Mushroom Parcels for my Vegan friend

I met a friend for coffee a couple of weeks and while chatting and catching up I discovered she had converted to a Vegan. We shared  a few ideas for Vegan food, a way of eating I am very unfamiliar with. My first thought was how limiting it was but I took on a challenge to come up with a recipe for her that was Vegan, different, fun and easy to prepare. While I really admire the motives of Vegans, I think sticking to a diet free of any animals and by products of animals could be extremely challenging. I love my vegetables so no problems there, actually I was a demi-vege for about 5 years in the 1990's and would be ok giving up meat. But I would be hard pushed to deny myself the joy of a perfectly poached egg on toast, or a slab of cheese with a dollop of pickle on a cracker or a fillet of pan fried fish drizzled with fresh lemon juice!
After our meeting I found myself (one Sunday) with a gift of six fresh lovely flat 'meaty' mushrooms. I love mushrooms and I thought they would be perfect as a base for a Vegan recipe. I had a lot of fun scouring my vegetarian books, and interestingly most mushroom recipes included dairy. This dish was no exception, however I left out the 8 tbsp cream listed in the recipe, but for non-Vegans you could certainly add it in.
I loved the 'drama' of serving the dish in a 'parcel' and this recipe does not disappoint.
It was adapted from a recipe in Ottolenghi's vegetarian 'Plenty' cook book, a fabulous 2012 gift I have used often. Once the 'parcel' was unwrapped I served its contents on a bed of cooked brown rice and it was so delicious. The 'parcels' can be prepared ahead of time and popped into the oven when you get home from work. While waiting for them to cook, you would have time to enjoy a matching wine.
Can a Vegan still enjoy most wines as I know many may include animal products during the fining process? You would just have to check the label I suppose. Luckily, the more modern techniques use plant based products. We enjoyed this dish with a glass of lovely Pinot Noir. (In my haste to eat, sorry - I forgot to photo the final product!).
Wild Mushroom Parcels (from ‘Plenty’ – Yotam Ottolenghi, Pub 2010)

Serves 4

300g mixed wild or exotic mushrooms (I used the flat ones chopped into large chunks)

300g baby button mushrooms

200g cooked baby potatoes (I used Argia, chopped into chunks)

4 garlic cloves, crushed

8 tbsp chopped Chervil

4 tbsp chopped Tarragon

4 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp Ricard or Pernod

Salt and black pepper

(plus 8 tbsp cream - leave out for Vegans)

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Cut four squares of baking paper, 35cm long and wide.

Wipe the mushrooms clean using a wet cloth or little brush.

Leave them whole of cut them into large chunks depending on the size.

Cut the potatoes into 1cm slices.

In a large bowl, gently toss together all of the ingredients. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.

Divide the mixture between the paper sheets. Lift the edges to scrunch them together into tight bundles and secure with string. Lift the parcels onto a baking sheet ( I put them into a large roasting dish.

Place in the oven to cook for about 17 minutes. Take out and leave to settle for 1 minute.

Serve the parcels sealed, allowing the diners to open then up themselves.

Fantastic served with brown rice sprinkled with toasted pecans or pumpkins seeds.