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.