Long ago and far away (Christmas 2006, Rotterdam) we invited some friends to come and stay for Christmas. Then they happened to mention that they had all become vegetarian... Eeeek! Thanks Alex! So I had to learn how to cook vegetarian food worthy of Christmas dinner. And because I was in Holland, that necessitated cooking in Dutch.
My bible for this period of my life became 'Vegetarisch Fijnproeven' by Fon Zwart - Recipes from Nederland's top restaurants. All my vegetarian cooking tends to involve cream or alcohol, and is general pretty rich and extremely full of flavour. There are also occasional cooking terms that I prefer in Dutch to English - don't you think 'pruttelen' is so much more fun than 'simmer'?
A favourite dish (which I haven't cooked in it's entirety for ages, but I do steal the sauce for other dishes) is Oyster Mushrooms on a bed of Leek with Marsala Sauce. Serve this as a starter, it is fantastic.
4 large, or up to 12 smaller Oyster Mushrooms
1 untrimmed leek - the recipe only uses the green bits, so a trimmed one won't work
50ml Marsala (this is a fortified wine, a little like port)
125ml strong vegetable stock
1 desertspoon creme fraiche
100-200g butter, cut into 1cm dice and keep chilled (do not use any sort of substitute)
8 green peppercorns (optional)
Trim the mushrooms to remove any ugly bits of stalk and wipe clean. Cut the light and dark bits of the leek into matchstick thin strips about 5cm long. Melt a little butter in a frying pan and add the leeks, allowing to soften very slowly without browning - this will take about 10-20 minutes. Add a little salt and pepper then spoon onto a warm plate and keep warm.
Bring the vegetable stock to a gentle simmer, warming the mushrooms in a seive above the steam for a minute. Melt a little more butter in the frying pan and cook the mushrooms quicky until they are soft. Keep them warm with the leeks.
Add the marsala to the cooking pan. Add half of the vegetable stock, the creme fraiche and the peppercorns. Bring to a gentle boil and reduce by half. Now comes the clever bit....
Add a cube of chilled butter at a time to the sauce and whisk until melted, keeping the sauce close to simmering. After a few cubes the sauce will start to thicken - you should be able to achieve a creamy texture that coats a spoon. If it gets too thick add a little more vegetable stock. Taste and season with salt and pepper if needed.
Serve on individual warm plates. Arrange the leek in a pile in the centre and the oyster mushrooms around the leek. Gentle spoon the sauce into the empty spaces.
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