Haricots Verts with Wild Mushrooms and Shallots
Haricots verts — delicate, supermodel-thin French green beans — bear little resemblance to their sturdier American cousins. Sweeter, crisper, and more tender, they need only a few minutes cooking to bring them to perfection. Here they’re joined with woodsy wild mushrooms, sauteed shallots, and a splash of Madeira, creating a dish of balanced richness and lightness: deep savory mushroom-shallot flavors and chewiness complementing the beans’ crisp-tender crunch and delicate vegetal taste.
*Note: this recipe calls for frozen haricots verts. The recipe is of course wonderful if made with fresh haricots verts, but they can be difficult to find, and astronomically expensive when found. And the dish is nowhere near as good if made with the large, leathery green beans found in the average supermarket.
— Serves 4
*Items marked in green are available from The Gourmet Corner.
Ingredients
Preparation
In a small bowl, cover dried mushrooms with boiling water and allow to soak for 15 minutes. Drain the mushrooms and check to see if they have any grit clinging to them — if so, rinse under running water until grit is removed. Slice thinly and set aside.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add shallots and thyme; sauté until shallots begin to brown, about 8 minutes. Add the sliced button mushrooms; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté until juices evaporate, about 10 minutes. Add Madeira and rehydrated dried mushrooms; toss until Madeira evaporates, about 1 minute. Set aside. If desired, the shallot mixture can be refrigerated for up to 2 days until needed.
Cook haricots verts in medium pot of boiling salted water just until thawed, about 2 minutes. Drain. Let stand until ready to use, up to 2 hours.
When ready to serve, in a large skillet, melt 1 Tbs butter over medium-high heat. Add haricots verts and shallot mixture. Toss until butter melts and vegetables are heated through, about 3 minutes. If the mixture seems to be getting too dry while heating, add a few Tbs of Madeira. Remove from heat, season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
Tags: green beans, haricot vert, mushrooms, shallots