Simply omit the onions if you don't like them. Adding a bit of garlic to taste would be fine - just make sure not to burn the garlic when making the sauce. Experimenting with different aromatics is a good thing - you don't have to "follow" a recipe exactly. This is what makes cooking fun!

Well, I got my morels and Calvados and can't wait to try this out. I was hoping too to maybe check out some side dish ideas or suggestions. That would be a great help. I think with the Chicken Saltimbocca there were some side dish suggestions that were great. Just wanted to put that suggestion in if you were maybe thinking about putting that in the recipes for the future. That and some good wine pairings.
Thanks for these video's they are great! I'm so glad I joined rouxbe.

I say keep it simple. Since the dish itself is kind of rich, maybe make some green beans or roasted carrots. Or make some boiled potatoes and a simple salad. Any one of these would be a good way to round out the meal. Enjoy dinner!

Ok, I am sending one kid out for carrots right now. Sounds good. I have to say though ever since I've been a member in Rouxbe my family has been coming home early and the first thing out of their mouths is, what are we having for dinner tonight. They can't wait. You have a great little school here and I really appreciate all the work you guys put into everything. Even when I need to find out a side quickly, you write back right away. Thanks very much.

Bye for now
Ana

So, finished dinner and since nobody is around but the family, it ended with the licking of the plate ritual since I've been cooking with rouxbe. ha ha Really good and everyone loved this. Another one they want me to make again! Thanks so much.

Thank you so much for sharing Ana...we really appreciate it. So glad your family is enjoying all of your efforts!

Hi.
I'll leave the side dish ideas up to the chefs but maybe I can help with the wine pairing. As there are a number of dominant flavours and textures in this dish, it opens us up to a number of options (which is a good thing!).
An ideal pairing for pork and mushrooms is Pinot Noir. As this dish is quite rich (cream, calvados, etc) any style would be fine. Pinot is typically medium in body and won't overpower any one ingredient/flavour and can have a desirable earthiness that's a perfect match for mushrooms, especially the wild varieties. Also, Pinots are typically fairly acidic, which helps cut through the richness of the heavy cream.
Then on the other hand, we have the richness of the cream and tanginess from the Brandy to consider; a new world oaked chardonnay with its buttery notes and creamy mouth-feel work especially well along side this.
Personally, I’ve tried this dish with both options, and although I’m a self confessed Pinot Noir fan, I really enjoyed the Chard.
Cheers!

This is great! I appreciate you breaking it all down like that for me. Excellent. I might just have to have a taste test with this dish then between the pino and the Chardonnay. I like Pino too but when anyone mentions the key word for me, "Buttery" I might just need to go for the Chard. he he. Thanks again for your welcome advice.

the buttery thing does it for me as well..:-)

Can you substitute dried porcini mushrooms for the morels?

Cooking is all about making substitutions and making dishes your own. If you want to try porcini mushrooms instead than you can. To me porcini mushrooms are quite strong, so I might try adding a mix of crimini, button or even chanterelle mushrooms as well. But again this all up to you!

It is now 1:40pm. I am having a couple for dinner. They will arrive at ~6:30pm So dinner will be around 7pm. I have prepared the pork-tenderloin and put them on top of the fridge to come up to room temp. My wife grew on a farm and she insists that 2 hours will be sufficient to come up to room temp. What do you think?

Thanks

Jorge

Depends on the temperature really. Pork tenderloins are quite small so 1 to 2 hours is more than enough. Good luck.

I prepared the dinner for my first guinea pigs... I prepared Pork with Morel-Calvados, Asparagus with a Beurre Blanc and a salad. The timing, oh yes the timing. For the asparagus, I cooked them first (steam them) THEN I proceeded to prepare the Beurre Blanc. I then served dinner. Of course the asparagus were only warm as they sat on the side while I prepared the Beurre Blanc.

BIG LESSON FOR ME. Time everything ahead of time...

By the way, a suggestion. Would you consider preparing menus, paring them with wines and perhaps a small lesson on timing?

Jorge

This may be something that we do a lesson on down the road; however most of it just comes down to practice and also doing your mise en place. The better you set yourself up the easier things will be when it comes to the actual cooking part. Cheers!

This recipe is absolutely wonderful!! I had to make substitutions - buttons for morels, medium dry sherry for calvados. My husband and I both loved it and I plan to make this dish again and again. I served it with a plain potato lightly drizzled with olive oil and kosher salt along with a fresh spinach and tomato salad with a splash of basalmic vinegar and toasted pecans. Heaven. I can't wait to make this dish with the morels and calvados and I plan to do so for my Mother on Mother's Day!! Thanks so much!! This took me to whole new level in cooking.

I had no idea Morel mushrooms were so expensive. I got 14g for about $10.00.

I'll be getting the calvados as well because I want to make sure I get this recipe right.

In the meantime, I don't feel I'm ready to tackle this expensive dish. I mean if I screw this one up I'm really going to feel bad.

So I thought I'd try the other dishes first. In the meatime what do I do with these morels?

Should I put them in the freezer? I'm thinking it may take me as long as a month to feel confident enough to cook this dish.

So what do I do with these mushrooms in the meantime? Keep in the package in the frig, or pop in the freezer.

Thanks!

I'm a life-long hater of mushrooms.

I only had them once where I actually liked them and they were Chantalle at a five star restaurant. I couldn't believe anyone could make a mushroom taste that good.

I don't have any idea what morels taste like but am very open and optimistic.

Hi Jude,

First of all, if the morels came dried, they will be fine. If they are fresh, you can freeze them no problem.

As for building up your confidence, I suggest you replace the calvados with white wine and the morels, simply omit them (or use regular field/button mushrooms). Watch the pan sauce and pan frying lesson again and practice the basics.

1. Pan fry meat (protect the sucs)
2. Take the meat out of the pan, add shallots (and mushrooms if you want)
3. deglaze with wine, reduce
4. add chicken stock and reduce
5. finish with cream, mustard, etc.

This is a simple dish and YOU CAN do it... trust yourself. You can do this a few times if you like before adding the more expensive ingredients. Even try it with chicken, replace the white wine red wine, etc. Just watch the heat so you don't burn the sucs and follow the important steps in the lesson (rely less on this recipe).

Good luck. Let us know how it goes.

Thanks for your suggestions!

The Calvados was $50.00 a bottle. So now the mushrooms seem pretty darn cheap and am no longer all that worried about them. (they were dried)

I ended up buying a $15.00 smaller bottle of apple brandy. I also ended up buying a bunch of other nifty lesser expensive liquors last night and of course had to sample them all. Hence my insanely late start cooking a really complicated father's day dinner today.

The bottle of Sherry I purchased, came with a pad lock on top, too funny, but after tasting it I now understand why. I may have to have my family hide the key from me!

What's really amazing is I thought I HATED sherry because my only experience with it was in the cheap cooking wine section of your local grocery. I can't believe how good all these liqueurs taste and can't wait to cook with them!

Anyway, my question is, isn't calvados an apple brandy? And can't I try to make this dish with the apple brandy and have similar results?

The shop owner said this bottle of calvados was "only" $34.00 last week but shot up to $50 because of Euros exchange and no one is buying it anymore. Like who would pay that much even when it was $34.00?

Sorry, I digress...

I really want to make this dish, it looks so unbelievably delicious. So whatcha think about using the apple brandy?

Calvados is indeed apple brandy. It is specifically produced in French region of Normandy. We just happened to use this kind, but you can substitute other types of apple brandy and/or apple juice concentrate or apple juice. You can even substitute things like cognac, brandy or marsala. Cooking is all about making substitutions and working with what you have on hand. Calvados is expensive, so you are free to make adjustments. It may not be "exactly" the same, but it'll be close. Just think about the flavors and if you think they are "friends", it'll work. Cheers!

The dish was even better than I thought it was going to be, especially seeing how I can't stand mushrooms or their cousins. Also made the carrots/green onions sauteed. Also after watching the "how to make rice" lesson, I made that as well and my son couldn't believe I made rice from scratch and it was the best I've ever made.

Of course I murdered the broccoli because I wasn't paying attention, but hey, three out of four ain't bad! Igniting the Calvados was so much fun I wanted to do it again and again, but ended up drinking most the left over, hence the murdered broccoli.

Thanks again for another wonderful recipe. I can't wait to make it again!

Pan sauces rock!

I served this with Hasselback potatos (another Rouxbe recipe) and Southern Greens. My family loved it. I took my pan outside to flambe. It was a first for me and I didn't know how high the flames would be.:) My husband stood by with his cell phone ready to dial 911!

This dish goes into my "keeper" file.

Great recipe. I found the Calvados at Lunardi's grocery store for $19.99 (375mL). There was also a larger bottle (about double the size) for $29.99. Since this alcohol keeps for a long time, I'd say it's well worth the price.

I was a little worried about the flambe part since this was my first time setting a pan on fire, but it was easy. The flames don't go very high.

And thanks to the gentleman who suggested pinot with the pork. It was a perfect pairing.

Thank you Rouxbe for a great recipe and great instruction. I would not have been brave enough to try this recipe without you!

I made this tonight for a family get together and it was a big hit. I was surprised how easy it was to make. I couldn't find cavlvados so I used regular brandy and added a little apple concentrate. My family said to thank Rouxbe for them because my meals are getting much better and more exciting. Do you have any plans on offering a plating course?