10702 Porcini

Saw them in the market yesterday and couldn't resist. Usually rely on neighbours to find them for me but he's unwell and she reckons it isn't worth foraging in the woods yet as there's been so little rain. Still, unlike last year, when most were "imported" from other regions, our local market had plenty of Tuscan funghi, including a variety from the Garfagnana that was a sort of yellowy/ochre colour. I didn't note the name, anyone know what it is?

Category
Food & Drink

was it a cep mushroom, as shown in the middle of this image?

[url]http://www.dkimages.com/discover/previews/824/539906.JPG[/url]

No I recognise those, it was far yellowier, quite bright, that's what caught my attention. Saw some more regular funghi today priced at Euros 35/kg. Thought initially that was a bit pricey but I guess you don't need that many, do you?
Incidentally, is that Paolo Maldini in your photograph? If so, is his knee better yet?

ahhh back to the mushroom books then and yes it is, hes my hero :D and yes he played the last few games for us although his knee will probably give him some pain sooner rather than later

maybe it was Chicken of the woods?

[url]http://www.wildmushroomsonline.co.uk/images/chicken1.jpg[/url]

or maybe Chantarelle?

[url]http://www.mcuniverse.com/uploads/pics/798px-Chanterelle_Cantharellus_cibarius.jpg[/url]

If i may ask.
We dinned out in lasize a few weeks back,The wife had tagliatelle in a porchini sauce.Which seemed to consist of a agliio e olio base, it was quite delightful, indeed that was the highpoint of what i can describe as an expensive yet bad meal .
Anyway now back a t home,but with that dish still fresh in both our minds we have tried to duplicate it,and i have the bad stomach to prove it.
Unable to get fresh porchini mushrooms we bought some dried ones and followed the instruction as to re hydrate them,all i can say is I ruined it big time.
So i have a question or two, that dish we ate in lasize the oil was clear,not stained with black like our was, the mushroom too were not dull/black again as ours was,as we followed the only recipe we could find that looked similar.
Is this a dish that should be made with fresh mushrooms? and also anyone have any idea's as to a proper recipe to make it?

cheers Gio

Re yellow mushrooms, tomorrow morning, Chiusi market, hopefully they'll have some and I'll take a picture and post for it's none of the above, tho' many thanks. (Hope Paolo's knee is better soon...)
Re porcini, I don't pretend to be an expert but I love to eat and I like to cook. In my experience, a dish such as tagliatelle with porcini is always top quality olive oil based, smidgen of aglio and has a pale golden colour, soft texture and gloriously rich, complex woody flavour. Some people don't but I do like a good grating of parmagiano on the top. Quality's the key though, you really must have exceptionally good fruity olive oil. It's a dish to die for when well made.
Re the dried variety, I seldom use them but when I have (in an emergency), I'm afraid I've soaked them in red wine and only then used them in a sauce where there are other ingredients with quite strong flavours, such as game. I've found that dried porcni vary in quality, some can be quite good, others nasty.

The local dried porcini are generally pretty good but I'd agree on preferably using them in casseroles and the like. I have used them in risottos as a storecupboard standby meal, and that seems to bring out the flavour pretty well.

Sue, you're right in that the local dried variety are generally good. My English girlfriends usually stock up with plenty when they're here saying they're far nicer than those generally found in the UK, and far cheaper too, of course!