Steak with Creamy Mushrooms and Romanesco

1 Head Romanesco

Vegetable Oil

Salt & Pepper

1/2c White Wine

2 Garlic Cloves, minced

1/2 Small Yellow Onion, minced

A Handful or Two of Fancy Mushrooms

Salt

1/2c Whole Milk or Heavy Cream

  

“What the fuck is that green stuff? Did you create some sort of broccoli/weed hybrid?” That, my brain-dead hippie stoner friends, is romanesco. It’s like a cauliflower except it has flavor. When you are done trying to smoke it out of “Stevie Ray Bong,” break off a nugget and eat it. It tastes pretty good raw but roasting eliminates a fair amount of the bitterness.

Slice the romanesco head in half, lengthwise. That’s top to bottom, dumbass. Pull all the nuggets off the core, rise with cold water, and toss with vegetable oil, salt, and pepper. Spread them out on a baking sheet and roast at 375 degrees for about 35 minutes flipping them halfway.

In a small saucepan combine the wine, garlic, onion, mushrooms, and salt. Simmer over medium-ish heat until a good amount of the wine has evaporated. Pour in the milk/cream and reduce until thickened.

“What kind of white wine should I use? What about this dusty bottle of 2006 Burgundy Chardonnay I found in my uncle’s basement?” While I believe the creamy butteriness of such a wine would be a good fit for this dish, there is no need to use such a valuable wine. Conversely, you don’t want to use Yellowtail either. I used a Chablis because that’s what I was drinking. If I were drinking a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, however, I would avoid using it due to the typical passionfruit/guava overtones. Since the sauce will be poured over steak, the best white wine would be a big, heavily oaked chardonnay. This is probably the subject for a post in and of itself but suffice to say the wine’s flavor should reflect the dish in which it is to be used and vice versa. “So…Thunderbird?” Sure, why not?       

Cook your steak like any other steak: Salt, pepper, and a hot ass cast iron skillet. If it doesn’t bleed when you cut into it, you fucked up.

Like the yak and truffles, I got all the fancy mushrooms and romanesco at the Portland winter farmer’s market. For a winter market there is actually quite a bit of shit available. It’s at Shemanski Park downtown and I would highly suggest checking it out. Don’t let the name fool you; there are no Polish people, just a bunch of ladyboys. Eat it.