Forest Fondue with Mushrooms

The best recipes are those that are handed down through generations.  This past Saturday, I was privileged to watch a family recipe being prepared for us.  The recipe was our friend's Mom who lives in the Jura area, the French part of Switzerland that my husband and I have visited in our travels to Switzerland. 

Fondues were so popular in the seventies.  My first fondue and one I have never forgotten  was prepared by a coworker's husband who was Austrian. This recipe was also his mom's recipe.  This Classic Cheese Fondue has become the gauge to meet when making this dish.  The table was beautifully set as we sat around a pot filled with bubbling cheese and enjoyed the leisurely pace on a cold Manitoba winter night.  Kirsch, a cherry brandy had been used to thin the cheese mixture when it became too thick.   At the end, as the cheese start to stick to the pot, a raw egg was dropped into the to and stirred quickly to remove the crust. 

The Fondue that was prepared this weekend was called a Forest Fondue.  The Fondue had shallots, mushrooms and parsley mixed into the cheese. The mushroom added an earthly layer to the creamy cheese.  

Although fondues seem to be in and out of fashion, fondues in Switzerland are timeless.

The steps in making this Forest Fondue are very similar to the Classic Cheese Fondue

Three shallots were chopped and sautéed in butter until soften. 

The cheese had been grated before starting the Fondue.  150 grams of cheese were calculated per person.   An interesting point was that 250 gms of cheese per person are calculated in Switzerland.  Gruyere Cheese and Emmental Cheese were used for the fondue.  There was some discussion that the flavors were more intense in Jura as the cheese used by his Mom is more aged than what he can find in Canada. 

Mushrooms had also been cleaned and sliced before beginning.   Once the shallots were soften, mushroom were added to the pot and sautéed until soften.  A tsp of Dijon Mustard was added to the mixture.

I imagine that this recipe first originated with the use of wild mushroom picked in the Jura area.

Wine was added and brought to a warm simmer on Medium heat.  Cheese was gradually added to the mushroom mixture and stirred until incorporated. 

More cheese was added and again mixed.  Great care was taken in watching the temperature of the fondue and consistency of the mixture while stirring constantly as he went along.  

A dusting of cornstarch was added to the top of the cheese and mixed into the cheese mixture.  A step that his Mom always did!

This skill and method of preparation of the Classic Fondue has been passed from generation to generation resulting in a silky bubbling cheese dish. 

Kirsch with cornstarch mixed into the brandy was slowly added and mixed into the warm mixture. 

Chopped parsley was added at the end into the mixture. 

Another beautiful setting prepared for this Forest fondue.

Yes, all the mushrooms were near the bottom and were easier to scoop up as cheese mixture was used up!  

As with the very first Fondue, this evening was filled with leisurely eating and good conservation.   Maybe it is because this recipe has also been tested many times before being passed down, this Forest Fondue did not disappoint.  To me watching my friend prepare his Mom's recipe so carefully and lovingly was the best part, his Mom would be so proud! 

Although our friend stated that the amounts varied per recipe, there was a lot attention to detail in making his Mom's dish..   I did find a recipe very similar to his Mom's recipe but without Parsley and Dijon Mustard.  This recipe uses Comte Cheese which is also a Swiss cheese

Comté Cheese and Mushroom Fondue

By Mary Cressler

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 8 ounces mixed mushrooms (I like a combination of crimini and shitake, but use your favorites), roughly chopped
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 ½ cups dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons Kirsch
• ½ pound Comté cheese, shredded
• ½ pound Emmental cheese, shredded

Instructions

1. Bring a medium size heavy pot to medium heat. Add butter then mushrooms. Sauté for 6 - 10 minutes to soften. Remove mushrooms from pot and set aside.
2. Rub the inside of the pot well with garlic and then discard the garlic. Add wine and bring to a simmer (but not a boil!).
3. In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and Kirsch then add into the wine.
4. Gradually add the cheeses and stir together until the cheese is melted and creamy (around 5 minutes). You’ll know it’s done when you can dip a wooden spoon into the mixture and it coats the spoon.
5. Add the mushrooms back to the pot and stir to combine.
   1. Transfer the warm mixture to a fondue pot set over a small flame. You will want to continue stirring periodically while over the flame. Serve with bread cubes, vegetable slices, apple slices, or roasted potatoes.
   Notes

   The cornstarch is not used as a thickener here but instead is used to prevent the cheese from separating. If the cheese mixture begins to get too thick or hard, add about a tablespoon of additional wine at a time and stir. Add more if necessary. If it’s too thin, add more shredded cheese a little at a time.

Wild Mushroom Cobbler

While watching Diners, Drive ins and Dives, I realized that the chef from Brick and Fire was demonstrating is a recipe that is used for Ukrainian Christmas Eve, creamed mushroom sauce.

Wild Mushroom sauce is a favorite of my Aunt's and always served on Christmas Eve.  The sauce varies depending on the mushrooms used or available.  Like this recipe, my Aunt likes to mix wild mushroom with button mushroom. The mushroom of choose is Pedipanky or honey mushroom which are picked in her area and dried in the fall. 

My aunt starts the recipe by browning flour, then adding oil or butter to make a roux. The liquid used would be milk.  My grandmother's dishes were dairy-less and meatless for this meal, so she would have used crisco oil and water.  My grandmother always used Pedipanky  as button mushrooms were not readily available.  Onions are sautéed until soft or caramelized.   

In the show, the chef used a variety of dried and fresh mushroom for the dish.  He also added some dried wild mushroom powder that he had made by throwing some dried mushroom into a coffee grinder.  My cousin made some for me, which I use to enhance the mushroom flavour in a sauce.  The sauce in this recipe is flavoured with Madiera, spices like thyme and cayenne pepper and enriched with cream or evaporated milk.

The Mushroom sauce was added to a greased pan or to small greased gratin dishes for individual or appetizer servings.    The chef add a biscuit topping before baking the dish at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.


I have included the recipe found on a blogger's site as was unable to find this recipe on the Triple D site

Wild Mushroom Cobbler  

• 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms, or any dried mushroom of choice

• 1/2 red onion

• 2-3 medium shallots

• 2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

• 2 1/2 tablespoons butter

• salt and pepper to taste

• 1/4 pound fresh crimini mushrooms

• 1/4 pound fresh oyster mushrooms

• 1/4 pound white mushrooms

• 2 cloves garlic, chopped

• pinch of dried thyme

• pinch of cayenne pepper

• 1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce

• 1/2 cup San Antonio madeira or red wine

• 1 package Sprouts mushroom sauce (optional)

• 2 tablespoons flour

• 1/2 cup cream or evaporated milk

Biscuit topping

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 4 tablespoons chilled butter

• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

• 1 1/3 cups buttermilk

Instructions

Pour 1 1/2 cups boiling water over the porcini mushrooms to cover them. 
Let soak for at least 30 minutes.

Slice the red onions and shallots thinly. 
In a large, non-stick skillet, heat a tablespoon of olive oil and a tablespoon of butter. 
Add the onions and shallots and cook over low to medium heat for about a half an 
hour to an hour, until the onions are carmelized.

Clean, trim, and slice the fresh mushrooms into smallish bite size pieces. 
Mushrooms shrink when cooked! 
When the dried porcinis are soft chop them into pieces that are small bite size. 
Reserve the soaking liquid, add water to equal 1 cup.

In another non-stick skillet(or wait til onion/shallot mixture has carmelized, 
remove them/set aside and use the same skillet), heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil 
and 1 tablespoon butter. Add the chopped garlic, stir for 30 seconds til fragrant 
then add the fresh mushrooms. 

Saute the mushrooms, stirring often, until they start to release their liquid. 
Add the chopped porcinis, a pinch of thyme, a pinch of cayenne, 
and keep cooking over medium heat until the excess liquid has cooked away 
and the mushrooms have changed color. 
Sprinkle the flour over mushrooms and stir for 1-2 minutes (the mixture will thicken)

Add the madeira and the soaking liquid from the dried mushrooms. 
Combine the mushrooms with the carmelized onions 
and simmer them all together for a few minutes until thickened, 
Add cream, stir, taste and adjust salt and pepper to taste

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Pour the mushroom mixture, spreading evenly, 
into a large gratin dish coated with cooking spray.

Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl or use a food processor. 
Add the chilled butter, cut into chunks and cut in with pastry blender or do several pulses 
in food processor until the mixture has the texture of coarse meal. 
Add the parmesan cheese and process a few seconds.

Stir in the buttermilk, just until the dough forms. 
The dough will be thick and sticky. Do not over mix it.

Spoon the biscuit dough onto the mushrooms, distributing it more or less evenly over the top. 
Add salt pepper and more parmesan if desired. 
Bake the cobbler in a preheated 400 degree oven for about 25 minutes 
or until the biscuit topping is golden brown. 
(Warning: will boil over and make your house smoky if baking dish is too small)

Can be baked in individual ramekins for appetizers or gratin dish as side dish.