Farro Salad With Chanterelles, Fennel and Apples

Farro salad with chanterelles, fennel, apples and parmesan

This is my second take on chanterelles and farro. The first one was a hot entree, with sauteed apples. Today's variation is a salad, with shaved apples, fennel, and parmesan. The first dish used an apple "balsamic" vinegar to make an emulsified butter sauce. For the salad, I used the same vinegar to make a vinaigrette.

It was kind of fun to spin the same ingredients in two ways that were closely related, but that would fill different roles in a meal. This salad could either lead off a dinner, or just as easily be a light lunch by itself.

Also, it has been on my mind to use more whole grains. I think they work best when you don't just try to use them as a substitute for refined starches. Whole grains tend to have a nuttier, heartier and chewier aspect than their white counterparts. If you take that character into account when pairing them with other ingredients, they can be stars on their own, not apologetic replacements when on a health kick. These two dishes are a good example: they would be unappealing with, say, white rice instead of the farro.

Farro Salad With Chanterelles, Fennel and Apples
Serves 4
Vegetarian; vegan if you omit the parmesan; not gluten-free

• 1 cups farro (whole or semi-pearled)
• 2.5 cups water
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 generous handfuls chanterelle mushrooms, cleaned, dried, and quartered if large
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 apple (Kings are nice), peeled and shaved on mandoline or sliced as thin as possible, tossed immediately with the lemon juice to prevent browning
• 1 bulb fennel, trimmed and shaved on mandoline or sliced as thin as possible (round bulbs are tastier than flat ones)
• 16 thinly shaved slices of parmesan (parmigiano reggiano)
• 2 tablespoons Acetoria apple vinegar (or 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar and 2 teaspoons sugar)
• fresh parsley leaves
• sea salt (Maldon!)

1. Rinse and boil the farro according to package directions. If no directions, bring to a simmer in a covered pot with the water and Kosher salt, then reduce to a simmer and cook about 45 minutes until tender. If the farro is semi-pearled, it may cook a lot faster than that. Don't let it get mushy, we want a bit of a bite left. Cool to room temperature
2. Heat a skillet on medium high flame. Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Saute the mushrooms, turning occasionally until nicely browned and tender. Season with sea salt and remove from the pan.
3. Season the apple vinegar with salt and pepper. Drizzle in the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil, whisking continuously to emulsify. Taste and adjust seasonings.
4. To serve, mound 1/2 cup of farro on each plate. Top with a handful of the sliced apples and fennel. Drizzle on some of the dressing. Top with 4 slices of parmesan, 1/4 of the chanterelles, and some parsley. Drizzle remaining dressing around the plate, and hit with a few grains of a finishing salt and fresh ground black pepper.

Farro with Chanterelles, Apples, Apples and Apples

Farro, chanterelles, and King apples

Chanterelle mushrooms are one of those magical ingredients which speak of fall, like asparagus in spring, or tomatoes in late summer. Sauteed, they pack a ton of flavor and there really is no substitute. My friend Will recently gave me a few beautiful King apples from his tree, and immediately I wanted to use them with chanterelles.

I made two different preparations of these ingredients combined with farro, whose nuttiness complements the fruit and mushrooms. Today's version is a hot entree, with the mushrooms sauteed in Calvados, and an artisanal apple "balsamic" vinegar emulsified with butter (like a beurre blanc technique but most definitely not blanc). Toasted caraway seeds in the farro add another autumnal flavor. I saute all of the ingredients in the same pan, and then build the sauce there as well, to maximize melding of the flavors.

If someone wants to try and make a substitute for the apple balsamic, I'd be interested to hear how it turns out. My guess is you would want to reduce some good apple juice along with cider vinegar and sugar and maybe apple butter. I'm sure it wouldn't be the same as the real deal, but I realize that isn't an everyday ingredient.

Farro, Chanterelles, Apples, Apples, Apples
Serves 4
Vegetarian; not vegan or gluten-free

• 2 cups farro (whole or semi-pearled)
• 5 cups water
• 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon caraway seeds
• 12 tablespoons (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter (8 tablespoons cut into 16 pats)
• 4 generous handfuls chanterelle mushrooms, cleaned, dried, and quartered
• 1/4 cup Calvados
• 2 apples (Kings are nice), peeled and cut into medium dice (this will leave lots of odd shaped scraps which you can nosh on)
• 1/3 cup Acetoria apple vinegar (not regular apple cider vinegar!)
• fresh chives, minced
• sea salt (Maldon!)

1. Rinse and boil the farro according to package directions. If no directions, bring to a simmer in a covered pot with the water and Kosher salt, then reduce to a simmer and cook about 45 minutes until tender. If the farro is semi-pearled, it may cook a lot faster than that. Don't let it get mushy, we want a bit of a bite left.
2. Put a large skillet over medium heat. Toast the caraway seeds for 15 seconds, then stir them into the farro. Keep the farro warm.
3. Raise the heat on the skillet to medium high. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter. Saute the apples, turning occasionally until nicely browned and tender. Season lightly with sea salt and remove from the pan.
4. Don't clean the pan. Melt 2 more tablespoons of butter and saute the chanterelle mushrooms and a good bit of salt. Cook, turning occasionally until nicely browned and tender. Remove from the heat and add the Calvados. Stir. Return to the heat and carefully saute for 1 more minute - there is a chance the alcohol will flame up so be prepared and careful. Please skip this step and omit the Calvados if you don't feel comfortable with the risk.
   
5. Remove the chanterelles from the pan. Reduce heat to medium. Add the apple vinegar and reduce for just a few seconds, it is already quite thick. Add the pats of butter one at a time, whisking constantly to emulsify. (Like a normal beurre blanc technique). Remove from heat, taste and add salt as needed.
6. To serve, place a ring mold in the center of a plate. Fill with one cup of cooked farro. Top with chanterelles. Spread 1/4 of the sauce on the plate. Sprinkle the sauteed apples around the sauce. Top the mushrooms with the minced chives. Sprinkle a bit of sea salt over the whole dish and enjoy. (See picture below for plating. Someday I'll learn how to get sauce down all pretty like.)

What's In My Pantry Part 1 - "Quick Reach" Liquids

I thought it might be fun to do an occasional post of what I've got stashed away in different parts of the kitchen.

This first batch are the items I keep right on the counter, for sauteeing, deglazing, making quick sauces, and adding little hits of flavor. I put the Frantoia in the middle because that is my favorite high end extra-virgin olive oil. I reach for it for most raw uses, like vinaigrettes or to drizzle on pasta. The Whole Foods house brand is less expensive and I use it for cooking, along with canola oil that I keep in the fridge. (On Molto Mario, he uses Frantoia even to deep fry. Which is nice if you have deep pockets!)

Pride of place also goes to the little bottle of balsamico tradizionale - real balsamic vinegar, syrupy, sweet and incredibly complex, only for drizzling a few precious drops at a time. A recent purchase is the mosto cotto (a.k.a. saba, left of the Whole Food olive oil), which is the cooked grape must that would become balsamic if it was aged, but this stuff is immediately bottled. It is sweet and somewhat thick, but much less intense than the balsamico.

Behind the balsamico you will see a bottle of Banyuls vinegar, which makes beautiful vinaigrettes, and to the right in those tall bottles, artisanal apple and sour cherry vinegars from Acetoria. Rounding out the American / Euro ingredients, we've got apple cider vinegar, a half drunk bottle of red wine, and dry vermouth that I use when I want just a little white wine.

For Asian ingredients I've got quite a few kinds of soy sauce - light, dark, mushroom flavored, sweet (kecap manis), tamari. Cheap mirin I'll never buy again (pretty much just corn syrup, don't waste my time). Rice wine vinegar. Ume plum vinegar. Sake.

I can see this is going to be quite a project! This is just the stuff ready for a quick grab. I hate to think how many cabinets, shelves and drawers full of stuff there are. Sometimes I fantasize about not shopping for anything except vegetables and dairy for awhile and just using up every single staple I have. I wonder how many meals that would be?

Please add a comment below and let me know what stuff you keep close to the stove for last minute cooking. I'm curious to hear what everyone else thinks is essential.