Hongos al Ajillo
Mushrooms Sautéed with Garlic and Chile Guajillo
Today's recipe is with wild mushrooms called Ramaria or Cacho de Venado ( Deer’s Antlers) and squash blossoms from our friends from Mazaltepec, a mountain village we visited for the filming. The villagers are quite famous for their tortillas and huge Tlayudas, gorgeous landscape and their Milpa. I usually don’t have the squash blossoms, so you can make this dish without them and you can substitute oyster or cultivated mushrooms for the wild ones. But if we have something as exotic like this, I like to use them, because they are here for such a short amount of time! They are truly a gift of nature!
You can serve this with rice or other grain, or eat it with tostadas or even bake them in little casseroles with cheese on top and serve with fresh tortillas!
Ingredients
For the chiles guajillos:
3-4 chiles guajillos, stemmed, seeded and deveined
½ cup sunflower or vegetable oil
For the corn stock:
6 ears fresh corn, husked and with corn silk removed; kernels cut from the cobs (about 4 cups), cobs reserved for stock
3 large sprigs fresh epazote, each 4 inches long or 4½ teaspoons dried
½ cup finely chopped white onion
7 cloves garlic, finely chopped
¼ teaspoon finely ground white pepper,
Sea salt to taste
For the hongos:
2 tablespoons chile guajillo oil or olive oil
1 cup onions, finely chopped
1 pound oyster or wild mushrooms
16 + squash blossoms, cleaned (optional)
2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley leaves
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons lime juice
Sea salt
Black pepper to taste
Method
For the chiles guajillos:
Wipe the chiles with a damp cloth and cut them crosswise in very thin strips to make rings. You can do this with scissors. Place them in a glass jar with the oil. You can do this the day before, if you like.
For the corn stock:
In a 4-quart stainless steel stockpot, place the cleaned corn cobs and 2 quarts water. Add 1½ sprigs of the epazote or 2¼ teaspoons dried. Cover and bring to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer, and cook for at least 1/2 hour. Add a little sea salt. Strain and reserve the stock. Discard the cobs or feed them to the pigs!
For the mushrooms:
You can cook these in 2 batches, reserving the cooked mushrooms in a bowl, until the other batch is done, then return them for one minute in the sauce to reheat and serve.
Heat a wide frying pan over medium high heat with the chile guajillo oil. When it is hot, add ½ of onion and cook until they are translucent. Add the mushrooms and sauté 2 -3 minutes. When one side of the mushrooms are brown, turn them over, and add ½ of the chile strips, ½ of the garlic, ½ of the parsley and the flowers if you are using them. Add a little sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Continue to cook over medium heat until cooked through, about 1-2 minutes. When the mushrooms are cooked, remove them and set aside. Wipe out the pan with a paper towel. Repeat with the other half of the mushrooms and remove them with all their seasonings. Add 8 ounces of strained corn stock and lime to the pan. Reduce the sauce to half, uncovered, Add the softened butter bit by bit, shaking the pan until it is melted and creamy. Return the mushrooms to the sauté pan, over low heat, to reheat and coat them with the sauce, or pour the sauce on top of the mushrooms in the bowl. Adjust the sea salt and pepper to taste and mix well. Reserve the oil in the jar to soak more guajillos.
Serve as a main course around hot mounded rice on a plate or serve with hot tortillas, tostadas or bolillos in a small cazuela. You can also put the mushrooms in a small cazuela and cover with quesillo, (string cheese), manchego, or other melting cheese, (like gouda) and bake in a 400*oven until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
