Andreas Viestads Porcini Consomme Food

DRIED PORCINI CONSOMMé

Steps:

• Place the dried porcinis in a bowl or a pyrex measuring cup and cover with 2 cups boiling water. Let sit for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, wipe the fresh mushrooms, trim away the bottoms if they are sandy, break off the stems and set them aside. Set aside half of the caps in a separate bowl and slice the rest.
• Line a strainer with cheesecloth and set it over a bowl. Drain the porcinis through the cheesecloth-lined strainer. Squeeze over the strainer to extract as much flavorful liquid as possible and set aside the broth. Rinse the reconstituted mushrooms in several changes of water. Measure the mushroom soaking water and add enough water to make 4 cups.
• In a soup pot or a large saucepan, combine the mushroom soaking liquid, the chicken or vegetable stock, the soaked porcinis, fresh mushroom stems and sliced caps, garlic, and salt to taste, and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer over very low heat for 30 minutes. Strain the soup and return to the saucepan. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste, and the soy sauce.
• Slice the fresh mushroom caps you set aside paper-thin and toss with a couple of drops of lemon juice. Ladle the soup into bowls or espresso cups, garnish with a couple of slices of mushroom and a sprinkling of chives, and serve.

ANDREAS VIESTAD'S PORCINI CONSOMME

Steps:

• In a medium pot, bring vegetable broth to a boil. Add mushrooms (all fresh or a combo of dried and fresh), peppercorns, bay leaves and the cinnamon stick. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, skimming off any foam that forms on the surface.
• Line a colander or sieve with cheesecloth (I use a coffee filter sometimes) and strain the consomme into another pot, pressing gently on the mushrooms with a spoon to extract as much of the liquid as possible. Discard mushrooms and spices.
• Reheat the consomme and season to taste with salt. Pour into bowls and garnish with a couple of tablespoons of cream per portion, sprinkle with cinnamon and serve.

ANDREAS VIESTAD'S CHICKEN WITH SAFFRON AND CINNAMON

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine the garlic, saffron, cinnamon, salt, flour, vinegar and olive oil, stirring until smooth.
• rub chicken pieces all over with the spice mixture and either place in a covered dish in a single layer or in a plastic zipper bag and marinate at room temperature for 45 minutes, or up to 1 day in the refrigerator.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Bake chicken pieces skin side up for 30 minutes.
• Add wine and chicken livers (or 1/2 bouillon cube) to the pan and bake 20 to 30 minutes more (stirring a couple times if you're using the bouillon cube).
• Check to see if chicken is done by piercing in the thickest part with the tip of a knife; juices will run clear when done.

ANDREAS VIESTAD'S PORK MEATBALLS WITH PRUNES

Steps:

• In a bowl, mix the meat with ginger, nutmeg, curry, salt and potato starch. Add milk. Leave while you make stuffing.
• In a pot, mix the prunes, apples, caraway, and pinch of curry powder. Pour port wine over mixture and bring to boil for 3-5 minutes until it thickens. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
• Dip a spoon in some cold water. Take a nice handful of the meat pate and flatten it out in your hand. Add some of the stuffing mixture to the pate and try to seal off the stuffing so that it remains inside the meatball.
• Fry the meatballs in butter over medium high heat. It takes about 7 minutes, depending on the size of your meatballs.