#TasteofThursday Roasted Oyster Mushroom Frittata

 

Roasted Oyster Mushroom Frittata with Marinated Tomatoes and Baby Greens

Chef Deniz Tarakcioglu, Cafe Medina 

 

Serves 6

Ingredients

1.5 lbs Oyster Mushrooms, stems trimmed (or substitute with your favourite mushroom)

100 g Shallots, thinly sliced

5 cloves Garlic, finely chopped

1 bunch Parsley, chopped coarsely

100 g Soft Goat Cheese

1 stalk Fresh Rosemary

50 mL Aged Sherry Vinegar

30 mL Butter

15 Free-range Eggs

500 mL Heavy Cream

300 g Cherry Tomatoes, halved

1 Juice of 1 Lemon

100 mL Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salad Greens

Fresh Bread, toasted

Method

The day before (if you have time; if not, same day will work:

1. Melt butter in a heavy skillet. Add shallots, garlic and rosemary and cook until fragrant and shallots are opaque.
2. Add sherry vinegar and reduce by half.
3. Add mushrooms and let them wilt. Season aggressively with sea salt and pepper. Once mushrooms start to get crispy edges, remove from heat and once cool, chill over night in a covered bowl.
4. In a separate bowl, whip eggs and cream with a pinch of salt and chopped parsley. Chill overnight.

Day of:

1. Grease a 20-inch cast iron skillet or equivalent sized ovenproof pan.
2. Lay your mushrooms and dabs of goat cheese in the pan (you can also toss in some leftover potatoes from dinner!)
3. Place the pan in a cold oven and turn the heat on to 350F. Once the oven is up to temperature, carefully pull the pan out, pour in the egg mixture, and place back in the oven until it is loosely set in the middle, approx. 25 minutes, depending on your oven.
4. When cooked, pull the frittata out of the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes. (This is a good to time to crisp up your bread in the hot oven!)
5. While the frittata cooks, toss the tomatoes with a pinch of salt, lemon juice and olive oil. Let them marinate for 20 minutes or so.
6. Scoop the tomatoes out of the marinade with a slotted spoon and scatter over the frittata.
7. Toss salad greens in the reserved tomato marinade and top the frittata, then serve.

Chef Deniz: “I like to serve this dish in the skillet with a spoon on the side, so everyone can help themselves as much as they want!”

 

Chef de Cuisine Deniz Tarakcioglu is both an old hand and familiar face when it comes to the Café Medina kitchen.

Deniz served two separate stints at the original Café Medina on Beatty Street, both as a first cook in 2009 and then a sous chef in 2012, before rejoining the fold as chef de cuisine at the restaurant’s new home at 780 Richards Street in 2015.

Born and raised in Northern Turkey, Deniz grew up in the warm embrace of a family of cooks and spent most of his childhood in the kitchen and around the table, where he quickly learned to appreciate and master the same hearty, rustic and Mediterranean- inspired cuisine that Café Medina has become famous for, as well as the subtle art of simplicity — both in life and on the line.