This article is featured on Local in Season. “Better food is the reason.”

Right Food for the Season – Late Fall

Written by Steve Johnson

As a professional chef I’ve been working with New England farmers and fishermen for over 20 years sourcing seasonal, local fruits, vegetables, meats, fish and shellfish for use on menus in my restaurants.  Using these wonderful primary ingredients, cooking and serving them at the peak of their flavor and freshness, we experience the most appetizing and compelling tastes.   This approach also helps keep me very much in tune with the cycles of the seasons. No family of ingredients exemplifies this concept for me more than foraged mushrooms.  At Rendezvous we prepare dishes using mushrooms throughout the year, and although not all of the ones that we use are locally foraged, several of them are found in New England in the spring and summer — for example, morels, black trumpets and chanterelles.  I’ll always remember the beautiful fragrance  of the large brown paper bag of black trumpets that were brought to me as a gift from some regular restaurant guests found in the woods near their weekend getaway home in central Massachusetts!  But autumn is when things really pick up around here . . . In September and October locally foraged hen-of-the-woods, copper tops, matsutakes, chickens and mousserons are available.  Like many restaurants in the Boston area, we purchase regularly from Ben Maleson, the mushroom guru of local chefs.  But also, living and working in Central Square, I’m fortunate to be able to visit Steve Parker (Parker Farm, Lunenburg MA) at our Farmers’ Market on Mondays, conveniently situated right across the street from my restaurant.  Early in the fall he brings in hens, and then later on oyster mushrooms when the weather turns cooler.  Right on cue this year, I bought a big bag of oyster mushrooms from Steve Parker on Monday, November 1st for use on our Monday Night Tapas Bar menu.  Normally oyster mushrooms are plentiful throughout the month of November. Not only am I grateful for the beautiful fresh mushrooms he offers, I’m astounded that someone who works 125 hours a week also manages to find time to go pick mushrooms in the woods.  But anyone who knows Steve knows that he is a special guy. Steve sells hen-of-the-woods in large and small pieces to his customers at the market, and he usually keeps whole mushrooms in his truck for restaurant chefs like me.  For this reason, it is really worth the effort to track his locations at the various local markets throughout the week.  These large mushrooms can weigh 6-8 pounds each.  As a conversation starter in the restaurant, I will display the entire mushroom on the bar during dinner service that evening before storing it overnight in the refrigerator.  Guests are amazed by its very impressive size and strange beauty!  As well, they can put their noses right up to it and take a big whiff while it is still moist and warm — this is a deep breath of the damp New England autumn woods — the very essence of terroir.  In addition to this unique aroma, the flavor of these mushrooms is savory and deeply satisfying, often described as “umami”.  In this way, it offers the chef a “vegetable” alternative to meat in many preparations such as in risottos, with gnocchi, and in pasta dishes. Toasted Orecchiette with Sautéed Maitakes (hen-of-the-woods), Kale and Piave Cheese (serves 4 as a side dish) This is a fried pasta dish that serves as the basis for our Braised Pork and Veal Meatballs, a “signature dish” at Rendezvous.  Orecchiette, or “little ears”, is native to Puglia in southeastern Italy.  It is a slightly chewy cut of pasta, and frying it briefly in olive oil results in a very pleasing combination/contrast in textures: crispy and chewy!  It’s a trick I saw while visiting the kitchen of a small family restaurant in Lecce about 15 years ago, and I’ve been using it ever since. Oyster mushrooms can be substituted for the maitakes in this recipe. 1 lb. orecchiette pasta 1 lb. maitake (hen of the woods) mushrooms, stems trimmed off 1 sweet onion, peeled and sliced thin 8 cloves garlic, minced 2 bunches black tuscan or green curly kale, stems removed, and leaves rinsed, drained and roughly chopped 2C strong chicken broth or stock, steaming hot 2C freshly grated cheese (parmesan, romano, piave, etc.) good quality olive oil for sautéing kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste In a large pot cook the orecchiette in salted water until tender, about 12 minutes.  Drain the pasta, drizzle lightly with olive oil and toss it.  Set the pasta aside until ready to use. In a large sauté pan using some olive oil, cook the mushrooms with half of the onion and garlic until they are golden and tender, about 5-6 minutes.  Season lightly with salt and pepper as you go.  Transfer the mushrooms to a plate and allow them to cool down to room temperature. Using the same sauté pan and 2T olive oil, cook the kale with the rest of the onion and garlic, stirring occasionally, again seasoning lightly with salt and pepper.  This should take about 4-5 minutes.  Set the kale aside on a plate to cool down to room temperature as well. Heat a large cast-iron skillet and add 4T of olive oil.  When the oil is hot, add the pasta and DON’T STIR for 60 seconds; this will allow the pasta to fry in the oil and will result in the crispy golden edges that contribute to the wonderful contrast in textures.  Then add a couple of cloves of chopped garlic, a pinch of ground black pepper, and stir.  Follow this immediately by stirring in the mushrooms and the kale.  When this mixture is hot, double-check the seasoning and bring the skillet to the table along with the hot chicken broth and the grated cheese. A medium-body red wine goes very well with this dish – perhaps a pinot noir or sangiovese. Mushroom Stock (makes about 4 cups) As a vegetarian alternative to using roasted chicken broth, here’s a recipe for a mushroom stock that is thin in texture but earthy and satisfying in flavor.  It provides vegetable dishes such as the one above with another layer of mushroom flavor. 1C chopped dried mushrooms (porcini, shiitakes, etc.) 1 onion, sliced thin 1 rib celery, chopped 1 carrot, chopped 1 whole garlic head, cut in half 1 bunch fresh thyme 2 bay leaves 1t dried herbs 1t whole black peppercorns 1C white wine 1/4C  amontillado sherry water to cover kosher salt to taste Put all of the ingredients into a small stockpot and simmer for 45 minutes, until the liquid has reduced by 1/4.  Strain and cool, season lightly with salt, and set aside for later use. PHOTO CREDITS: Steve Johnson, by John Walker of Verrill Farm Hen of the Woods, by Jane Ward

Mixed Berry Shortcakes on how2heros!

Rendezvous chef/owner Steve Johnson won us over with these individual shortcakes. Topped with cream and sugar just before baking, these little wonders come out golden brown with an incredibly flaky texture and crispy top. Fresh berries gently tossed with sugar create their own delicious syrup. And Steve gives a shout-out to his Ohio roots with his easy sweet cream idea. Get creative with seasonal fruits and even though the biscuit dough should yield about 12-15 INDIVIDUAL portions, we defy you to eat just one.

Follow this link….

Mixed Berry Shortcakes

Watch the video featured in this weeks Taste of the Times: The Perfect Meatball with Steve Johnson.

Chocolate cake (makes one 9″ cake)

12 oz††† semi-sweet chocolate, cut into pieces

12 oz††† unsalted butter
1C††† sugar
1t††† espresso grinds
6††† egg yolks

1/2C††† all-purpose flour
1/2t††† cinnamon
1/2t††† salt

6††† egg whites

Butter and flour one cake pan with removable sides.† Set aside for later.

In a large mixing bowl, gently melt the chocolate over a double-boiler.† Be careful to only heat the chocolate as little as necessary to melt it completely, then turn off the heat and allow it to stand at room temperature while preparing the rest of the ingredients.

In the mixer, cream the butter and the sugar together, adding the sugar in three separate steps, until creamy, fluffy and white in color.† Add the coffee grinds and beat them in.† Then add the egg yolks one at a time.

In a small bowl, stir together the dry ingredients.† Add them to the butter-sugar-egg mixture in the mixer and mix very briefly.† Remove the bowl from the mixer and transfer the batter to the mixing bowl with the melted chocolate.† Fold the melted chocolate into the batter very quickly, being careful not to over mix:† streaks of batter and chocolate may remain.

Beat the egg whites until soft peaks.† Do not over beat!† Fold them into the cake batter quickly but in three separate steps.† When the batter is smooth, turn it into a prepared cake pan and bake it in a 350F oven for @ 45 minutes.

Allow the cake to set for 20 minutes before removing from the pan.† This cake tastes best when served warm because of the cinnamon and espresso grounds in the batter.† If you prepare the cake well ahead of time, you can always re-heat it gently for a few minutes prior to serving.

To make the harissa:

4 † †† † dried ancho peppers, seeds and stems removed
2††† ††† cloves garlic, chopped
2t†† ††† ground cumin
2t†† ††† ground coriander
1/3C† good olive oil
2t†† ††† soy sauce
2t†† ††† balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper to taste
water

Soak the peppers in hot water for one hour until they are very soft.† Drain them and place them into the food processor with the rest of the ingredients and purÈe all together while adjusting the seasoning† with salt and pepper and the consistency with a splash of water if necessary.

We make this stew at the restaurant as the basis for our signature Gascon-Style Duck 3 Ways, featuring seared breast, confit leg and garlic sausage. Occasionally, we enjoy it for lunch on it’s own with a big slab of crusty bread.

Recommended wine pairing for the Gascon duck 3-ways:† Monastrell, Cahors or Madiran.

Garbure

Garbure is the name of a southwestern French stew of cabbage, beans, potatoes and other vegetables, usually made with poultry stock — in this version, we add smoked bacon, chicken stock and white wine.

6C††† ††† dry cannellini beans, cooked until tender w/garlic & salt

1 lb.††† †† smoked bacon, cut into lardons
1††† ††† ††† onion, peeled and cut into small chunks
2††† ††† ††† carrots, ††† ”
3††† ††† ††† potatoes, ††† ”
1††† ††† ††† Savoy cabbage, cored and sliced
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 sprigs† fresh thyme
2C††† ††† † white wine
4C††† ††††† chicken stock
salt and pepper
water to cover

In a medium stockpot, render the bacon until browned and slightly crispy.† Add the vegetables and sautÈ until translucent, about 4-5 minutes.† Add the rest of the ingredients except the beans, season with salt and pepper, and simmer everything for @ 45 minutes until the vegetables are tender.

Add the beans and cook for another 15 minutes, until the soup has thickened slightly.† Double-check the seasoning, discard the thyme sprigs, and cool the stew until ready to use.

Chef’s Note:† this recipe is restaurant-size — you’ll need to do a little math to scale it down for home use!

Apple cider vinaigrette

1 1/4C††† cider vinegar
1/2C††† fresh apple cider
4††† shallots, sliced thin
1T††† grainy mustard
1t††† fresh thyme leaf
1C††† good olive oil
2C††† canola oil
kosher salt and ground black pepper

In a mixing bowl, stir together with a whisk all of the ingredients to make a simple vinaigrette.† Double-check the seasoning.

2C†† sugar
1C†† water
1/2C lime juice
1/4C orange brandy

4C†† sliced kumquats, seeds removed

In a small saucepan, lightly caramelize the sugar, then add the water very carefully and stir in to thin it out.† Then add the lime juice and the brandy and stir in.

Place the prepped kumquats in a clean stainless steel container.† While the mixture is still hot, pour it over the kumquats and let them steep in it while cooling down.† Chill before using.

2C†† ††† ground cumin
1C†† ††† ground coriander
1/4C††† hot chili powder
1/4C††† paprika
1/4C††† cinnamon
1/4C††† allspice
2T†† ††† cloves
2T†† ††† ground anise seed
1/2C††† mixed ProvenÁal style herbs (or Italian seasoning)
1/4C††† ground black pepper
kosher salt

After rinsing and drying the chicken, place it in a stainless steel bowl. † Sprinkle all over with a liberal amount of the spice mix.† Then rub with 2T olive oil and sprinkle all over with salt before roasting.