| | Published April 11th, 2012
| Chilean Mushroom Pil-Pil
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| By Susie Iventosch |
My husband and I recently stayed in a small town on the Maipo River in the Chilean Andes foothills. Besides the amazing views and a zip line across the river and back, we tasted a new dish there that we absolutely loved.
"Pil-pil" is a Chilean appetizer, which reflects its Spanish roots using lots of garlic, butter and olive oil, but with the added zing of finely diced peppers. Be careful with that ... as I sit here writing this column, my mouth is still burning, and my left eye, too, which I accidentally touched after cleaning, cutting and tasting the pepper. Youza!
Pil-pil is often made with seafood such as oysters, scallops or shrimp, but the Tribu restaurant where we dined offered a mushroom version that we thoroughly enjoyed.
The dish was bursting with flavor, and we did not find it to be all that hot, so I don't think they used a lot of the diced pepper, but rather just a hint to give it a gentle bite. The rest of the ingredients included finely diced zucchini, carrots, green onions or leeks, parsley and quartered mushrooms. It was sort of like eating a mushroom escargot, only made with olive oil in addition to butter, and adding other finely diced veggies, besides the larger pieces of mushrooms.
We soaked our bread in the delicious sauce, and every time the waitress tried to remove what she thought was an empty dish, we held on to it, telling her we just weren't ready to part with it!
For this recipe, you can decide just how much heat and garlic you want to give it. I am a garlic- lightweight, so I usually go easy, but I must say, this Tribu recipe was loaded with garlic, and it was delicious!
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|  | | Photo Susie Iventosch
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(Serves 4 for appetizers)
INGREDIENTS
8-10 large brown or cremini mushrooms, cleaned and cut into quarters
2-4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced (depending upon your garlic-meter)
1/4 cup finely diced zucchini
1/4 cup finely diced carrots
1/4 cup finely sliced green onion
1/4 cup finely diced leeks, white part only
1/2 Serrano chili pepper, finely minced (these mellow with cooking)
2 tablespoons finely minced parsley
1/4 cup olive oil
2-3 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon paprika
Salt to taste
DIRECTIONS
In a cast iron or heavy skillet, heat olive oil and butter and cook over medium-high heat until melted. Add garlic and cook until just turning golden. Stir in paprika and salt. Add diced veggies (except parsley) and mushroom quarters and cook over medium-high heat just until veggies are al dente, maybe 2-4 minutes, tossing to turn mushrooms and stir veggies. Sprinkle parsley over top before serving.
Serve piping hot with crusty French bread.
*If using shrimp, add with veggies and cook for about one minute, and then turn shrimp and cook for another minute or until shrimp turns pink
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA