Gerry's Dishes: Morels sautéed with leeks and garlic, white wine, Oloroso Sherry and Spanish Brandy (or Taconic Distillery Bourbon) over Trader Joe’s Ravioli with Sweet Corn, Burrata and Basil.

 

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Matt Frohman, a distiller at Taconic Distillery and a terrific forager of wild edibles, who was on Gerry Dawes & Friends a few years ago, brought in great morels two weeks before when our scheduled program on May 15 was cancelled because of the tornados. Matt gave me some of the morels and I made this dish with them

 

Morels sautéed with leeks and garlic, white wine, Oloroso Sherry and Spanish Brandy (or Taconic Distillery Bourbon) over Trader Joe’s Ravioli with Sweet Corn, Burrata and Basil. 

 

2 large morel mushrooms (sliced into strips, cleaned and washed, dried in paper towels)

3 Tbs. Spanish Extra Virgen Olive Oil (Trader Joe’s brand is good)

1/3 of a leek, sliced and chopped

1 clove garlic sliced

Several leaves of basil, cut in to strips with scissors.

¼ cup dry white wine

2 Tbs. Dry Oloroso Sherry

2 Tbs. Torres Spanish Brandy or Brandy de Jerez or Taconic Distillery Bourbon.

2 Tbs. Badia Naranja Agria (Sour orange; only Badia brand, not Goya or other. Badia has xanthan gum as a thickening agent, Goya Sour Orange marinade does not.)

Sea salt to taste

Grind of black pepper

1 package Trader Joe’s Raviolis with Sweet Corn, Burrata and Basil

 

Fill a pot with enough water for the pasta and bring to a boil

 

Sautee the leeks in the olive oil until soft, add the morels and sautee for a couple of minutes. Do not let the leeks burn.

 

Toss in the chopped garlic and sautee briefly.

 

Add the strips of basil.

 

Put in the white wine and reduce for a couple of minutes.

 

Add the Oloroso Sherry and the Spanish Brandy and reduce slightly. (Be careful with the brandy, which may flame up, which is okay as long as you don’t burn yourself and catch something on fire!)

  

Follow the instructions on the Trader Joe’s Ravioli package (about four minutes in the simmering water.

 

Plate the ravioli in shallow bowls and spoon over the morel mushroom mixture.

 

Serve with Aliaga Lágrima de Garnacha Navarra Rosado from The Spanish Artisan Wine & Spirits Group.

 

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Gerry Dawes will be leading a specialized gastronomy, wine and cultural tour to Western and Southern Spain from Tuesday, October 14 – Thursday, October 30, visiting the great cities and towns of Madrid, Segovia, Ávila, Salamanca, Trujullo, Mérida, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Cádiz, Sevilla, Ronda and Málaga. For further information contact gerrydawes@aol.com. 

 

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Sunset in a Glass: Adventures of a Food and Wine Road Warrior in Spain Volume I Enhanced Photography Edition

 

(Available at Amazon, Despana (NYC), LaTienda.com, La Boca Restaurant and Bodega, Santa Fe, NM), at Ibiza Kitchen (Chappaqua, NY) and at Kitchen Arts & Letters bookstore (NYC) and at a punto, calle Farmacia 6, Madrid. 

 

 

Comments are welcome and encouraged.

 

Text and photographs copyright by Gerry Dawes©2021.  Using photographs without crediting Gerry Dawes©2021 on Facebook.  Publication without my written permission is not authorized.

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  Shall deeds of Caesar or Napoleon ring
More true than Don Quixote's vapouring?
Hath winged Pegasus more nobly trod
Than Rocinante stumbling up to God?

 

Poem by Archer M. Huntington inscribed under the Don Quixote on his horse Rocinante bas-relief sculpture by his wife, Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington,

in the courtyard of the Hispanic Society of America’s incredible museum at 613 W. 155th Street, New York City.

 _______________________________________________________________________________________________

 

In 2019, again ranked in the Top 50 Gastronomy Blogs and Websites for Gastronomists & Gastronomes in 2019 by Feedspot. (Last Updated Oct 23, 2019) 

"The Best Gastronomy blogs selected from thousands of Food blogs, Culture blogs and Food Science blogs in our index using search and social metrics. We’ve carefully selected these websites because they are actively working to educate, inspire, and empower their readers with frequent updates and high-quality information."  

36. Gerry Dawes's Spain: An Insider's Guide to Spanish Food, Wine, Culture and Travel

 
About Gerry Dawes

My good friend Gerry Dawes, the unbridled Spanish food and wine enthusiast cum expert whose writing, photography, and countless crisscrossings of the peninsula have done the most to introduce Americans—and especially American food professionals—to my country's culinary life." -- Chef-restaurateur-humanitarian José Andrés, Nobel Peace Prize Nominee and Oscar Presenter 2019

Gerry Dawes is the Producer and Program Host of Gerry Dawes & Friends, a weekly radio progam on Pawling Public Radio in Pawling, New York (streaming live and archived at www.pawlingpublicradio.org and at www.beatofthevalley.com.)

Dawes was awarded Spain's prestigious Premio Nacional de Gastronomía (National Gastronomy Award) in 2003. He writes and speaks frequently on Spanish wine and gastronomy and leads gastronomy, wine and cultural tours to Spain. He was a finalist for the 2001 James Beard Foundation's Journalism Award for Best Magazine Writing on Wine, won The Cava Institute's First Prize for Journalism for his article on cava in 2004, was awarded the CineGourLand “Cinéfilos y Gourmets” (Cinephiles & Gourmets) prize in 2009 in Getxo (Vizcaya) and received the 2009 Association of Food Journalists Second Prize for Best Food Feature in a Magazine for his Food Arts article, a retrospective piece about Catalan star chef, Ferran Adrià. 

In December, 2009, Dawes was awarded the Food Arts Silver Spoon Award in a profile written by José Andrés. 

". . .That we were the first to introduce American readers to Ferran Adrià in 1997 and have ever since continued to bring you a blow-by-blow narrative of Spain's riveting ferment is chiefly due to our Spanish correspondent, Gerry "Mr. Spain" Dawes, the messianic wine and food journalist raised in Southern Illinois and possessor of a self-accumulated doctorate in the Spanish table. Gerry once again brings us up to the very minute. . ." - - Michael & Ariane Batterberry, Editor-in-Chief/Publisher and Founding Editor/Publisher, Food Arts, October 2009. 

 

Pilot for a reality television series on wine, gastronomy, culture and travel in Spain.
 

Experience Spain With Gerry Dawes: Customized Culinary, Wine & Cultural Trips to Spain & Travel Consulting on Spain  

Gerry Dawes can be reached at gerrydawes@aol.com; Alternate e-mail (use only if your e-mail to AOL is rejected): gerrydawes@gmail.com