Grilled Porcini Italian Style Recipes

GRILLED PORCINI MUSHROOMS WITH MINT AND GARLIC

Steps:

• Light a medium fire in a charcoal grill.
• In a small bowl, stir together the herbs, garlic, and 1/3 cup olive oil.
• Clean the mushrooms with a damp cloth. If desired, cut the mushrooms into 1/2-inch-thick slices and lightly brush them with oil. Grill until lightly browned, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a serving platter and brush with the herb-oil mixture. Serve at once.

GRILLED PORCINI CHICKEN

Steps:

• Grind porcini to a powder in an electric coffee/spice grinder or blender. Cook garlic in oil in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomato paste and porcini powder and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Tilting skillet, press paste with back of a spoon to separate from oil, then pour off oil from skillet into a small cup and reserve. Transfer paste to a plate and cool slightly, about 5 minutes.
• Prepare a gas grill for indirect-heat cooking over moderate heat.
• Pat chicken dry and remove excess fat. Working from backbone side of a half chicken, loosen skin over breast and drumstick to form a large pocket, then smear half of paste over meat. Repeat with remaining chicken half and paste. Rub reserved oil all over chicken and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Grill chicken, skin side up, over turned-off burner, covered, without turning, 20 minutes. Turn chicken over and grill, covered, until skin is crisp and meat is cooked through, 5 to 10 minutes more.

GRILLED PORCINI WITH POACHED EGG & PARMIGIANO

Steps:

• Preheat the grill.
• In a large bowl, toss the mushrooms with olive oil until lightly coated, then give them a sprinkle of salt and red pepper. Put the mushrooms flat side down on the grill and cook until they start to soften, 4 to 5 minutes. Rotate the mushrooms 90 degrees and grill for another 3 to 4 minutes, then turn them over and grill for 2 to 3 minutes more. The mushrooms should be beautifully marked, soft, and pliable. Remove from the grill and reserve in a warm spot.
• Grill each slice of bread until lightly charred on both sides, 3 to 4 minutes total. Rub each slice with the garlic clove and drizzle with the big fat finishing oil.
• While grilling the mushrooms and bread, fill a medium saucepan two-thirds of the way with water; add the vinegar and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat until no bubbles break the surface of the water; the idea is to create an egg Jacuzzi, a very gentle cooking method.
• Gently crack the eggs into the poaching liquid and cook for 4 minutes. When they're done, the whites will be cooked through and the yolks will be warm and runny. While the eggs are cooking, toss the arugula in a large bowl with the lemon juice, a drizzle of big fat finishing oil, and a pinch of salt. TASTE IT and reseason if needed; the salad should be very flavorful but not soggy. Arrange the dressed arugula on serving plates and top with the porcini.
• Remove the eggs from the poaching liquid with a slotted spoon and make a pit stop on a paper or tea towel to remove any excess water (you don't want to sog up your salad).
• Lay a poached egg on top of the porcini and arugula, give each a sprinkey-dink of Parm, a pinch of red pepper, a bit of lemon zest, and a drizzle of big fat finishing oil. Serve with the grilled bread.
• Poaching is a way to cook eggs in water outside of the shell. The key here is acidulated water-a very big term for water that has acid added to it. Usually I use white vinegar, but lemon juice will work too. You just don't want to use something colored like balsamic vinegar or it will tint your eggs (however, in a pinch, this will work too). You want to add enough acid so that as soon as the whites hit the water, they begin to coagulate into a nice tight package-but you don't want them to smell (or taste!) like you're dying Easter eggs.
• Poaching is a very GENTLE cooking method, unlike boiling, which is a very VIOLENT cooking method. If you try to poach eggs in boiling water, you will end up with egg drop soup. As an insurance policy, and to make sure the water is the proper temperature, take a pot of water and bring it to a boil (BTB). Turn the heat down until all the bubbles go away. Then, to drop your eggs into the poaching liquid, get very close to the surface of the water-this way you won't break your yolks!
• Hey, did you know you can even poach eggs ahead of time? It's easy: Follow the directions above and once the eggs are cooked, hold them in a bowl of cool water until ready to serve. Then simply rewarm them in a pot of barely simmering water.

GRILLED PORCINI, ITALIAN STYLE

Steps:

• Preheat charcoal or gas-fired grill to high.
• Remove stems from mushrooms. Stems may be chopped and used for another purpose. Wipe caps with damp cloth.
• Blend olive oil, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper in small bowl. Blend. Brush mushroom caps with mixture.
• Place mushrooms, stem side up, on grill and cook 2 minutes. Turn and brush with remaining oil mixture. Cook 2 minutes longer.