Potted mushrooms (mushroom paste)

1 batch

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
1 ounce Imported dried mushrooms (about 2/3 cup)
⅔ cup ;Warm water
2 tablespoons Madeira; plus more if needed
2 mediums Shallots; peeled and sliced
1 medium Garlic clove peeled and sliced
½ teaspoon Salt; or to taste
¼ teaspoon Ground mace
1 large Pinch dried thyme leaves
Scrap of bay leaf or (about 1/2\" square)
1 large Pinch powdered bay leaves*
1 Tiny pinch of ground cloves
½ pounds Firm, fresh mushrooms** cultivated ones (weight after trimming) stems removed
Fresh ground black pepper or to taste
Cayenne pepper; to taste
½ To 3/4 c. butter (1 to 1 1/2 sticks) sliced 1/4\" thick
½ cup Clarified butter*** (approx) for sealing

Directions

*See Powdered Bay Leaves recipe.

**About ¾ lb. before trimming.

***See Clarified Butter recipe. Soak dried mushrooms in the warm water, covered, for several hours or overnight, until mushrooms are very soft.

Lift mushrooms from their liquid with a slotted spoon and place them in the container of a food processor or blender; let the soaking liquid settle for a moment, then pour it carefully into the food processor, leaving behind any sand that may be in the bottom. Add the Madeira, shallots, garlic, salt, mace, thyme, bay leaf and cloves; process mixture to a puree. Scrape the puree into a bowl and reserve it.

Preheat the oven to 300 F.

Working in batches, if necessary, chop mushroom caps very fine in the processor or blender (no need to clean the container first). Add the puree; blend everything together well.

Scrape the mixture into a small baking dish (a 3-cup souffle dish is just right) and set it into a slightly larger baking dish or pan.

Cover the inner dish tightly with foil and add a metal lid or ovenproof plate to hold it in place. Pour enough boiling water into the outer dish to come within an inch below the rim of the inner dish.

Bake the mushroom mixture at 300 F., adding more hot water to the outer dish as necessary and stirring mushrooms after 1½ hours.

Check the mushrooms again after 2 ½ hours; fragments should be tender, almost jellylike. When this point is reached, uncover the inner dish and let the mixture bake uncovered for an additional ½ hour. Remove the whole business from the oven and set the inner dish on a rack to cool to lukewarm.

Taste the potted mushrooms and add pepper to taste, plus a little more of any of the seasonings you think may be needed; the flavor should be pronounced. Using at least 1 stick of butter or as much as 1 ½ sticks, add the butter slices, about one-third at a time, whisking after each addition until butter disappears. Taste the mixture again and make any final additions to the seasonings.

Pack potted mushrooms into two or three attractive small crocks suitable for serving; smooth the tops. Chill the paste, uncovered, until it is firm; as it cools, it will begin to appear marbled.

Melt clarified butter and pour a layer about ¼" thick over the paste, being sure that the butter layer is sealed to the sides of the containers. Cover the mushroom paste tightly and refrigerate it. It will keep for up to three weeks in the refrigerator. Before serving, allow potted mushrooms to soften slightly at room temperature.

Leftovers should be used within a few days.

Yield: About 2 ½ cups.

Witty writes: "Use this buttery dark spread, pungent with the flavor of both dried and fresh mushrooms, on canapes or in thin-cut sandwiches, which are especially good when a few leaves of watercress are tucked in. It is also a fine snack on crackers. Use it, too, as the 'butter' for substantial sandwiches of chicken or cheese, or swirl spoonfuls into hot noodles as sauce and seasoning, or spread a spoonful over a broiled steak.

"To achieve the most intense mushroom flavor at the most reasonable cost, choose dried fungi labeled 'European mushrooms' or, if you can find them, the otherwise anonymous dried mushrooms imported from Chile. You can also use dried mushrooms identified as boletes (boletus mushrooms), which have marvelous flavor but carry a high price tag. These will be found under such names as cepes, porcini, funghi secchi porcini, and Steinpilze. Oriental dried mushrooms (shiitake and so on) are not suitable." From "Fancy Pantry" by Helen Witty. New York: Workman Publishing Company, Inc., 1986. ISBN 0-89480-037-X. Pp. 39-40. Posted by Cathy Harned. From: Cathy Harned Date: 09-25-94

Related recipes