Mushroom Ragou with Poached Duck Egg

There are few dishes that I look forward to eating each year more than this one. The grounded richness of the mushrooms is like hot lava running through my veins, warming my core from the inside out even on the most bone-chilling of days.

This Ottolenghi recipe from Plenty was the inspiration for my Armo making a case for me to make some dishes more than once a year. After savoring the last bite of deliciousness and sinking into my chair, I just might agree.

For years I always made this ragou with crimini mushrooms because those tend to be the cheapest ones. They will make an incredible rich umami-bomb broth that will leave you longing for nothing. However, if you spring to use an assortment of fancy mushrooms for half of them, it will leave you wondering how something could be that delicious. It is worth the splurge.

While I am all about expanding your horizons in the food category, I also want you to trust me. If you’re adverse to mushrooms because of their texture, this is not the recipe I want you to try first. Often times, I would say try pureeing them, but I haven’t tried that in this dish and I’m not sure that would work well.

I made a couple of minor changes and as always, I give you more details than the OG.

Mushroom Ragou with Poached Duck Egg Ingredients
½ oz dried porcini mushrooms
2.5 c water (divided)
1 1/4 lb mixed fresh mushrooms (wild or cultivated)
¾ lb sourdough bread
½ c (approximate) olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp black pepper
1 medium onion
1 medium carrot
3 celery stalks
½ c white wine
½ tsp dried thyme
1 Tbl dried tarragon
1 Tbl dried parsley
salt
½ c sour cream
4 duck eggs


Mushroom Ragou with Poached Duck Egg Directions
Put ½ ounce dried porcini mushrooms in 1 c of water for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Wash your mushrooms well. Your mushrooms will not be inferior when they’re squeaky clean. They won’t be waterlogged if you’re worried. Trust, me or actually Kenji Alt-Lopez who taught me this in The Food Lab.

Slice your mushrooms into ¼” slices. For large mushrooms, after slicing them, cut them into ¾” wide strips.

Heat a saute pan to medium high heat.  Add 1 Tbl of oil and add the larger mushroom strips. Your pan should sizzle, if not increase the heat. Don’t crowd the pan. We want to brown them and not steam them. After the underside browns, flip them over. As the mushrooms shrink, you can add raw mushrooms in the empty space. Don’t worry if brown bits are being left behind. As the pan dries out, keep adding oil as needed (1 Tbl at time). You only need a little oil at a time. After both sides of the mushrooms are brown, remove them from the pan and place them on a plate or bowl. Add the crimini (or other small mushrooms) last. You’ll only brown them on one side.

While the mushrooms are cooking. Take a sharp bread (or serrated knife) and slice the bread into one inch cubes. If you don’t have that kind of knife, tear the bread into large chunks. A dull knife or straight-edge knife will smash the bread.

Put the cubed bread in a tight-single layer clump on a sheet pan, drizzle 2 Tbl olive oil on the bread. Add ¼ tsp black pepper, ½ tsp garlic powder, and ¼ tsp salt to the palm of your non-dominant hand. With the pointer finger of your dominant hand, give a quick swirl to even distribute the seasoning. Use your dominant hand, put the mix between your fingers, hold your hand high above the bread and let it rain down. Use all of it.

Give the bread cubes a quick toss, spread out the cubes and pop it in the oven . Flip on the convection switch (if you have one) Depending on the density, moisture level- and size of your bread cubes, it can take 15-25 minutes to be done. The bread should be completely dry and light brown (maybe even medium brown on thin, jagged edges). Be confident with the visual indicators and give that precedence to time.
.
Slice off both ends of the onion, then cut it in half pole to pole. Remove the skin. With the flat side down, cut the onion in 1/8th (or as thin as you can) strips pole to pole. Wash the carrot and celery stalks well. Dice the carrot into ¼”. I don’t worry about peeling the carrot. I do remove the thin, hairy roots. Cut the celery into ¼” strips than cut them across in ¼”. Finely chop the celery leaves if your stalks have them.

After the mushrooms are finished cooking, turn down the heat to medium. Add the vegetables to the pan. You should hear an initial sizzle. If it keeps sizzling, turn down the heat. If you don’t hear the sizzle, leave everything in the pan and increase the heat a little. After the veggies leach out their water and it mostly evaporates, they should be soft, but not brown. Add ½ c of white to the pan.

Remove the soaking porcini from the liquid it and squeeze it in your hand so the liquid falls back in the bowl. Put the porcini with the other mushrooms. Carefully pour the mushroom liquid into the pan so the grit remains in the bowl. Add 1.5 c of water to the pan. Add ¼ tsp of salt.

Add the mushrooms, ½ tsp dried thyme, 1 Tbl dried tarragon, and 1 Tbl dried parsley to the pan. Bring it up to a simmer for about 20 minutes. Turn of the heat when you have about 1c of liquid remaining (err on the side of too much liquid). Taste. Stir in ½ c of sour cream. Taste again (notice the difference in flavor and texture). Add salt if needed (you probably will).

Poach an egg. Serve the mushrooms in a bowl and top it with eggs and croutons.

Notes
Please don’t steam your mushrooms. Yes, you can brown steamed mushrooms (the water leaches out, they shrink, the water evaporates, and shrooms will brown), however the texture and more importantly, the flavor will not be as good.

Fresh, large ground pepper is best on croutons.

If you aren’t a fan of runny eggs, this is the perfect dish for you to eat and love it. If you need to, have someone else pierce the yolk for you and mix it into the broth. It brings an incredible richness to the broth that you don’t want to miss.

For whatever reason, I only poach eggs in red bean gumbo. It intimidates me so I always substitute a fried egg. I do see the value of the tender white of a poached egg so I recommend going that route. Whatever way you choose to cook the egg, make sure the egg is gloriously runny.

Duck eggs can be difficult and expensive to find. Feel free to use a chicken egg and don’t give it a second thought.

It's been awhile since I harped on salt. Undersalted food is not good. That doesn’t mean to go crazy with salt because that is far worse. Most of my recipes are written “light” on salt for a few reasons. Different types of salt and coarseness of the salt will change the amount of salt by volume needed. Another factor is if your amount of liquid is different from mine or the amount of vegetables used, the optimum amount of salt will be different. I rather you taste and adjust. Just remember you can always add more salt if needed. But fixing it from being too salty is far more challenging.