Mushrooms Star in TV Chef Nick Stellino’s Kitchen

Mushrooms and arugula join together in this easy side dish for a marriage of flavors (photo courtesy Nick Stellino)

“Food is a celebration of life and there’s joy to be found in the kitchen,” according to Emmy-nominated PBS cooking show chef Nick Stellino.

I recently had the opportunity to chat with him about Italian cooking, his passion for teaching his viewers and about favorite dishes that can be seen on his new Create TV program, Storyteller in the Kitchen. Stellino has been cooking on PBS for 25 years and views his mission as inspiring viewers to have the conviction that “I can do this!”.

In new episodes of Storyteller in the Kitchen Nick’s passion for teaching viewers is evident as he explains the why behind each step in preparing that segment’s dishes. He even reveals his own mistakes in the kitchen as a way of helping viewers learn. In a segment about breakfast foods, he speaks about trying to cook pancakes in olive oil – a big no-no. “In Sicily we didn’t do breakfast in the American style. Who knew? But explaining about that helps everybody understand.”

We talked about his dish, Mushrooms with Arugula. Stellino is enthusiastic about mushrooms, saying that each has a distinctive flavor of its own. Even button mushrooms can be a canvas for absorbing flavors of other ingredients and so can stand out, he says. He feels strongly about using the freshest ingredients, declaring that the best Italian food is prepared with fresh ingredients so they all shine and show off their true flavors. “Each ingredient should have a voice. Think about how each contributes to the picture you want to create”, he advises.

For instance, the recipe for the Mushrooms with Arugula dish calls for beech mushrooms which are small slender mushrooms that grow in a bundle. They are not easily available in this area even though it’s the mushroom capital of the US so Stellino suggests cremini mushrooms instead as a good choice to add flavor. In this marriage of ingredients, the arugula is wilted in at the end. It yields a strength to the dish he says, commenting that arugula is not a yielding green.

His words of encouragement? “Our dinner table is our last tribal meeting ground where we come together as a family. The food we cook is an everlasting soundtrack to the memories we create at that table. Don’t waste those memories on take out food. Make an effort, at least once a week learn how to cook, even if it is a simple plate of pasta. Your children will remember that forever… I know I still do!”

Mushrooms with Arugula
Recipe courtesy of Nick Stellino
Ingredients
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lb beech mushrooms kept whole or cremini mushrooms cut into quarters or stemmed shiitake mushrooms cut into thin slices
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tbs chopped chives
1/2 tsp of Nick’s Magic rub (made by combining 1 tbs light brown sugar and 1 tbs each of salt, pepper, paprika and onion powder)
1/2 tsp chopped garlic
4 oz baby arugula
1/2 tbs softened butter

Preparation
Pour the olive oil in a nonstick skillet and cook over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes until it starts to sizzle. Add the mushrooms and flavor with salt and pepper. Stir well and cook for 2 minutes.

Add the chives and stir well before cooking for 1 minute. After adding the garlic and Nick’s magic rub, cook for 1 minute, stirring well.

Add the arugula and reduce heat to medium. Stir well while cooking for 2 minutes.

Turn off heat and add the butter. Stir until completely melted. Serve this side dish with grilled fish, chicken, or your favorite steak.