wild mushroom ragout © Kevin Ashton 2004

Perhaps you’ve tried polenta at a restaurant and been somewhat disappointed by the
rubbery disk on your plate. In itself polenta has very little taste, so it’s important what is added to the polenta to makes it tasty. The first time I saw polenta served was back in 1986 by a famous American chef named John Ash, to see his love of cooking was quite inspirational. With that in mind I thought I’d show you a different way to serve polenta you see the Italians also serve polenta similarly like we serve mashed potatoes. It’s rich, creamy & tasty!!

Mushroom Ragout (serves 4 as a starter or 2 as a main course)
3 large field mushrooms
150 ml (5 fluid oz)Red wine
75 g (2.5 oz) Shitake mushrooms
30 grams (1 oz) Plain Flour
200g (5 oz) Chestnut mushrooms
120 grams (4 oz) Butter
250g ( 8oz) Oyster mushrooms
1 small sprig of Thyme
25g Dried Porcini
3-4 sage leaves
1 Medium diced Onions
2 level tablespoons of Tomato puree
2 Cloves peeled garlic
500ml (1 pint) Brown vegetable or chicken stock
1 small bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon Gravy browning (optional)

1. Peel the field mushroom and cut them into 1/4’s (put the peelings into the stock).
2. Place the dried porcini mushrooms in a small bowl and cover with cold water.
3. Cut the chestnut mushrooms in 1/2’s or 1/4’s if they are really big.
4. Tear each oyster mushroom into 2-3 pieces depending on their size. Put any woody part of the stalks into the stock.
5. Remove the stalks from the shitake mushrooms (put the stalks into the stock)
6. Rinse off the mushrooms, but don’t let them get too wet, then drain them on paper towel.
7. Heat up the brown stock adding the tomato puree & red wine and simmer gently.
8. Add the thyme, peeled garlic, bay leaf & sage to the stock.
9. In a separate thick-bottomed saucepan melt 1oz butter, then gradually stir in the flour and turn down the heat to medium. Cook the flour out until it is quite brown stirring occasionally.
10. Gradually ladle in the stock, stirring well to avoid lumps, allow to simmer on a low gas.
11. Sauté all the mushrooms except the porcini in 3oz butter until they are golden brown.
12. Add the now soft porcini mushrooms and the liquid (strain the liquid to remove any grit).
13. Cook the mushrooms until the liquid is absorbed into them.
14. Strain the brown sauce onto the mushrooms and cook on a very low gas for a further 5 minutes, just to marry the flavours, then season with salt & pepper.

Parmesan Polenta Mash
120 grams (4 oz) Polenta corn
250ml water
250ml milk
8-10 Basil leaves chopped
30 grams (1 oz) Butter
30 grams (1 oz) Grated mozzarella
60 grams (2 oz) Grated fresh Parmesan
1 level teaspoon sea salt
3o g (1oz) Parmesan curls or shavings(optional)

1. Bring the water, milk and sea salt to boil in a heavy based saucepan.
2. Reduce heat to a simmer and slowly add the polenta, stirring with a wooden spoon until it is completely blended. The polenta needs to be cooked for about 40 minutes with regular stirring until it falls away from the side of the pan. Then stir in the butter followed by the cheeses & chopped basil. When serving polenta mash it should the same consistency to mash potatoes, so add a little extra milk or cream if needed.

Chef’s Tips
Remember to keep the mushroom pieces quite large,as they will shrink a lot during cooking
If your brown sauce isn’t a nice rich brown colour then add a few drops of gravy browning.
Of course if you’re a chef and you have a veal reduction handy then use this as a base for your sauce instead of the brown stock and roux. A roux is the French name we give to the flour and butter mix that thickens some sauces. In my photo you’ll see that I made quenelle shape with the polenta. A quenelle is the French name for any food that is shaped between two spoons. The spoon size most often used are dessertspoons. To make a quenelle of polenta put the spoons into a mug of hot water. Shake off the water then gather a portion of polenta on one spoon. Now shape it by passing the polenta backwards and forwards between the 2 spoons. Like any other skill making a quenelle just takes practice.