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Mushroom Stroganoff and the butterfly effect

by Jeanne Horak on November 24, 2008 16 Comments in NaBloPoMo 2008, Pasta & rice, Vegetable side dishes, Vegetarian

Mushroom-stroganoff

Heard of the butterfly effect?  (And no, I don’t mean the rubbish movie with annoying Ashton Kutcher.).

It refers to a theory that a movement as small as a butterfly flapping its wings can create tiny changes in the atmosphere that could ultimately change the path of a tornado.  In other words, small changes to the initial condition of a system can cause a chain of events that can lead to large-scale changes to that system.

Take, for instance, the event that occurred two weeks ago – no boiler.  A small (but hellishly inconvenient!) change in the initial condition of a system called Cooksister’s Life.  Because there was no heat, I felt bad about making the dinner guests I had invited over for dinner that week eat in their scarves and gloves, and so we postponed.  However, I had already gone shopping for the dinner, so as a result of my boiler not working, I found myself alone in the house last week with two punnets of unusual mushrooms that I’d never buy for myself.  And as a result of having the mushrooms in my fridge I tried my first raw shiitake mushroom… and fell totally in love.

I’m officially campaigning to have them renamed as credit crunch truffles.

Also as a result of the boiler breaking, we had to remove the two wall shelves in my kitchen to give British Gas access to the boiler.  This meant removing every single thing on my shelves to my dining table, where I could suddenly take stock of what I’d been accumulating.  And in the process I rediscovered the jar of Tartuflanghe white truffle salt (made with grey Guerande sea salt) that Johanna and I purchased last summer in Vienna and divided in half.  There was my half, untouched and deliriously truffle-scented, waiting to meet Mr Shiitake.

The butterfly had flapped its wings and here I was on a Monday night in my kitchen holding some exotic mushrooms, a jar of truffle salt, and a dreamy faraway expression.  This could only mean one thing – mushroom Stroganoff.

God bless that butterfly.

20081120 MushroomStroganoffTruffleSaltWeb

INDULGENT MUSHROOM STROGANOFF (serves 1 greedy person or 2 restrained people)

Ingredients:

500g assorted mushrooms, sliced (I used half oyster and half shiitake)
3-4 spring onions, chopped (green bits too)
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp mild olive oil
1 small glass red wine
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
50ml double cream
50ml soured cream
salt and pepper

Method:

Heat the butter and olive oil together in a large frying pan.  Add the garlic and spring onions and sautee over medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent but not caramelised.

Add the sliced mushrooms and cook just until they start to soften, then add the red wine, cream and paprika to the pan. Turn up the heat and cook until the sauce starts to thicken a little.  Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste (easy on the salt if you’re planning to use a truffle finishing salt!).

Serve on a bed of brown and wild rice (I used 2/3 brown and 1/3 wild) and sprinkle liberally with white truffle salt. Pure indulgence.

Follow me every day in November as I complete National Blog Posting Month – a post a day, every day, for 30 days! Here’s what I’ve written so far.

 

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  1. Manggy says

    November 25, 2008 at 5:32 am

    Hee! You do realize that you are ultimately blessing the breakdown of your boiler 😛 But yummy mushroom stroganoff would go a long way into healing those wounds!

    Reply
  2. Kit says

    November 25, 2008 at 6:20 am

    Your boiler breaking down was a blooming big butterfly, I’d say! However this looks like a very agreeable result of it – hope there are many more. That truffle salt sounds divine.

    Reply
  3. nina says

    November 25, 2008 at 7:00 am

    Wow, what a treat this must have been! I love the wild rice with the mushrooms. Really a delicious and earthy meal!

    Reply
  4. Meeta says

    November 25, 2008 at 7:30 am

    butterfly effect! and this is the result of a boiler breakdown? i love this – such a great idea for a veg meal. and I too love shotake’s the minutes i popped them in my mouth!

    Reply
  5. [eatingclub] vancouver || js says

    November 25, 2008 at 8:13 am

    Mushroom stroganoff is a wonderful idea whose time has come. 😉 Looks fantastic!

    Reply
  6. Gourmet Chick says

    November 25, 2008 at 9:11 am

    This looks like delicious winter comfort food.

    Reply
  7. Stephen says

    November 25, 2008 at 11:18 am

    This looks so good I will have to make it – despite having developed a vigorous dislike for most Mushroom Stroganoffs having been given so many vile ones (usually made from a base of tinned mushroom soup). It’s what you always end up with as a vegetarian – that or Vegetable Lasagne (which can be great homemade, but we’re talking prepacked and frozen.) Anyway, yours sounds really good and I like the use of the wild rice too. Haven’t bought that for a while – but love it.
    Stephen

    Reply
  8. Angela says

    November 25, 2008 at 5:43 pm

    This looks wonderful, Jeanne! I often make mushroom stroganoff–and usually quite greedily dollop it onto a steak–but never think to use shittake mushrooms in it. Great idea!

    Reply
  9. grace says

    November 25, 2008 at 7:00 pm

    what, you didn’t like that movie? 🙂 i liked it simply because it introduced me to this phenomenon. God bless that butterfly indeed. 🙂

    Reply
  10. jacoba says

    November 25, 2008 at 8:48 pm

    Well, I have never made this – or even thought about making it, but I’ll certainly try this. You’ve done incredibly well this November and I have to admit that I’ve enjoyed your month as much as you must have!

    Reply
  11. courtney says

    November 25, 2008 at 9:20 pm

    Oh wow! Have never seen truffle finishing salt before. Any dish with mushrooms is a fvaorite in my book.Now look at what you have put together with that past incident.

    Reply
  12. Gemma says

    November 25, 2008 at 11:03 pm

    That looks delicious Jeanne. For every cloud….

    Reply
  13. Deeba says

    November 26, 2008 at 12:48 am

    Helllllooooo there Jeanne.Can see you’ve been cooking up quite a storm…& a beautifully delicious one at that too. Your post made me revisit the butterfly effect I did with my daughter for a project many years ago. Fascinating effect altogether, though not necessarily with a no-boiler situation! The stroganoff looks luxuriant…& the pictures are entirely enticing!

    Reply
  14. Peter says

    November 26, 2008 at 10:53 am

    Jeanne, this looks exquisite with the bed of wild rice, fitting for guests too!

    Reply
  15. Laura says

    November 28, 2008 at 10:04 am

    Thanks! Keep those veggie dishes coming, it’s pretty easy to throw together a tasty meat dish but veggies are trickier. This one looks yummy.

    Reply
  16. Stephen Newport says

    November 29, 2008 at 7:20 am

    My girlfriend and I made this for dinner tonight and it was SO good. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
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Jeanne Horak is a freelance food and travel writer; recipe developer and photographer. South African by birth and Londoner by choice, Jeanne has been writing about food and travel on Cooksister since 2004. She is a popular speaker on food photography and writing has also contributed articles, recipes and photos to a number of online and print publications. Jeanne has also worked with a number of destination marketers to promote their city or region. Please get in touch to work with her Read More…

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