Late Autumn Porridge of Heritage Grains, Mushroom and Corra Lin
By Callum Higgins, Where The Light Gets In
As November trudges in, the Stockport air takes on a wintery chill. Shoulders shrug forwards to push collars further towards necks, and bare hands are buried deep into shallow pockets; it is too early to be seen wearing gloves. Our growing space, the Landing, turns from an Amazon-like jungle of abundance, where the options are endless and the choice is limitless, to a far more select affair. Bitter leaves, mustards, chard, kale and only the hardiest of herbs survive. The dizzy hangover from the harvest season grips, and as we take a backwards step to admire our now well-stocked larder, we reflect on our seemingly frenzied efforts to preserve the summer bounty.
While our jars and buckets contain the sunshine, it will be root vegetables, mushrooms, grains and pulses which see us through until the first shoots of Spring. This is a dish which has become a bit of a classic at Where The Light Gets In; it makes its way back onto the menu every year in some shape or form. Where the warmer months focus on the light - the refreshing, the cured, the herbal - the colder months call for dishes which warm from the inside out. It is an important dish for us. It is simplicity with technique. It is comforting, familiar and evocative. It is the shift from fresh, fickle ingredients towards the understated and stalwart grains of winter which, year-round, lie waiting for us when only we remember them.
INGREDIENTS
100g Spelt
100g Einkorn
100g Emmer
200g Barley
400g Butter
1kg Chestnut mushrooms
75g Dried Shiitake mushrooms
Handful of Oyster mushrooms
Thumb sized piece of Dulse
1x Onion
Oil
250g Corra Lin Cheese
250g Cream
2L water
Apple Cider Vinegar
Salt
Brandy
METHOD
Grate your Coralin and weigh. Set aside the rinds for later. They have an amazing umami, almost mushroom-like flavour.
Mix your grated cheese with an equal weight of water. Stir the mixture and very slowly bring it up to 60c. Cover and infuse for 2 hours.
Break up your chestnut mushrooms and add water until they’re just about covered. Add your shiitakes and bring to a simmer. Add your dulse and the reserved cheese rinds and infuse for 2 hours.
Toast your spelt and einkorn in a frying pan until it becomes slightly golden and releases a nutty aroma.
When the cheese stock has infused, strain through muslin cloth.
Weigh the cheese stock, and in a separate bowl, weigh out an equal weight of cream.
Bring the cream to the boil and reduce by half. Mix the reduced cream with the cheese stock and season with salt and a little Apple Cider Vinegar.
When the mushroom stock has finished infusing, strain through muslin.
Add each of the grains to separate pans and par-boil them in the mushroom stock. When each of the grains reach a point just before al dente, drain and cool, reserving the cooking liquid. This may take anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes depending on the grain. When they have cooled down, mix them together.
Slice your oyster mushrooms into wedges of a size that appeals to you. I like them to be roughly the size of a 50 pence piece.
When ready to serve, sweat an onion in butter. Add a splash of brandy and cook until all the liquid has evaporated.
Add par cooked grains and cover with that reserved liquid from cooking the grains earlier.
Bring to a gentle boil and cook until almost dry, as you would a risotto, stirring constantly. While this is cooking, heat your cheese sauce very gently.
Cook until the grains are al dente, adding some more stock if necessary. Then take off the heat, stir in cold butter and leave to rest.
Heat a frying pan, add a little oil and butter. When the butter is foaming slightly, fry the oyster mushrooms gill-side down until golden, applying a little pressure with a spoon if necessary.
Pulse your cheese sauce with a stick blender so it becomes light and frothy.
Stir porridge and place into a bowl. Top with your oyster mushrooms, straight from the pan so that you get some of the brown butter on there. Spoon over some cheese sauce and serve.