Potato and wild mushroom gratin

Yield: 6 Servings

Measure Ingredient
1 cup Dried cepes; (porcini mushrooms)
1 quart Boiling water
4 larges Garlic cloves; minced or put through a press, plus 1 garlic clove cut in half lengthwise
1 pounds Fresh wild mushrooms; if available, cleaned of grit and sliced about -inch thick if large
\N \N Salt to taste
5 teaspoons Olive oil
2 teaspoons Fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried
2 tablespoons Red wine; such as a Cotes du Rhone
\N \N Freshly ground pepper; to taste
3 pounds Waxy potatoes; scrubbed and sliced -inch thick
1 ounce Gruyere or Parmesan cheese; grated, ( cup)

A week or so ago we had a thread on potato gratin dishes. My local paper, the Charleston, SC Post and Courier had an article today on the local Heart Ball, which is supposed to be a fund-raiser for the Heart Association. They had this recipe on Potato and Wild Mushroom Gratin which looks great and is supposed to be healthy, too!

You can view the whole article for more recipes at

Here are a few of the recipes for dishes that will be served at the Heart Ball. If you can't find fresh wild mushrooms for this recipe, omit them and use the dried cepes (porcini mushrooms) only.

Place the dried mushrooms in a bowl and pour on the boiling water. Let sit for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the mushrooms are softened. Drain through a cheesecloth-lined strainer over a bowl and squeeze the mushrooms over the strainer. Rinse thoroughly to remove the grit, squeeze dry and chop coarsely. reserve the soaking liquid.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Rub the inside of a 3-quart gratin dish with the cut clove of garlic.

Combine the fresh wild mushrooms and salt in a large, heavy-bottomed, nonstick skillet and heat over medium-high heat until they begin to release water, about 1 minute. Cook, shaking the pan or stirring with a wooden spoon, for 5 minutes, until most of the liquid has evaporated. (If fresh wild mushrooms are unavailable, omit this step altogether.) Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil (or heat the olive oil in a nonstick skillet if you don't have fresh wild mushrooms), the chopped dried mushrooms, the remaining garlic and the thyme, and continue to cook, stirring, for another 2-3 minutes, until the garlic is fragrant and beginning to color. Add the red wine and pepper and cook for a minute, stirring, until the wine has been absorbed. Remove from the heat and toss with the sliced potatoes. Add more pepper if desired.

Arrange the potatoes and mushrooms in an even layer in the prepared dish.

Measure out 3 cups of the mushroom-soaking liquid and season with 1 teaspoon salt (or more or less, to taste). Pour it over the potatoes. Bake for about 1-2 hours, until the potatoes are tender and the top is crusty.

Every 20 minutes, stir the potatoes from the bottom up to the top. When the top is beginning to color, after about an hour and 15 minutes, sprinkle the cheese and remaining olive oil over the top. Continue to bake until the top is browned, 15 to 30 minutes.

Advance preparation: The gratin can be assembled several hours before baking. The mushrooms can be prepared a day or two ahead of time and held in the refrigerator.

Nutrition information per serving: 274 calories, 6 grams fat, 406 milligrams sodium, 8 grams protein, 49 grams carbohydrate, 5 milligrams cholesterol.

From "Provencal Light," by Martha Rose Shulman (Bantam, 1994).

Posted to EAT-L Digest by Roger Young <ryoung@...> on Feb 18, 1998

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