Autumn has to be one of my favorite seasons in which to cook. Most people pick summer, and I can see why - amazing fruit, light clean ingredients. Summer is wonderful, don’t get me wrong, but for me it is all about Autumn. There is something fantastic about the days starting to get cooler, and that hankering for slightly heavier, hearty food that is bursting with flavor. Of course, you also have to love to abundance of mushrooms available at this time of year. This was something that really inspired this dish. For a couple of years now I have done a variety of mushroom ragu’s, using whatever mushrooms I could find at the market. Thankfully we get such a variation of them here in the Northwest that it really isn’t hard to pick up some pretty wonderful (and strange) specimens! A change of seasons is always pretty inspiring for a cook. You get new flavors, new ingredients, and really a completely different way of cooking. My summer food is always kept very light, minimal cooking, and simple ingredients. Autumn is something different. I still keep the ingredients simple, but I start to do more roasting, more slow simmering of food. Heartier flavors start to emerge, and I tend to pair foods together that are earthy and satisfying.

I like to pair mushrooms with other earthy flavors. Here some great white truffle oil is added at the end, which just increases that Autumn feel further. During cooking we also add some sage, and some toasted pine nuts.  This, cooked in a little oil and butter really is a great earthy (how many times can I say that in one blog post?) dish, that just makes the best of these fantastic mushrooms. For this recipe you are going to want to use at least 3 different varieties. I tend to get one lot of expensive mushrooms, and combine those with some cheaper options. Here I have used Chanterelle (pricey), crimini (cheap) and oyster (cheap).

In Europe we eat quite a bit of celeriac (celery root). In markets in France you can buy a box of shredded cooked celeriac, and use it as a small plate for lunch. Personally, I like it when pureed up, almost like a smooth mash potato. It really is a fantastic vegetable. Dead ugly, but a really great celery flavor that isn’t too strong. When cooked and pureed it is much lighter to eat than a mash potato, and a lot fresher tasting. If you have a dish that already reasonably heavy, but you want something earthy, but will lift it a touch, celeriac is your root. A mix of parsnip and celeriac would most likely be decent too.

And the cheese. I haven’t seen it much over here, but in England you would almost alway a steak served with a good robust blue cheese. This was typically served in pubs across England, especially on Sunday’s when a lot people would go to a pub for Sunday lunch. Of course, in England there really is only one stinky blue cheese. The King if you will. Stilton. Stilton is a touch lighter than gorganzola and certainly more rich than a Danish blue, or other British blue cheeses. It is generally a lot stronger than most US blue cheeses too. If you get a good one, it is exceptionally smooth, light, yet has a really strong flavor So where do you find it? Well, only seven dairies across the UK are able to produce Stilton. You are going to find it in specialty stores, and some decent organic markets here. I get mine from Trader Joes. It is half the price there than other stores (which means I can buy more!!). Remember, when you serve it to let it get to room temperature for 30 minutes at least before eating (same goes for most cheese).

 So, without further a do - the recipe

Mushroom ragu, steak, stilton, celeriac puree

2 small steaks (I will let you choose your favorite cut!)

Stilton cheese (a few oz)

1 medium celery root (celeriac)

3 large hadfulls of mushrooms (at least 3 varieties)

1 small handful of fresh sage leaves

1 teaspoon of white truffle oil

olive oil

butter

fresh nutmeg clove

1 cup of chicken stock

1 clove of garlic

Pine nuts

Milk

Peel the celery root. Chop into a medium dice. Peel the garlic clove. Saute these in a little olive oil and butter until slightly soft, and starting to brown. Crank up the heat under the pan, and add enough chicken stock to just cover the celery root. Let this simmer away for about 15 minutes, until the celery root is soft, and most of the liquid is gone (you still want a few tablespoons of stock in there). Let this cool slightly.

Season your steaks with salt and pepper. Put these on a hot grill. I am not going to say how long to cook them for, that is really impossible to say. You can start feeling how cooked it is by the resistance given when you push against it. Cook the steak on both sides.

In a food processor whizz up the celery root until just smooth. Return this to the pan that you cooked it in (wiped out). Add a couple of splashes of milk. Grate a little nutmeg in. Mix it up, and give it a taste. Add more nutmeg if needed. Put a gentle heat under this to help combine everything, and keep the celery root warm whilst we finish everything.

Whilst the celery root and steak are cooking, wash your mushrooms well,  and slice them about 1/4″ thick. Chop up your sage. In a medium sized frying pan put in a handfull of pine nuts and gently toast over a medium heat. When these have browned take them out. In the same pan, heat a tablespoon of olive oil, and a tablespoon of butter. When hot throw in the mushrooms, and season with salt and pepper. Keep these gently moving, making sure that all mushrooms are cooking evenly. As they just start to wilt, throw in the sage leaves. Now bung in the toasted pine nuts. Mix this well. Remove from the heat and mix in a teaspoon of truffle oil. Taste one of the mushrooms, if you cannot taste the truffle oil, add just a splash more. Truffle oil can be pretty darn strong, so you wanna just add small amounts until the flavor comes through.

To plate, put a mound of the mushrooms on the plate, and top with your steak. Spoon a little of the celeriac puree around one side. Top the steak with a couple of thin slices of Stilton.

NOTE:If you wanna just make the mushrooms with some cheese, I recommend that you don’t use such a strong cheese as Stilton. A few wide shaves of a good Parmesan cheese would work really well on top of the mushrooms as part of a tapas meal.