GrrlScientist’s wild rice & mushrooms dressing with fresh sage

6 January 2013 by GrrlScientist, posted in Food/cooking & baking

SUMMARY: this is my first experiment with redesigning a meat dish into a vegetarian dish.

This dish was part of the holiday feast that I prepared a couple weeks ago, and I enjoyed it so much that I have decided I want to convert it into a vegetarian dish. This is my first experiument with doing just that. The recipe I used is below the jump. I welcome your suggestions and experimental results in the comment thread.

wild rice & mushrooms dressing with fresh sage

250 mL (1 cup) wild rice
75 mL (1/3 cup) butter (I used mostly olive oil and added 30 mL butter)
1L (4 cups) white bread, cubed and dried or toasted
250 mL (1 cup) Shiitake mushroom caps, washed and dried, then sliced into strips
250 mL (1 cup) oyster mushrooms, washed and dried, then sliced into strips
250 mL (1 cup) chanterelle mushrooms, washed and dried, then sliced into strips (note: instead of fresh wild mushrooms, this time I used a mix of 150 grams dried mushrooms -- shiitake, chanterelle, oyster -- that had been soaked in water for 24 hours)
4 fresh shallots, sliced into rings
1 each; fresh red, orange and yellow Bell peppers, cubed
30 mL (2T) fresh sage, cut with herbs scissors
5 mL (1t) salt
5 mL (1t) freshly ground black pepper corns
350 mL (1 1/2 cup) mushroom water with powdered vegetable stock added
2 eggs, beaten

preparation:

  • in large pot, bring water to a boil and cook rice (covered) until tender and split, about 40 minutes. Drain and place into a large bowl and add dried bread cubes.
  • meanwhile, place the olive oil and/or butter into a wok or skillet, over medium-high heat. Saute shallots and mushroom strips until their texture changes and they start to brown at the edges, about 7 minutes. Be careful: shallots burn easily!
  • add Bell pepper cubes, mushroom saute, herbs and spices to rice and bread mixture and mix well.
  • stir in mushroom/vegetable stock and beaten eggs and mix, then spread in a 3L (9x13") baking pan that is lightly coated with butter and cover with foil. [Optional: can refrigerate for up to eight hours before baking. in this case, add 10 minutes baking time.]
  • bake 190oC (375oF) 45 minutes. If you wish to have a crunchy top, remove foil for the last ten minutes of baking.
  • serve hot.

    • NOTES:

  • I plan to increase the fresh sage and also will add an equal amount of fresh parsley, thyme, oregano and (probably) basil the next time I prepare this.
  • I am still planning to use celery in this dish, but when I do so, I will probably decrease the total number of Bell peppers to two instead of three.
  • as a garlic-lover, I am also planning to prepare this with 6 or so cloves of fresh garlic.

    • One Response to “GrrlScientist’s wild rice & mushrooms dressing with fresh sage”

    1. Sal Vanilla Reply | Permalink

      That looks and reads yummy. I like the additions you noted at the end of your article. If calories are not a huge concern you could make crouton instead of dry cubes or simply rub roasted garlic into the dried bread and then cube.

      For a little twist you could add grated orange and/or lemon peel (zest). It seems to enliven flavors. You could also add dried fruit like cranberry, raisins or chopped apricots (or combo) as well as nuts (like pecans).

      Point being is that you have a lovely base as is, but depending on your other things being served or simply your whim you have some room for experimentation.

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