MARSHGRASS WITH REFLECTION.  Life is complex.  On occasion, a change to simple helps “clear the cobwebs.” Things tantalize our senses, sometimes with simple things like the above photograph. Along with exercise, relaxation/meditation, healthy eating, religious participation, social interaction – these things help relieve the effects of our stressful world.

Wandering down the path of simplicity - on the way to work I was listening to Merry Xmas performed by Yo-Yo Ma on the cello and Jake Shimabukuro. I could not decide whether Jake was playing a harp or guitar - wrong on both accounts. He is a virtuoso on the ukulele. Please check out this simply beautiful music. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLpx-F8tEgw

I also like simple in the kitchen, but do not always adhere to this preference. Chanterelle mushrooms in a Madeira sauce was a tantalizing appetizer at a recent meal out – it occurred to me this would be a really good sauce for homemade pasta, or even the store-bought variety. To add to the story, the next morning on the way to work, I was listening to The Splendid Table on Public Radio – it seems like I am rambling but hopefully this will come together - where it was suggested that pasta be cooked in cold water, rather than starting in hard boiling water. I tend to cook in traditional fashion but have recently tried to think and do out of the box. Rather than bringing 4-5 quarts of water to boil and adding salt only after the water was boiling and then cooking the pasta, I put freshly handmade linguine in 1 1/2 quarts cold water with several teaspoons of salt in a large stainless-steel frying pan. From start to finish on medium-high heat, the pasta was ready in 10 minutes - amazing. The usual technique (adding pasta to a large pot of boiling water) would have taken about 25 minutes. Think of the energy savings using the cold-water technique with less water. If using dried store-bought pasta, the cooking time will be longer whether starting with cold or boiling water.  So putting together the mushroom sauce and new technique of cooking pasta, I came up with the following recipe.

Teaching how to make pasta by hand is not appropriate for the scope of this blog - have thought about giving a cooking class - will let you know if that comes to fruition. The mushrooms in the Madeira sauce on pasta is great for the concept of simplicity and the scope of this blog.
 
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon diced shallots
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, oyster, chanterelle, or button if the
    first two are not available
a few peppercorns, a bay leaf, and several sprigs thyme
1-2 ounces dry red wine such as cabernet
2-4 ounces madeira
2-4 ounces broth, chicken, beef or veggie
1 (more) tablespoon butter

Melt butter over low-moderate heat in a sauce pan. A true sauce pan is bowl-shaped on the bottom with a flat place in the middle as opposed to the pans with a flat bottom and straight sides. The sauce can be reduced more quickly in a true sauce pan - that is why it is called a sauce pan – I make myself laugh sometime - please do not hold that against me. Back to the recipe.

Sauté the shallots until clear, do not brown. Add mushrooms and sauté until tender, a few (3-5) minutes. Remove from pan and reserve. Add the spices to the dry pan and heat for 30 seconds to allow initial release of essence, aroma. Add wine and reduce volume by at least 50%, add Madeira and do the same thing. Taste carefully as you are reducing to achieve desired flavor. Add broth and reduce, correct seasoning with salt and pepper. Add reserved shallot/mushrooms mixture to the liquid, heat through, and toss with pasta (coordinate so both sauce and pasta are finished at same time). Toss together and add remaining butter. Serve and enjoy!  It should be buttery good!