Gordon's Guide To Mushrooms | Gordon Ramsay

Mushrooms are one of my all-time favorite ingredients. I use chestnut mushrooms with the beef short ribs because I love their firm texture and nutty taste. But there's a huge range of other mushrooms that are great for slow-cooked dishes. And when it comes to buying them, there's one expert greengrocer who's a fountain of knowledge, Borough Market's Fred Foster. Started off on a dead stall in Pimlico, really. He had a salad stall. With over 20 years of experience, he could actually write his own mushroom encyclopaedia. Mushrooms, as soon as you pick them, the moisture starts coming out of them. So you need to buy them when they're fresh. Certain products you smell for flavour, and they tend to be fruits. Mushrooms don't smell nice at all. They smell kind of metallic, really. So you have to use your eyes as your guide of what you buy with mushrooms. It's really, really important. Wild mushrooms are literally grown wild in the forests. They're just quality wherever they are. This is morel mushroom. A fantastic product. So hard to find in the wild. It's almost got an apricot-y type of flavour. Earthy, woody. And, of course, as you cook it, the flavour increases. For extra flavour and texture, highly-prized morels are ideal when added to slow-cooked stews and casseroles, as are the trompe de l'amour, which have a deliciously rich flavour. Another wild type to try is the chanterelle. Its subtle, fruity flavour is delicious and perfect fried with butter, parsley and garlic. When you're dealing with wild mushrooms, you need to clean them. It can be quite a slow process. It's with a soft brush. Don't use water. Never use water with mushrooms. It deteriorates the mushroom rapidly. Oyster mushroom's a very meaty mushroom. Just a lovely, silky-smooth flavour. Really nice. How do you tell whether it's fresh? Those gills are bright. Never cut an oyster mushroom, always tear it. Look at the whiteness of that. Beautiful. That would be grey if it was old. Although also found wild, oyster mushrooms are more commonly cultivated along with a similar type, the enoki. Their delicate taste is great in salads and soups. Finally, Fred saved the best until last. Of course, the pinnacle is the truffle. They are really, really sought after. The smell is so intense. That smell... It's hard to describe because it's such a unique smell. The more expensive the truffle, the more intense the smell. So that's why you use such a small amount on a dish. It's amazing the way they get these. They used to use pigs, of course. They don't do that anymore. They use dogs still because the pigs used to eat them all. This magical-tasting fungi is by weight one of the most expensive foods in the world. It's phenomenal eaten raw, shaved over pasta or risottos, or a drizzle of truffle oil turned slow-cooked stews into something out of this world. People are actually scared of mushrooms, aren't they? It's amazing, really. They shouldn't be because take away the fear and just close your eyes and taste them. They're just amazing. They are amazing. Slow cooking is a brilliant way of getting lots of extra depth and intensity into your dishes. The secret is to lock in all those flavours at the start and let the ingredients do their thing as it cooks. These are beef short ribs, and there's basically five to six bones across there. And as the short rib cooks, it sticks to that bone. The bone implants flavour, and the meat just sort of melts. Cook slowly, gives you that nice level of intensity. Slice alongside the bone, straight down. You can see that marbling. That sort of disappears and disintegrates. I'm cooking them in a roasting tray. Get it on the heat until nice and hot. Season beef short ribs beautifully. Olive oil in, bone on the top. I'm going to start colouring that in. Really important to give the beef short ribs a really nice sear. If you didn't brown the meat off, it goes in the oven and it looks like boiled meat, so you really want that nice, dark, rich colouring. Just cut the garlic in half, slide that down the side. That's going to give that beef an amazing flavour. To give body to the sauce, stir in a heaped teaspoon of tomato puree. I'm just hitting the bottom of the pan with that tomato puree. We call it cooking out the tomato puree. Otherwise it just goes in there raw and it gives this sort of tartness to the braised short ribs. Red wine in. Don't use an expensive bottle of red wine. There's no need. Bring the wine up to the boil and reduce it. This burns off the alcohol and concentrates the flavour. It makes a big difference when you reduce the red wine down by half because it gives that nice, dark, rich intensity. Look at my garlic. That is just going to sweeten everything up. Incredible. Stock in. Beef stock, perfect. Chicken stock, fine. Just to about an inch underneath the beef short ribs. Bring it up to the boil. To lock in all that flavour as the beef ribs slow cook, cover them so they braise from the bottom and steam from the top. Into the oven, two and a half hours. 170 to 180 degrees. In she goes. The great thing about slow cooking is you do most of the work in advance and then put your feet up. Five or ten minutes before the beef short ribs come out of the oven, start your garnish. This is light, cured pancetta. I want nice, thick lardons. Nice, big, thick sticks of crispy bacon. These are delicious chestnut mushrooms. I'm not going to slice them. I'm just going to cut them in half. But look at the colour on those lardons now. All the white, raw fat has disappeared. The lardons have shrunk right down. And all we've got there now is the proper bacon. Mushrooms in. Beautiful. So the mushrooms get seasoned from the bacon. I'm pan frying these separately to the beef so they remain crisp and have a different texture. Leave that to cool down. Now, this is like Christmas Day for me when you unwrap that foil. Wait till you see what's underneath it. Wow. They smell incredible. Lift and place on your tray. Beautiful. To make a fantastic, rich, deep sauce, press the soft, roasted garlic through a sieve into the cooking juices. I want all that nice, pureed garlic coming through there. Because that is going to make the most amazing flavour. Scrape all of that off the sieve. Nice. And then, just start sieving all that lovely braising liquor. Whoa. In. That smells delicious. Take your sauce and just glaze. Do them individually. They deserve that respect. Spoon on your bacon and your mushrooms. Beautiful. Be generous with these mushrooms. I'm telling you, they taste amazing. Flat-leaf parsley. I want that freshness over those amazing ribs. Incredible. Never, ever be embarrassed about going to your butcher and asking for cheap cuts, because the results are incredible. Amazing beef braised short ribs with bacon and mushrooms. Mushroom and leek pasta. This fantastic, fast and simple pasta dish, made with everyday ingredients, just goes to prove you can eat good food whenever you want. Really important to put the water on first, so you can just have it gently simmering away, ready for the pasta. While the water comes to the boil, start the sauce by slicing mushrooms. First off, fingers. One in front, two behind. Up and down. Then add olive oil to a hot frying pan. I want that nice colour on the mushrooms. Off the heat. Lift for ten seconds. And when you toss something, really important to get all the ingredients to the end of the pan. Push down and pull back. That noise, that sizzle, that's all the water coming out of the mushrooms. Next, finely chop a fat clove of garlic. Then prepare your leeks. Just take your knife and go down through the centre. Turn it over. And again, into quarters. So you've got all that opening up. And then just rinse the top of that to get rid of any potential dirt or sand. It just breaks up into nice little quarters. Add all that leek into those mushrooms. Beautiful. And now, the secret is to get rid of that water inside the leek. As it cooks down, all the water's gone, you've just left that really nice, intense flavour. Garlic's gone nice and crispy. Now, we're going to add a touch of chicken stock in there. Lasagna sheets. Just going to drop the sheets into the water. Lasagna sheets are an unusual choice for a dish like this, but they work brilliantly, although any type of pasta you've got in the cupboard will do. And just twist that pan. That stops any pasta actually sticking to the bottom of the pan. Chicken stock will reduce down by half, and it's almost delayed the bottom of the pan, basically washed all that wonderful flavour off. Turn the gas down. And add a couple of tablespoons of cream. This just enriches the dish. Bring it back up to the boil and let it simmer for three to four minutes. Now, the secret of the pasta is just taking it out a little early so you've got that nice texture. Hold up the sheet and just nip it. If you can feel your fingers in the centre, it's ready. Turn the sauce down and lay these beautiful sheets of lasagna into that sauce. Just going to turn the gas off now and let the pasta sit in there and absorb that amazing sauce. Finish with chopped fresh tarragon. It's a delicious herb, it goes brilliantly well with mushrooms and leeks. Just let that sit and almost sort of infuse. To serve, I'm making a quick bruschetta by toasting fresh ciabatta bread. Two nice slices. Drizzle that in olive oil. Little bit of garlic. Just rub the bread. The crust as well. The crust is what really takes that garlic. Now, pan for the bread. Little touch of olive oil. As it starts to smoke, bread in. But look at the pasta now. It's been stained by that amazing sauce. To serve, I want a nice spoon of my mushrooms, leeks and cream. Then I'll take my pasta, just twist it and let it sit on top. That tarragon has just lifted everything. Bread on. And that's the beauty about something so simple. It can be done in 20 minutes with everyday ingredients. A stunning pasta dish. Adding easy and versatile dishes like this to your repertoire is what cooking at home is all about. So, you can always make great tasting food at the drop of a hat.