Fung and I have been friends for a long time, I can’t remember exactly the first time I met her, but I think my mom might have introduced us. Ever since we met, it has been good times all the time. She never fails to amaze me with her earthy undertones and her constant reminder of how generous the gods can be.

What I love most about her is her diversity and ability to go into any situation and truly bring the best out of herself, but most importantly, Fung knows better than anyone how to be a team player. Most of the time she’s been cast in the supporting role rather than the lead. It’s her adaptability and lack of being an attention whore that makes her so balanced, her talent speaks for itself, it is not forced.

The truth is Fung has a lot to of offer, and I’ve come across many people in my life who don’t like her, I always give them the side eye when they talk about how much they hate her earthiness. What they fail to realize is that the earthiness she so strongly encompasses is exactly why I can’t stay away from her. The only downside to it is that she does tend to get a little dirty, and due to her dainty nature she often has to be delicately brushed. So whenever she comes over we always hang out in the kitchen and I take my wooden brush and gently brush the dirt off her shoulders and then she’s ready to shine.

Fung and I have played around a lot throughout the years, she’s become somewhat of a muse; the narcissist in me believes she’s been put on this earth solely for my pleasure.  It is for this reason that I decided to dedicate this story to my love for Fung, and how much I appreciate our years of adventure, experiments and absolute harmony. According to hieroglyphics, the Egyptians use to see her as a symbol of immortality; the Pharaohs were so fascinated by her that no commoner was allowed to mingle with her. She’s so special that her mere presence is vital to the rehabilitation of forests, even though she could be very toxic at times.

Ok, so by now you can see my slight obsession with mushrooms has gotten to the point where I’m humanizing a fungus and pretending like she’s my friend, but I just can’t help it. Every time I eat mushrooms I feel like I’m eating the earth and getting one step closer to nature. One type in particular, Truffles, are inexplicably my favorite fungi put on this earth. If I were given one last meal it would be a big plate of fatty bone marrow with white and black truffles shaved on top. Affording them is another story, so as an alternative I always keep a stash of really good white truffle oil in the kitchen. I find different excuses for putting it on top of everything from grilled cheese sandwiches, soups, popcorn and especially eggs, Truffles and eggs have an incredible marriage of flavors.

This Mushroom Ménage à trois consists of  three recipes that allow Fung to shine. All three help bring her flavor out as much as possible.  The first one is a Truffled Wild Mushroom  Cream soup followed by the Goat Cheese, Phyllo, Mushroom Cups and lastly the Pomegranate Shitake Mushrooms. I hope that I do her justice with these recipes, I felt compelled to pay homage to her and give her back some of that love she’s bestowed upon me for so long.

Notes: Mushrooms should never be washed because their spongy texture retains water easily and when cooked it greatly affects the texture, so they should be brushed gently with very little water on the brush. I also like my mushrooms al dente like pasta to help avoid a mushy texture, Pomegranate Molasses can be found in most Middle Eastern stores or here.

Wild Mushroom Cream Soup

Yield 4 servings

4 tbsp butter

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large shallot, finely diced

3 small garlic cloves, minced

3 tbsp white wine vinegar

1 ½ – 2  lb. mushrooms such as shitake, cremini, portabella, oyster and white button, cleaned, stems removed and sliced 1/8 inch thick

4 -6 c. low sodium chicken stock

4 fresh sage leaves, 3 whole, 2 chopped

1 tbsp thyme, chopped

1 ½ tsp chives, chopped

1 c. heavy cream

1/3 c. dry vermouth or white wine

2 tbsp cornstarch

2 tbsp cold water

2 tbsp truffle oil

salt and pepper to taste

1. In a medium (3-5 quart) saucepan heat butter and olive oil, add shallots and sauté until opaque, add vinegar and let shallots caramelize for 1 minute and add garlic and sauté for 2 minutes.
2. Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper and sauté for 8-10 minutes, then add chopped sage and thyme.
3. Add vermouth, cook for 1 minute and add chicken stock, cover pot reduce heat to medium and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. (can be made one day ahead)
4. Lower temperature to a simmer and with an immersion blender, blend soup mixture in pulses to completely chop up mushrooms (this will also thicken the soup). (note – if you are using regular blender instead be EXTRA careful! Only add a couple of cups of soup mixture to blender at a time because the high heat of the mixture will form steam and make the blender “explode” with hot soup).
5. Once blended well, add heavy cream and two whole sage leaves, stir to combine well and bring back up to temperature slowly
6. Meanwhile, combine cornstarch and cold water in a small bowl and stir to make a slurry. Add to soup and stir to combine completely add salt and pepper to taste, cook for 5-7 minutes on low and serve immediately.

To serve garnish each soup with chopped chives and add 1 tsp of truffle oil to each serving.

Mushroom and Goat Cheese Phyllo Cups

Yield 6 servings

1 box Phyllo dough

1 Muffin pan

2 lbs mushrooms such as shitake, cremini, portabella, white button, brushed, stems removed chopped to a medium to small dice.

4 tbsp butter

2 tbsp olive oil

2 medium garlic cloves minced

2 ½ tbsp Marscapone cheese (chilled)

2 ½ tbsp Goat cheese (chilled)

1 ½  tbsp fresh thyme, chopped or whole leaves

1 ½ tbsp parsley chopped

Filo:

Preheat oven to 420 degrees.

1. Thaw Phyllo dough for 45 minutes to an hour, roll out slowly making sure not to break the sheets. Phyllo can dry quickly so cover remaining sheets with a damp towel while cutting strips.

2. Line sheets on a flat surface and taking 5 sheets (stuck) together cut 4 inch wide strips.

3. Depending on the size of your muffin pan, cut strips 4 inches in length, making sheets 4 x 4.

4. Melt 1-2 tbsp butter, lightly brush the insides of muffin pan and place Phyllo sheets in each pan hole gently pressing down and turning you hand counterclockwise at the same time, to shape sheets into each mold.

5. Lightly brush the inside of each Phyllo cup (the butter helps bind the sheets together). Place in the oven on the third rack and bake to a light golden brown for 3-4 minutes, watch carefully as Phyllo tends to burn very quickly. Set aside and cool.

Mushroom Filling:

1. In a medium sauté pan melt 2 tbsp butter and 3 tbsp of olive oil, add mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and cook on medium heat for 3-5 minutes, add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
2. Turn off the heat and allow to cool for 1 minute, add the marscapone and goat cheese, mix until filling becomes creamy.
3. Spoon filling into each Phyllo cup, sprinkle with parsley and thyme and serve.

Pomegranate Shitake Mushrooms

Yield 4 servings

2 lbs Shitake mushrooms, brushed, stems taken off and chopped into 1/3 inch.

2 stalks leek, washed, green stems removed, cut lengthwise and chopped thin.

1 ½ tbsp butter

4 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp brown sugar

2 tsp white wine vinegar

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

2 tbsp Pomegranate molasses

2 tbsp Pomegranate seeds

salt to taste

1. In a medium sauté pan melt ½ tsp butter and 1 tbsp olive oil, add leeks and sauté on medium heat until opaque, add vinegar and cook for 1-2 minutes.
2. Lower heat, add the brown sugar and mix well allowing leeks to caramelize, remove from heat and transfer leeks to a bowl.
3. In the same sauté pan, melt 1 tbsp butter, 3 tbsp of olive oil and sauté mushrooms al dente about 2-4 minutes add salt and cayenne pepper and cook for 1 minute.
4. Add leeks and pomegranate  molasses to the mushrooms and stir well. Garnish with pomegranate seeds and serve.

The other day I was walking through Ralph’s supermarket and as I passed the vegetables, my eyes did a double take because I had no idea what the caterpillar thing in the corner was.  As I moved in closer, I noticed these cute, little green bulbs hanging off a large stem with mini spikey stems protruding out of it.  “What the hell is that,” I thought and as I got closer I realized that they were Brussels Sprouts still attached to the stem that they naturally grow on.  I was so excited to have fresh, unpicked brussels sprouts, this was something that I would expect to see at the Farmer’s Market not at Ralph’s, I was pleasantly surprised and impressed.

I can’t say this excitement for vegetables is something that has always been a part of me, I never liked vegetables as a kid, but don’t most kids turn their noses up to vegetables? I remember while in culinary school reading somewhere that it had something to do with genes, that kids have a gene that makes them automatically sensitive to bitter tastes.  It could very well be true, but I don’t remember exactly what it was about vegetables that I disliked so much as a kid, I just rarely wanted to eat them.

My transition into eating vegetables was an easy one, I grew up in a household where if I didn’t want to eat something, I wasn’t forced to, my mother just left the issue alone and I left the dinner table, no arguments. In a recent conversation with my friend Lalig, she told me all about her veggie dilemma’s as a child and how she would attempt to combat them. She came from one those homes where the kid is still sitting at the dinner table long after dinner is over with a plate full of veggies that she refuses to eat. This was her stance, but her equally committed mother never backed down and always insisted that she can’t leave the table until those greens are gone, and so began Lalig’s nightly battles with vegetables.

On one of those torturous evening’s, Lalig came up with a solution, the solution was found in the Sparklett’s water cooler in their kitchen and the little removable mesh screen at the bottom water trap. Little Lalig would lift the screen and squeeze all of her despised vegetables in there, then she would announce she’s done eating her greens and was excused from the table with no suspicion attached. I laughed so much at this story, I could just imagine her face sitting at that table wondering how she’s going to get herself out of this, while her brother dances around the table taunting her.  Here’s Little Lalig at 3 on her bike in Torrance, CA.

A couple of weeks later and after many nights of vegetable stuffing, the odor permeating from the Sparklett’s water trap lead her mother to the cooler, where she discovered her daughter’s desperate yet clever attempts to not eat her vegetables.  Naturally she was punished and the same story goes for vegetable battles that occur in many homes, where you find parents urging, forcing and at times bribing their defiant children to eat vegetables. Last year the Los Angeles Times published an article on the number of American mothers who are sneaking vegetables into their kids daily diet without the children knowing, the article went on about how this is not a unhealthy approach.

Hearing my girlfriend’s story of how far a kid can go to avoid the taste of vegetables in their mouth made me think of my own dislike for Brussels Sprouts as a child. I had never even tasted Kale until three years ago while living in San Francisco and cooking at a friends house one evening, and now I love Kale, I cook and eat it often. It’s funny as I get older I fall more and more in love with vegetables, both physically and conceptually. I don’t have kids yet but my advice to those Down Low Vegetable sneaking mothers would be to add things to the recipe that make it more desirable to eat.

With this recipe I wanted to add things that actually bring out the flavor of the sprouts, that distinct bitterness that I actually enjoy now. In this case the love and use of bacon acts as a perfect compliment giving them a smokiness that I love and adding a robust flavor to a seemingly ordinary vegetable dish.

Unlike children as adults we have a great understanding of the importance of getting our good dose of vegetables, aging brings thoughts of living a healthier life and prolonging it as much as we can. What a perfect culinary vehicle than vegetables, find good veggie recipe’s, get your daily dose of antioxidants and hope that after all the effort stress doesn’t kill you.

Brussels sprouts belong to the Brassica vegetable family known as Crucifers, they’re extremely high in Vitamins K and C, a great source of Omega 3’s, fiber and potassium, and are known to help prevent cancer.

The importance of maintaining the nutritional value of vegetables like Brussels sprouts is all in the preparation, the sprouts like most vegetables should be steamed and when paired with the right ingredients they’re absolutely delicious. While I’m a huge fan of butter and a sauté pan, which I don’t completely eliminate from this recipe, I want to emphasize that the process of steaming really helps retain all the vitamins and minerals which make it such a powerful vegetable.  What I love about this recipe is how the sprouts and shallots get caramelized, the sweetness of the apples and how the smoke and crunch from the bacon and toasted almonds give it a nice texture. These crucifers when paired with the right ingredients don’t crucify as vegetables did when we were younger, instead they help prolong the life we cherish so much more as adults.

Brussels Sprouts

If the idea of using bacon oil is not for you, substitute it with olive oil. Applewood smoked bacon is usually a thicker cut, if pan frying it doesn’t give it the crispiness you like, lay the bacon pieces on some foil and put it in the toaster oven for a few minutes making sure not to burn. It can always be substituted with regular bacon.

Yield: 6 servings

5 slices Applewood Smoked Bacon crisped & roughly chopped

2-3 tbsp bacon oil

1 pound of Brussels sprouts, steamed or boiled

1 Shallot, chopped small dice

1 ½ Granny Smith Apples chopped into 1inch cubes

2-3 tbsp of Wine vinegar preferably Sherry

1 tbsp Thyme fresh, chopped

2 Tbsp Almonds, slivered or thin, toasted

¼ Cup Parsley chopped

¼ tsp Kosher salt and black pepper

1. In a saucepan, place Brussels Sprouts in a steamer basket over boiling water. Cover saucepan and steam (8-10) minutes or until sprouts are tender yet crisp, or boil 7-9 minutes.
2. In a deep skillet heat bacon oil, add the shallots and sauté for 1-2 minutes, in the meantime toast the almonds and add to the shallots followed by the apples, Brussels sprouts and vinegar, cook until sprouts are caramelized.
3. Season with salt and pepper, add thyme, and chopped bacon, remove the sprouts from heat, sprinkle with parsley and serve.