Warm Mushroom Salad with Shallots and Sherry Vinegar

Every time we use our Andrea Reusing cookbook I am reminded of how much I enjoyed her restaurant Lantern in Chapel Hill.  It is a phenomenal place.  Her cookbook features a different type of cuisine than the restaurant did (the restaurant was Asian-inspired, whereas the cookbook is very seasonal and American), but it really is lovely.  We should use the cookbook more than we do because it really is great for seasonal meals made of ingredients we picked up from the farmers' market.  The recipes are not overly complicated and the ingredients are often relatively easy to find.  The next few recipes I have bookmarked to try are her Spinach with Melted Leeks and Cardamom, her Roasted Spareribs with Crushed Fennel and Red Chiles and her Sauteed Savoy Cabbage with Speck and Lemon.  The savoy cabbage might actually happen later this week since we just so happen to have both savoy cabbage and speck in the refrigerator right now.

This particular salad recipe has been on my list of recipes to try for some time now - one of the first that I bookmarked and decided that I wanted to try when I bought the cookbook.  Some salads fall into the category of being both incredibly seasonal and delicious.  This salad falls among them.  Roast mushrooms scream fall to me - warm, savory, nutty and richly flavorful.  Sherry vinegar, shallots, garlic and parsley are all natural pairing for mushrooms but combining the mushrooms with frisee, lemon juice and chives was new to me.  The dressing lightened and brightened up the umami flavor of the mushrooms, while the frisee gave it a hint of bitterness that was balanced out by the sweetness of the roasted shallots.  And the garlicky croutons gave the salad both texture and flavor.  I loved the roughly torn look and the crunch of the croutons.  The original recipe called for 1 1/2 pounds of mushrooms, but I drew the limit at spending $30 at the farmers' market on wild mushrooms.  And I kept the amount of the other ingredients the same so that it was more of a salad with roasted mushrooms, rather than a side of roast mushrooms tossed with a little frisee.  After eating this dish (and walking home from the grocery store in the cool rain) I have to say that fall is officially here.

Recipe after the jump!



Warm Mushroom Salad with Shallots and Sherry Vinegar
Adapted from Cooking in the Moment:  A Year of Seasonal Recipes
By Andrea Reusing

INGREDIENTS:
2 garlic cloves
2 thick slices of bread from a large rustic loaf, lightly toasted
5 tbsp evoo
1/3 lb shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, caps cut into 1/2-inch to 1-inch thick slices
s&p
1/3 lb oyster mushrooms, trimmed and left whole or cut in half if large
1/3 lb cremini mushrooms, stemmed, caps quartered
3 medium shallots, peeled and cut into thin rings
2 small heads of frisee, darker green outer leaves removed and yellow inner leaves torn
1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1/4 cup 1/2-inch batons of fresh chives
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
juice of 1/2 lemon

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Rub the garlic firmly on both sides of each slice of toasted bread then break the bread apart into large, rough croutons to make about 25 croutons total.  Lay the croutons on a small baking sheet, drizzle with 1 tbsp evoo and toss.  Toast the croutons in the oven about 5 minutes, until golden brown but still slightly chewy in the middle.  Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl toss the mushrooms and the shallots with 3 tbsp evoo, s&p.  Spread mushrooms out in a single layer on a large rimmed baking sheet.  Avoid overcrowding the baking sheet - it might be necessary to use two rimmed baking sheets to roast the mushrooms.  Roast until mushrooms are tender and edges are golden brown, about 10-12 minutes.  While the mushrooms are roasting, toss together the frisee, parsley, chives, sherry vinegar, remaining tbsp evoo and lemon juice.  Season to taste with s&p.  Toss roasted mushrooms and croutons with the frisee mixture.

Serve.