Hi all.
So I got home from work and was hungry, so I checked the fridge....then the freezer. I found some white cheddar pasta frozen side dish. Knowing that wasnt gonna do it I checked my pantry.
I took a cup of last year's dried Morel mushrooms, about 2/3 cup of dried black trumpet mushrooms and put them in a pot with 2 cups of water and brought them to a boil. After it had reduced to about 1/2 cup or so of liquid I put in two tablespoons of butter and swirled it in (always swirl in butter, dont stir) then I added the stems of some shitake and crimini mushrooms, a 1/2 teaspoon of beef base and about a 1/4 teaspoon of tomato paste I had in the fridge and two leaves from my basil plant and continued to reduce.
When it reduced to about 2-3 tablespoons of juice I killed the heat and strained it and added it to the pasta.
I know on this site it's all about fancy-shmancy dishes and beautiful plating but I tell you this my friends...I have never cooked and/or tasted anything better.
So why did I title this post "Culinary black belt?
Because, reaching the highest level of cooking is about understanding how to get the most out of the ingredients around...fancy or humble in nature.
You dont always need the freshest, prettiest, ingredients and the highest tech gear to cook them. To earn your black belt you should learn to get the most out of what you have.
In closing, I cant recommend a food dehydrator enough. I buy/forage/grow/hunt/fish the best ingredients I can locally, then dehydrate them to have them on-hand throughout the year.
Never use excuses to get out of creating great dishes.
Think, play, plan, and just keep cooking/learning.
*Master class thoughts - I swirled in the butter before the end because butter (fats) absorb flavors and scents and I wanted to trap those flavors in before they went away from excessive heat and/or longer cooking times. Tradition would have called for swirling it in at the end, which would add a nice velvety mouth-feel. Perhaps that would have been better (you cant argue with history but I still sometimes do).
