Mushrooms were never on our family table when I grew up. My mother didn’t understand them and fretted that we might ingest poison fungi and “drop like a dying elephant.” How, she reasoned, would we know what was safe—and could merchants be trusted to know what they were selling?

It wasn’t until I grew up and moved away that I sampled my first supermarket white button mushrooms. It was instant love and I put them in everything: soups, stews, on meats, and in sandwiches and salads. Friends thought that my cooking was exotic and “gourmet” and came back for second helpings. Portabellas and baby browns soon followed.

And then, decades later, came Charmoon. Life in my kitchen will never be the same. Charmoon Richardson joined our Beyond Wonderful team of culinary experts last fall writing about golden chanterelles and black trumpets. A mushroom master, Charmoon has spent the last 30 years collecting and studying wild mushrooms in northern California and writing about his foraging and cooking adventures. I was instantly inspired and set-out in search of these treasures, becoming an urban forager. I found that many upscale supermarkets and specialty grocery stores sold the golden chanterelles and black trumpets for premium prices, but they often appeared tired and were broken in to glandular looking pieces. A bit of research located the West Fungi store in San Francisco. This small, family-run shop has a knowledgeable staff that always helps me select the freshest mushrooms at prices equal to or lower than supermarkets.

Morel mushrooms star in Charmoon’s column this month. They are a bit of heaven on earth and their amazing depth of flavor must be experienced first-hand. In addition to wonderful stories and information, Charmoon teaches you how to clean and cook morels, and then presents three easy recipes that are packed with flavor.

This week in the kitchen, I prepared his recipes for our photo shoot. I brushed away all of the grit and grime and started cooking. My personal favorite was the Morel Mushrooms Stuffed with Crab and Gruyere. This sounds complicated but it came together quickly. I bought cooked Dungeness crab meat from my fish monger, tossed it in a bowl and mixed in the gruyere cheese, bread crumbs and a sprinkling of salt. My one recommendation here is that you buy medium to large morels, as the small ones will be impossible to fill. Once stuffed the morels are dipped in pungent garlic butter, then grilled over wood smoke until crisp. All of mine burst open exposing their succulent crab filling—but this only heightened their appeal.

Photographer Windsor Andersen styled all of the dishes, then speared one of the crab-stuffed mushrooms with a fork for the last shot. As soon as she finished, the crispy morsel disappeared in to her mouth and she uttered “Sooo good! I’ve never tasted anything like this.” The rest of the team circled like hungry dogs and instantly consumed everything in sight.
 
Having conquered the urban landscape, I’m feeling ready to strap on my hiking boots and join Charmoon for one of his organized foraging trips in to the wilds. Knowledge and experience is power, so I’m confident there won’t be any “dropping elephants” any time soon. Stay tuned for details!   

Get a printable Morel Mushrooms Stuffed with Crab and Gruyere Cheese recipe.

Read more about Charmoon Richardson.

Contact Charmoon Richardson for guided mushroom hunts, classes on mushroom identification, cooking and cultivation. Learn more at his Wild About Mushrooms company website, or call 707-829-2063.

Some adventurous souls are born chefs; a few are also gifted with the ability to teach and inspire others in the kitchen. Earlier this week James Peterson, the award-winning cookbook author, chef and master teacher of culinary arts came to town. He was here promoting Cooking, his 12th book. I caught up with him at the Book Passage Cooks with Books dinner at the popular Left Bank restaurant.

Peterson arrived early and mingled with the gathering guests. Windsor Andersen and I were sipping our wine when he noticed that I’d brought Sauces, one of his earlier works, for signing. As we chatted he did the honors. A number of his family members and good friends arrived and greeted him warmly. We learned that he grew up nearby before settling in New York.

Guests lined up to get their copies of Cooking signed, then enjoyed a dinner prepared from recipes in the book. All of these events have their own personalities, and this one felt almost like a big family gathering with Peterson moving about the room talking with guests, answering questions and relating stories from his travels and work.

When the appetizers arrived, Peterson told me that the cool, fresh oysters on the half shell with warm saffron hollandaise sauce are one of his personal favorites. I agreed they were sensational—and that says a lot coming from someone who has avoided these little critters for most of my life. I had my first oyster only last year at the Drakes Bay Oyster Company, and consider myself a bit of a novice in their preparation. But after tasting Peterson’s wonderful dish and reviewing the recipe and excellent step-by-step illustrations in his book, I’m inspired to try making a batch at home.   

I knew that Peterson began as a self-taught cook, then built his skills at the Cordon Bleu in Paris and in the kitchens of French restaurants. I was curious when and how he began cooking. He laughed and said he was ten years old and convinced a favorite aunt to help him make crepes suzette. Ambitious from the start, he figured it would be easy. How hard could it be to fry the thin pancakes and make a sauce that required one to rub oranges with sugar cubes to extract the essence of the zest? They had a few problems on that first effort, but Peterson was hooked. Today, crepes suzette is included in Cooking for all to make with confidence and success.

The meal continued to celebrate the season with a wonderful artichoke and toasted walnut salad and a beautifully flavored spring lamb stew. Dessert was three decadent cream puffs with a dark chocolate sauce. Windsor told Peterson that this was the best dessert she’d ever had at Cooks with Books, and he let her know that the sauce was a last-minute addition. He just thought it was a better treat than powdered sugar. Wiping a bit of sauce from her chin, Windsor had to agree.

Get a printable copy of James Peterson’s Spring Lamb Stew.

Cruising the I-5 on a warm spring day while dancing in my seat to the cool sounds of the Buena Vista Social Club… could life get any sweeter? My recent road trip down the California coast to Los Angeles and back home via the Central Valley was a welcome break and a chance to visit the farms and vineyards that provide so much of our food and wine. And let’s face it, road trips are a great excuse for serious eating at funky diners and tempting roadside farm stands.

The great Castroville artichoke fields loomed on the horizon where the Salinas Valley intersects with the Monterey Peninsula. This is Steinbeck country, where the author set many of his classic novels. Its cool, fog-kissed landscape makes this the artichoke capitol of the world. I spotted the Pezzini farm and roadside store and pulled in. Surrounded by fields of tall, lush plants with thousands of globes pointing skyward, I explored a bit and worked up an appetite for their famous fried artichokes.

Inside, a delightful lady prepared my order and told me that freshly harvested artichokes have a sweeter, more intense flavor than the older ones sold in supermarket, which can become slightly bitter. I learned that the popular baby artichokes are fully mature and grow at the bottom of the plants. Unlike the large globes, they don’t have inedible fuzzy centers.

As she worked, I asked how they made their dipping sauce. “It’s homemade ranch dressing created for the ‘universal’ palate,” she explained. “Personally, I like it spicier with grated parmesan cheese. That’s the best.”

I took my piping hot morsels to the field, sat down and dug in. The coating was a bit “bready,” but smooth. She was right about the fresh artichokes—they had a clear, intense flavor that was pure pleasure. The dipping sauce was OK but nothing memorable. I contemplated how I might improve on the dish. The batter should be light and crisp, with a full-flavored sauce that makes the artichokes shine. I finished up and bought a large bag of baby artichokes and some large globes.

Back home in my kitchen, I created a simple beer batter spiced with onion, garlic and chili powders and a little salt and pepper. Panko (Japanese bread crumbs) supplied the perfect crunch while keeping the batter light.

Homemade ranch dressing is more subtle than its bottled and packaged brothers, but it creates a cool first taste that prepares the palate for the initial crunch and final burst of delicious artichoke flavor. I tested the recipes on family and friends over the weekend. Amid stories from the road trip, they gobbled plates of fried artichokes and deemed them beyond wonderful.

Of all the food eaten on the road trip, this was the most memorable—forever tied to Castroville and the amazing artichoke fields that feed people around the world.

Get a printable Fried Artichokes with Home Made Ranch Dressing recipe

The Italians know how to take simple, quality ingredients and make them into memorable culinary delights. Take affogato—a sophisticated, classic dessert created by pouring steaming hot espresso over creamy vanilla ice cream. It’s quick and the perfect ending to a meal. I prepare the affogato at the table for each guest using a variety of pretty glasses; the process makes for great conversation. I’ve found that serving affogato seems to encourage guests to relax and linger long after the dishes are cleared.

And of course, you don’t need company as an excuse to indulge. Recently, I took a few hours off and curled up by the fire with a good book and a glass of affogato. Heaven!

The recipe is simple: Pour ¼ to ½ cup of espresso or strong black coffee over two scoops of ice cream. I usually break with tradition and assemble the affogato in reverse, pouring the espresso into the glass first, then adding the ice cream. That way I get to enjoy a few big, cold lumps of ice cream before the whole thing melts into creamy decadence. Remember, use best-quality ingredients. Absolutely no tinned supermarket coffee or imitation or non-fat ice creams.

Happy eating!

Get a printable Affogato recipe.

Last Sunday, photographer Windsor Andersen and I headed to the Boulevard restaurant in San Francisco to cover the Cooks with Books luncheon for culinary icon, Alice Waters. It was an amazing afternoon that celebrated Waters’ philosophy of cooking and eating local, seasonal, and sustainable food with a menu selected from her latest cookbook, The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution.
 
We arrived early and set about photographing the beautiful, belle époque-inspired restaurant for our Cooks with Books feature article, Rediscovering the Table in a Big, Blog World. As we moved about, owner-chef, Nancy Oakes gathered her wait staff together and spoke about the food being served, its origins and Waters’ philosophies. The produce, she explained, was from the farmer’s market, while the duck for the main course came from a farm in Petaluma.
 
Alice arrived and went over the final details of the menu with the kitchen before settling in to greet her fans and sign several hundred books. The restaurant filled with anticipation and excitement as the guests checked in and received their books. Many came with friends; some had driven long distances while others were celebrating special occasions. When it came time to meet Alice, many beamed and chatted while she signed. Some brought cameras for a reminder of “their moment.” One lady cleared the line, flipped out her cell phone, dialed and screamed, “Aaaaa, Oh my God! I met her! She’s wonderful! I can’t believe I met her!” She clutched her book and headed to the dining room.
 
Windsor and I were thrilled to be seated at Alice’s table. It was a chance to chat informally and enjoy the beauty of simple, exquisitely prepared and presented food that is her passion. We all talked animatedly about Alice’s Edible Schoolyard program and shared our personal stories about teaching children the importance of knowing where their food comes from and how to cook and share it with love. Despite the fact that Alice Waters is one of the great American culinary figures of her time, she is warm and open, eager to spread the word to new friends. It’s a joy to witness her message rippling through a world raised on fast foods and the idea that it’s quick and easy or nothing.
 
 
Luncheon Menu
 
Recipes from
The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Revolution by Alice Waters.
 
Marinated Beet Salad
Carrot Salad
Warm Olives
Herb Roasted Almonds
Stuffed Eggs
 
Sauteed Scallops with Salsa Verde
Celery Root Remoulade
 
Braised Duck Legs with Leeks &
Green Olives
 
Soft Polenta, Broccoli Rabe with Garlic & Hot Pepper
 
Tangerine Ice
Ginger Snap Ice Cream Sandwich
 
Read Rediscovering the Table in a Big, Blog World and learn more about the Cooks with Books program.