Joe, your mailbox is full. But I'll just post my message here...

M

mimi

Well-known member
I'm sitting here in shock reading of Randi's passing. What a dear she was, amid so much pain she still gave to all her friends here. I hope that she has found peace, and I'll keep her family in my thoughts.

Joe wrote me privately before he posted the news on the board. I only just now got the message. PLEASE forgive me for what must have seemed a callous disregard for a tragic and important message. I have just started a new full-time job teaching English at our local high school, my kids have also started school, hockey practice has started and my husband is out of town. I have been beside myself and have not even checked in here in a few days.

None of that matters though, in the face of what has happened. I just wanted to let you know that I DO care, very much. Randi will be missed. I still have her dried porcini that she so kindly sent me. I never used any of it because I wasn't sure what to do with it or how to use the dried mushrooms. She was going to send me some recipes when things calmed down for her with her husband's illness and death, but I don't think they ever did calm down. If someone would care to send me instructions/tips/recipes on how to use those porcini I will make something delicious in her honor.

Rest in peace, dear Randi.

 
In honor of Randi, REC: Risotto with Porcini Mushrooms and Mascarpone

Mimi - I was just going to post this recipe and start a thread when I saw your newly posted message. Perfect timing.

I was also fortunate enough to be the recipient of those amazing mushrooms - we have made this recipe many times and always toasted Randi. We will do so again this week (I'd like to do it tonight but we are out of the house the next few days). Here's to you Randi - thank you for your kindness, your generosity, your spirit, your humour and your love.


Risotto with Porcini Mushrooms and Mascarpone

1 1/2 cups boiling water
1/2 cup dried porcini mushrooms (about ½ oz)
1 (14 oz) can less-sodium beef broth
Cooking Spray
1 cup uncooked Arborio rice or other short-grain rice
3/4 cup chopped shallots
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup (1 oz.) grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/4cup (1 oz.) mascarpone cheese
1 T. chopped fresh or 1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Combine 1 1/2 cups boiling water and mushrooms; let stand 10 minutes or until soft. Drain through a colander over a bowl. Reserve 1 ¼ cup soaking liquid; chop mushrooms.

Bring reserved soaking liquid and broth to a simmer in a small saucepan (do not boil). Keep broth mixture warm over low heat.

Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add rice, shallots, and garlic to pan: sauté 5 minutes. Add wine; cook until liquid evaporates (about 2 minutes).

Add 1 cup broth mixture to rice mixture; cook over medium heat 5 minutes or until the liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring occasionally. Add broth mixture, ½ cup at a time, stirring occasionally until each portion of broth mixture is absorbed before adding the next (about 25 minutes total). Add mushrooms, Parmigiano-Reggiano and mascarpone cheeses, thyme, salt, and pepper; stir gently just until cheeses melt. Serve warm.

Source: Cooking Light, Sept. 2007

 
Mimi, there is no way anyone would accuse you of callous disregard...if not for yourd

we would not have had Randi's presence with us for the last 4 plus years. We all have our own lives, and, obviously, difficulties, pain, complications, what have you. In leaving us, Randi has reminded us all of how fragile the line is between life and death, and the permanent void, the unreachable emptiness one leaves when they leave us.

We owe you a world of gratitude for keeping this place for us to reach one another.

 
No worries, Mimi!

I fugured you hadn't received my message yet, and by yesterday I felt OK with what I'd written and went ahead and posted. "Callous?" Never!

Congratulations on the new job.

 
In memory of Randi: I only have good ones of her>>>

"The pleasant hours of our lives are all connected by a more or less tangible link, with some memory of the table." ~ by Charles Pierre Monselet

 
I used Randi's wonderful porcini for REC: Rigatoni with Tomatoers & Porcini...

Rigatoni With Tomatoes And Porcini

Recipe By :Vincenzo Buonassisi
Serving Size : 4

1 pound Rigatoni
4 ounces Butter -- divided
4 tablespoons Olive oil
1 Onion -- finely sliced
1 ounce Dried Porcini mushrooms
Salt and Pepper
1 handful chopped parsley
1/2 pound Tomatoes -- pureed
4 ounces Beef Stock -- hot
3 ounces Grated Parmesan cheese

Heat two ounces butter and the oil and lightly brown the finely sliced onion, then the mushrooms (soaked in warm water then squeezed dry). Cook for two minutes, season with salt and pepper, add a handful of chopped parsley and the pureed tomatoes. Cook for a few more minutes and stir in the hot stock, then continue cooking until the mushrooms are soft. Cook the pasta, drain well and toss with the remaining butter and the parmesan. Stir in the sauce and serve immediately.

 
REC: Mushroom Soup

2 1/2 quarts chicken broth
2 oz dried porcini mushrooms
2 cups shiitake mushrooms
1.5 tablespoons fresh thyme chopped
3/4 cup dry sherry
3 tablespoons fresh chives chopped
3/4 lb shallots chopped
2 tablespoons butter

Melt butter in a Dutch oven. Add thyme and shallots; cook 10 minutes. stir in chicken broth and porcini mushrooms; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered for 1 hour. Strain broth mixture through a sieve into a bowl; discard solids. Return broth mixture to Dutch oven. Stir in shiitake mushrooms and sherry; cook 10 minutes over low heat. Stir in chives.

 
I made this tonightwith Randi's porcini...

It was wonderful!
We toasted Randi...and hope that she has found the peace she was seeking.

I have a small amount of Randi's porcini left and they will go into a risotto this fall.

Her's were the best I've even had...so fragrant and not a speck of dirt.

We will all miss her presence in our lives.

 
Randi's Warm Pear Cake

Dawn's note: The taste of the almond extract with the caramel is... great! Thanks for telling us about this one, Randi!

1 cup sugar
4 large firm-ripe Anjou or Bosc pears
Peeled, cored and sliced thin
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast sprinkled over 1 tbls warm water
1 tsp almond extract
4 large eggs, beaten lightly
7 tbls unsalted butter, softened and beaten until smooth

preheat oven to 300°

In a large skillet cook 3/4 cup of the sugar over moderate heat until it begins to melt and continue cooking it, swirling the skillet, until it is a golden caramel. Pour the hot caramel into a buttered 9-inch round cake pan, rotating the pan so that the caramel coats the bottom completely, and arrange the pears, overlapping them slightly, on the caramel.

In a bowl whisk together the flour, the yeast mixture, the remaining 1/4 sugar and the eggs until the mixture is smooth, whisk in the butter, whisking until the mixture is combined well (it will appear slightly curdled), and pour the mixture over the pears, being careful not to disturb them. Bake the cake in the middle of a preheated 300° oven for 1 hour and while it is still hot unmold it carefully onto a platter (the caramel will be runny). Serve the cake warm or cold. (room temp will do just fine)

Gourmet 2/92 page 128

"Love doesn't make the world go 'round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile." -Franklin P. Jones

http://eat.at/swap/forum/index.php?action=display&forumid=1&msgid=16258

 
Look at the size of them! Can someone please fill me in on the story behind

the mushrooms? Are they wild? Did she mail out a bunch of them to friends? TIA

 
They were wild, growing in the woods around her small town. That particular year

they were so plentiful that she said they were growing on the sides of the roads. I remember she picked almost 100 pounds that season. She had several driers going, and she also sauteed some of the fresh ones and froze them. Those were a treat--she sent me some of the frozen ones in ice packs, and they made the most amazing omelets. They were also a perfect garnish to Pasta Carbonara, one of Randi's specialties.

I sent her some avocados in return--it took me 10 minutes to pick them. What a great deal I got!

The reason we don't see fresh porcini (cepes) is that they don't last more than a day. They rot or grow worms if they sit around, so they have to be cooked or dried right away.

We've established that Randi's were the most succulent, dirt-free porcinis in the world, with none of the hard stems you have to pick out of the outrageously expensive commercial ones!

 
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