Three classic recipes given the mushroom makeover


Mushrooms make a great alternative to meat, providing an extra depth of flavour and texture to a vegetarian meal. France is famous for its champignons and the wooded landscape of the Limousin is a fertile hunting ground for the locals who go crazy for cepes and girolles in the autumn. Out of season, tinned mushrooms are a great standby and an essential part of the camper van larder. I can rustle up a mushroom omelette, add eggs and parmesan to make a mushroom carbonara or make a simple mushroom risotto.

Recently, I discovered some great quality champignons forestiere in Super U – slightly more expensive than the usual bog-standard champignons Paris, but they add a lovely dark, rich colour and flavour to any meal. I decided to experiment with vegetarian versions of three classic dishes: stroganoff, goulash and daube.

Stroganoff is Russian, originally made with beef cubes, mustard, bouillion and sour cream. Variations developed all over eastern Europe with the additions of onions, tomato paste, mushrooms and paprika. I based my version on a BBC Food recipe, with a few tweaks to make it camper van friendly, and served it with some spietzle bought on a whim in Aldi, Saarburg that had been sitting in the cupboard waiting for inspiration.

After the success of the stroganoff I decided to adapt the recipe to make goulash. Originally a Hungarian herdsman’s stew or soup – gulyàs, the meat and vegetable-based dish was seasoned with paprika. I considered a simple bean-based goulash recipe but decided that the five ingredients: olive oil, onion, tbsp. paprika, tinned tomatoes and tinned red beans, was perhaps a bit too plain. Instead, I developed a variation of the stroganoff recipe, but added a tin of tomatoes, a tin of carrots and tripled the quantity of paprika. Formidable.

Beef en daube is a traditional recipe of Provence; cheaper cuts of meat are marinated in red wine and herbs and cooked long and slow in a cast iron daubiére. In the carnivorous past I often made a version with olives, simmered all day in the slow cooker. Again, the basic mushroom recipe was easily adapted with the addition of some thyme from the garden and a handful of olives.

The basic formula of these three mushroom classics is the same, just a little tweaking is necessary with the herbs, spices, wine and extra vegetables. All three meet the camper van criteria: 90% store cupboard ingredients, one pan, maximum thirty minutes cooking time. They can be served with boiled rice, couscous, pasta, quinoa, bread or potatoes.
Hmm...I think this is the Daube
 
 
Mushrooms three ways: Stroganoff, Goulash & Daube
The recipes
 

Core ingredients

Stroganoff

Goulash

Daube

Olive oil

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Red onion

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Tin of mushrooms

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Couple of garlic cloves

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Salt and pepper

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100 ml stock (cube)

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2 tbsp tomato puree

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2 tbsp crème fraiche

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Variations

 

 

 

50 ml wine

white

red

red

Paprika

1 tsp

1 tbsp

 

Chilli flakes

pinch

pinch

pinch

Mustard

½ tsp

 

 

Chopped herbs

parsley/coriander

parsley/coriander

thyme

Olives

 

 

handful

Tin of carrots

 

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Tin of tomatoes

 

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The method is the same for all three versions:
1.       Heat olive oil and cook onions until soft.
2.       Add garlic and spices, mix well and cook for a few minutes.
3.       Add mushrooms and wine and cook for about ten minutes.
GOULASH & DAUBE: add tinned tomatoes
4.       Add tomato puree, stock cube mixed in 100 ml hot water and crème fraiche.
5.       DAUBE: add olives
GOULASH: add carrots
6.       Bring to boil and simmer for ten minutes or less, until sauce reduced to desired consistency.
 
 

 

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