade (Part 1)

10 July 2025

Butterflying meat is a technique that allows you to turn a thicker piece of meat (for instance pork tenderloin or turkey breast) into a piece that you can use to make a roulade, without damaging the texture. The first step is to slice the meat lengthwise, but not through and through. The second and third step are a bit more challenging: take your knife and half the meat, again lengthwise, from the centre to the right and then from the centre to the left. Basically, you have now quartered the meat but it still in one piece. Difficult? This helpful video shows you how to do it.
Some instructions stop after the first step and use a meat hammer to flatten the meat. Nice, but the result is not even close to the real thing.

Once the pork tenderloin is butterflied, it’s time to add the filling, on the outside. Sounds odd, but our butcher was right, if you fry the roulade inside-out, you get a much better result.

We have made pork tenderloin roulades with various fillings. This recipe is for a Mediterranean approach. You could also go for a spicy mixture with red pepper paste, garlic, onion, ginger and soy sauce.

Wine Pairing

In general both red and white wine can go very well with a roulade of pork tenderloin. It all depends on the filling. In case of this Mediterranean filling, we would suggest a more robust wine, for instance Syrah. This is a full-bodied red wine with medium to high levels of tannin. It has fruity flavors and a slightly peppery finish.
In case of a filling with red pepper paste, garlic, ginger and soy sauce you could pair the roulade with a more spicy red wine, for instance Zinfandel, or with a white wine with a touch of sweetness (Riesling, perhaps Viognier).

What You Need
  • Pork Tenderloin
  • Black garlic
  • Sage
  • Black Olives
  • Rosemary
  • Fennel Seed
  • Pancetta
  • Black Pepper
What You Do
  1. Butterfly the meat
  2. Devein and chop the sage
  3. Halve the black olives
  4. Crush the fennel seeds
  5. Make a mixture of black garlic, sage, black olives, rosemary, fennel seed and black pepper. It should be a powerful mixture
  6. Spread the mixture over the meat. Keep the edges free.
  7. Cover with slices of pancetta. 
  8. Roll up the meat
  9. Tie with kitchen twine
  10. Tightly wrap in plastic foil and transfer to the refrigerator for at least 2 hours
  11. Remove the roulade from the refrigerator and allow to rest at room temperature for 30 – 60 minutes
  12. Preheat your oven to 160 °C or 320 °F
  13. Fry in the oven until the internal temperature is between 65 °C and 75 °C, or 145 °F and 165 °F (pink and well-done respectively)
  14. Transfer to your worktop, wrap in aluminium foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes
  15. Slice and serve on a warm plate, for instance with green peas, or pommes dauphinois, or a salad or ratatouille. Just think about the filling and be inspired!
Roulade with Green Peas ©cadwu
Roulade in Pan ©cadwu
butterflying meat allows you to create a roulade
Roulade with Bok Choy ©cadwu

Pasta with Duck

5 June 2025

A few weeks ago we enjoyed Pappardelle al Ragù d’Anatra at restaurant Rigatoni in Haarlem. We loved the combination of pasta and duck so we decided to look into this Italian classic. We found a recipe in La Scienza in Cucina e l’Arte di Mangiar Bene by Pellegrino Artusi, published in 1891. His recipe (number 272) combines a whole duck with celery stalk, parsley, carrot and onion. When everything is nicely cooked, he removes the duck from the pan, passes the sauce through a sieve, removes the duck fat and adds some butter. The duck is served with Pappardelle and Parmesan cheese. The vegetables are served separately.

We decided to use orecchiette and fresh duck leg. Orecchiette is a pasta typical for the very south of Italy whereas Pappardelle al Ragù d’Anatra is typical for Venice. Using orecchiette is probably not-done from an Italian point of view, but we simply love the way it combines with this duck-based sauce.

Wine Pairing

The restaurant served the dish with a glass of Corvina, which we think was an excellent choice. The wine is made in the Veneto region, not far from Venice, with 100% corvina grapes. In general, we suggest a light to medium bodied, unoaked, red wine with aromas of red fruit. Its taste should be pleasant and warm with good acidity. A red wine that should be served slightly chilled.

What You Need
  • Duck leg
  • Olive Oil
  • Carrot
  • Celery stalk
  • Onion
  • Bay Leaf
  • White wine
  • Tomatoes
  • Stock
  • Orecchiette
  • Black Pepper
What You Do
  1. Start by preparing the duck.
  2. Preheat the oven to 150 °C or 300 °F
  3. Heat a skillet and fry both sides of the leg until golden.
  4. Transfer the duck to the oven for one hour, skin on top
  5. After an hour, check if the duck is well done and moist
  6. Let cool
  7. Remove the skin from the meat and the meat from the bones
  8. Very coarsely chop (or pull) the meat.
  9. Set the skin aside
  10. Chop onion, finely chop carrot, thinly slice the celery stalk
  11. Heat a large pan, add olive oil and gently fry onion, carrot and celery.
  12. After 5 minutes add the duck meat and the bay leaf
  13. Add a splash of white wine and allow to evaporate
  14. Add the tomatoes (if using fresh tomatoes, then peeled and deseeded)
  15. Add stock
  16. Cook for 60 minutes
  17. Add more stock if required
  18. In parallel
    • Cook the orecchiette al dente
    • Heat a small skillet
    • Add some olive oil
    • Slice small squares of the skin of the duck
    • Fry these until crispy
    • Add some black pepper and Parmesan cheese to the ragù
  19. Serve the pasta with the sauce and decorate with the crispy duck skin and grated Parmesan cheese
PS
  • You can skip steps 1 to 6 by using Confit of Duck. We tried it, even though we assumed it would be too salty or its flavour not suitable. But we were wrong, it worked very well.
  • Some recipes use breast of duck, which we think is too lean for a ragù.
Orecchiette al Ragù d’Anatra ©cadwu
Pasta with Duck ©cadwu

Herb Roasted Chicken

24 April 2025

The first time we had chicken prepared this way was in a lovely restaurant in Vence, France. The restaurant was called Auberge des Seigneurs and offered a wide range of beautiful dishes from the days of King François I, such as blue trout, tian, chicken and lamb cooked on a spit before an open fire in the dining room. Ah, Madame Rodi, those culinary evenings, the wines from the Domaine de Rimauresq, and your infinite hospitality, dear memories.
The chicken was a special treat. It was juicy, tasty and rich. The chicken was rubbed on the inside with a very intense paste. A wonderful idea because the powerful rub flavoured the whole chicken, not just the outside. The result was aromatic, flavourful and light.
Since we don’t have a spit with an open fire at home, we had to find another way of roasting our chicken to perfection. An oven dish? A chicken sitter?
We think the best way to roast your chicken is using a baking rack over a roasting pan filled with water. The rack will guarantee an evenly cooked and golden chicken, the water helps keeping the meat juicy and the skin crispy.
We served our chicken with slow cooked fennel. 

Wine Pairing

We enjoyed a glass of red wine made with cabernet sauvignon grapes from the Pays D’Oc In France, produced by Abbotts & Delaunay. The wine is ruby red, it has aromas of dark fruit and the taste is long and velvety. Its fruitiness combines beautifully with the aromatic chicken.
In general we suggest an intense, fruity, easy to drink red wine.

What You Need
  • For the Rub
    • 2 twigs of Rosemary
    • 5 twigs of Thyme
    • 3 leaves of Sage
    • Salt
    • Oil
  • Organic Chicken
  • Black Pepper
  • For the Fennel
    • 1 Fennel
    • Olive Oil
    • Pastis (optional)
What You Do
  1. Finely chop rosemary, thyme and sage
  2. Transfer to a mortar, add a teaspoon of salt and make into a paste. It must be very aromatic and salty
  3. Add some oil, just to make it a bit smoother
  4. Rub the inside of the chicken
  5. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine
  6. Transfer the chicken to the refrigerator and allow to rest for a few hours (at least two)
  7. Preheat your oven to 350 °F or 180 °C (with fan)
  8. Pat the chicken dry with kitchen paper
  9. Add a layer of water to the roasting pan
  10. Cook until golden and done. The internal temperature should be 165 °F or 75 °C. In general, a chicken needs 30 minutes per 500 grams
  11. Allow to rest for 5 – 10 minutes
  12. Serve on a warm plate with black pepper (and slow cooked fennel)
PS
  • Slice the fennel, add olive oil to a pan, add the fennel, put the lid on the pan and leave on low heat for an hour or so. Stir and check every 15 minutes. Add a splash of pastis to enhance the taste.
  • Normally we use the leftovers to make chicken stock. Due to the intensity of the rub this stock will be okay if you want to make Mediterranean flavoured soups, for instance one with zucchini. 
Herb Roasted Chicken ©cadwu
Herb Roasted Chicken with Fennel ©cadwu

Tartiflette, history and recipe

20 March 2025

Perhaps we were thinking about Tartelette when we assumed Tartiflette was something sweet and small. But then we saw a cheese with ‘Fromage pour Tartiflette’ on its wrapping. We bought the cheese, looked for recipes and made Tartiflette. Two things for sure, it’s not sweet and not small.

In 1705 French chef François Massialot wrote Le Cuisinier Roïal et Bourgeois. According to wikipedia and others one of the recipes in this book is for Péla, a dish from the Savoie area. It’s a fairly simple dish with cheese, potatoes, bacon and onions. The dish is named after the pan in which it was prepared.
In the 1980’s too much of the local Savoie cheese Reblochon was produced and clever marketing people of the Syndicat Interprofessionnel du Reblochon created the Tartiflette, a Péla with Reblochon.

Obviously, we wanted to verify the story, so we looked for the recipe for Péla by François Massialot in the 1705 edition of Le Cuisinier Roïal et Bourgeois. No Péla. Well, people make mistakes,
Perhaps it was included in the first edition, published in 1691?
No, it wasn’t.
Maybe he added the recipe later?
We checked the index of the renewed 1728 edition: no Péla.

Did François Massialot write about Péla? Probably not.

Péla was (as is Tartiflette) a simple dish which makes it an unlikely candidate for royalty and bourgeois. Furthermore in those days potatoes had a bad reputation, they were seen as ‘coarse, insipid and the cause of flatulence’ (according to Barbara Ketcham Wheaton, in Savoring the Past). Not something you would happily serve to your king (and survive).

Back to the Tartiflette. It’s a tasty combination of bacon, onions, potatoes and reblochon, probably a modernized and commercialised version of an existing dish from the Savoie area, but nevertheless delicious.

Wine Pairing

An aromatic, white wine with clear acidity will go very well with the dish. It will add freshness to the combination. We decided to enjoy a red wine, one with supple tannins, medium bodied. Our choice was a glass of Château Margilliere Bastide, a wine from the Var region in France, made with grapes such as syrah, cabernet franc and grenache. A well-balanced red wine, with notes of cherries, gentle acidity and a touch of spiciness. Great with all ingredients of the tartiflette.

What You Need
  • 250 grams of firm, yellow, waxy Potatoes (Annabel, Charlotte, Ratte, Amandine)
  • 150 grams of diced (lightly smoked) Bacon
  • one large Onion
  • one Reblochon (or a piece of Morbier)
  • Olive Oil
  • Black Pepper
  • Nutmeg
What You Do
  1. Peel and slice the onion.
  2. Peel and dice the potatoes, same size as the diced bacon.
  3. On medium heat, fry bacon and onions for a few minutes.
  4. Add the diced potatoes.
  5. Preheat the oven to 200 °C or 390 °F.
  6. After 5 minutes the potatoes should be softer, but not yet ready. Duration depends on the type of potato.
  7. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and allow to cool somewhat.
  8. Halve the cheese.
  9. Coarsely chop one halve and add to the mixture. Combine. Add black pepper and nutmeg.
  10. Transfer the mixture to an oven dish.
  11. Halve the remaining cheese and put these two pieces on top of the mixture, skin side up.
  12. Leave in the oven for 20 minutes or until golden.
PS

François Massialot is well known for the introduction of Crème Brûlée.
True?
Yes! See page 219 of the 1693 edition.

dish for tartiflette
Dish for Tartiflette
Reblochon ©cadwu
Reblochon ©cadwu
Tartiflette - ready for the oven ©cadwu
Tartiflette – ready for the oven ©cadwu
Tartiflette ©cadwu
Tartiflette ©cadwu

Mushroom Balls

6 March 2025

We were asked to prepare a vegetarian main dish for a buffet style dinner. We immediately knew what we wanted to cook: mushroom balls and oven baked vegetables. Tasty and colourful. Could we make it gluten free? Which in this case means not adding breadcrumbs to the mushroom mixture, so we needed to think about an alternative. We tried well cooked rice, but that didn’t do the trick. Next idea was to blender the rice and make a very sticky paste. It did what we hoped it would do: the mushrooms balls are firm, but not dense. Great! Plus, they go very well with the vegetables!

Wine Pairing

We enjoyed a glass of French Malbec with the Mushroom Balls. In general you’re looking for a long, full bodied red wine, smooth, with hints of berries and ripe dark fruit.

What You Need
  • 25 grams of dried Porcini
  • 150 grams of fresh Mushrooms (Button Mushrooms, Shiitake)
  • 1 Shallot
  • 2 cloves of Garlic
  • 1 sprig of fresh Oregano
  • 2 sprigs of Thyme
  • 1 sprig of Rosemary
  • 1 sprig of Sage
  • 40 grams of Rice
  • ½ beaten Egg
  • Parmesan Cheese
  • Black Pepper
What You Do
  1. Boil the rice in water (with a pinch of salt) or in vegetable stock for 40 minutes. The rice should be thoroughly cooked.
  2. Soak the dried mushrooms in hot water for 30 minutes. Drain and check for sand.
  3. Chop the shallot and fry in oil until translucent.
  4. Clean the fresh mushrooms, chop, add to the pan and fry on a higher heat.
  5. When the mushrooms are somewhat fried, add the chopped garlic for five minutes. Be careful not to colour the garlic.
  6. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and allow to cool.
  7. Chop the soaked mushrooms. Add to the mixture.
  8. Use a kitchen knife to chop all herbs and then add these to the mixture.
  9. Blender half of the rice until it’s a sticky paste.
  10. Add remaining rice, paste and a relatively large amount of pepper to the mixture.
  11. Beat ½ egg and grate a generous amount of Parmesan Cheese.
  12. Add cheese and egg to the mixture.
  13. Pulse with a blender. The mixture should have granularity.
  14. Taste and add pepper and/or Parmesan if necessary.
  15. Allow the mixture to cool and transfer to the refrigerator.
  16. Preheat the oven to 180 °C or 355 °F.
  17. Use your hands to make balls, line a rack with baking paper and place the balls on the paper.
  18. Bake for 15-25 minutes until the balls are slightly coloured and firm.
  19. Allow to cool and leave for a few hours at room temperature.
  20. Preheat oven to 160 °C or 320 °F.
  21. Bake mixed, chopped vegetables (beetroot, parsnips, sweet potato, potato, butternut squash, parsley root, kohlrabi) by placing them in a large oven dish with plenty of olive oil and sprigs of rosemary, thyme, sage, marjoram in the oven for 20 minutes under aluminium foil at 160 °C or 320 °F and then 15-20 minutes at 180 °C or 355 °F without foil.
  22. Warm the mushroom balls in the oven in a separate oven dish.
  23. Combine just before serving.
  24. If gluten are okay, use half the rice (no need to make the sticky paste) and add breadcrumbs. The mixture will firmer and drier, so perhaps use 1 egg.
PS

This recipe is for two. The picture shows the result of the recipe times 2.

 
Mushroom Balls ©cadwu
Mushroom Balls ©cadwu