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Mushroom Pate

This has been on the menu at the Brasserie Monmarte in downtown Portland for over 15 years, and the owner, Abdel Omar, could not remember who originally created this dish. I got it off rfc and have remained quite faithful to the below version.
Samantha Demidavicius

makes 3 cups [but I generally halve it]

1 1/4 pounds of Crimini mushrooms, chopped
1/2 cup of diced onions
1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup [1 stick] unsalted butter
2 3-ounce packages cream cheese
1/4 cup canned diced chilies. [YMMV]

Place the first five items into a food processor and pulse it to finely mince the mushrooms.

Heat up the butter in a large heavy skillet; transfer the mushroom mixture into it and saute on low heat until all the liquid exuding from the mushrooms has evaporated [about 15-20 minutes]

Combine with the cream cheese and green chilies. Blend well. Place in a decorative bowl and refrigerate until well chilled, preferably over night. Serve with French Bread or baguette.

I try not to overpower the mushroom taste with too much chilies; but have found that the above ratios seem pretty good.

The version that served at the Cookin was a little different from the above because I did everything by hand without the use of a processor. It chilled for only a couple of hours.

Consomme of Mushroom with Madeira

This recipe isn't particularly easy but it is clear and it is amazing. The recipe is from _Nico_ by Nico Ladenis.
From Kay Hartman

450 g button mushrooms
40 g fresh foie gras
100 g onion, very finely chopped
1 heaped tablespoon tomato puree
2 litres chicken stock [recipe for Nico's version of White Chicken Stock below]
6 tablespoons Madeira
Salt
5 egg whites
Fresh coriander leaves [cilantro]

1. Mince the mushrooms in a food processor.

2. Melt the foie gras in a large saucepan, add the onions and saute until transparent.

3. Add the tomato puree, stock and mushrooms, Madeira and salt and cook for about 1 hour.

4. Pass through a fine sieve and allow to cool.

5. Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks and slowly add the liquid to them, beating continuously until well amalgamated.

6. Place soup over a very low heat and simmer for about 35 minutes to clarify the liquid, then pass through 2-3 layers of muslin.

7. Serve in bowls with fresh coriander leaves floating on top.

White Chicken Stock

1 onion
1 leek
2 sticks celery
1 clove garlic
1 carrot
1 kg chicken necks
1 kg chicken winglets
1 litre dry white wine
3 litres water
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh parsley
1 bay leaf
10 crushed white peppercorns

1. Peel, wash and cut all the vegetables into a mirepoix (dice).

2. Place the pieces of chicken in a large saucepan with the vegetables and wine and cover with water.

3. Bring to the boil and skim off any scum that rises to the surface.

4. Add the herbs and peppercorns and simmer for at least 5 hours, skimming frequently.

5. Pass the stock through a double layer of muslin and leave to cool, then refrigerate.

6. By the next day, the stock should have set into a nice jelly, allowing any excess fat to be scraped from the surface.

Exotic Mushroom Pate

This is from the January 1997 issue of Gourmet. Kay Hartman

For mushroom pate
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup dried porcini mushrooms (about 1 ounce)
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
3/4 cup minced shallot
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup dry Sherry
3/4 pound fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded and caps sliced thin (about 4 1/2 cups)
3/4 pound fresh oyster mushrooms, stems discarded and caps sliced thin (about 4 1/2 cups)
1 cup heavy cream
4 large eggs
1/4 cup whole almonds, toasted golden and ground fine
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leafed parsley leaves (wash and dry before chopping)
1/3 cup fine fresh bread crumbs
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For mushroom topping
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded and caps quartered
1 cup fresh oyster mushrooms, stems discarded and caps quartered
3/4 cup whole almonds, toasted and chopped coarse [I left mine whole]
1/4 cup fresh flat-leafed parsley leaves, washed and dried

Accompaniment: assorted toasts and/or crackers

Make pate:

Butter a 2-quart terrine, 12 by 3 by 2 3/4 inches. Line terrine with wax paper and butter paper.

In a small saucepan bring broth to a boil and remove pan from heat. Soak porcini in hot broth 30 minutes, or until softened. Remove porcini, squeezing out excess liquid, and reserve soaking liquid. Rinse porcini to remove any grit and pat dry. Chop porcini and put in a large bowl. Strain reserved soaking liquid through a fine sieve lined with a coffee filter or dampened paper towel into another small saucepan. Simmer soaking liquid over moderate heat until reduced to about 1/4 cup and return to bowl with porcini.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large non-stick skillet heat 2 tablespoons butter over moderate heat until foam subsides and cook shallot and garlic, stirring, until softened, about 6 minutes. Add Sherry and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Transfer shallot mixture to a blender. In skillet heat 2 tablespoons butter over moderately high heat until foam subsides and saute
shiitake and oyster mushrooms in batches, stirring, about 2 minutes. Add remaining 1/2 stick butter, cut into pieces, as necessary. Add 2 cups sauteed mushrooms to shallot mixuter in blender and add
remaining sauteed mushrooms to porcini mixture.

Add cream, eggs, and almonds to mixture in blender and puree 1
minute, or until very smooth. Add puree to porcini mixture and stir in remaining pate ingredients until combined well. [I added the thyme, parsley, bread crumbs, lemon juice, salt, and pepper to the blender before blending.]

Pour mixture into terrine and cover with foil. Put terrine in a large baking pan and add enough water to baking pan to reach halfway up sides of terrine. Bake pate in middle of oven 1 hour and 10
minutes. (Pate will not be completely set in center.) Remove
terrine from baking pan and cool completely on a rack. Chill pate in terrine, covered, at least 6 hours and up to 5 days. Bring pate to room temperature before unmolding.

Make topping:

In a large skillet heat butter and oil over moderately high heat until foam subsides and saute mushrooms are tender. Transfer mixture to a heatproof bowl and cool. Add parsley and season with salt and pepper, tossing to combine.

To unmold pate, run a thin knife around edge of terrine and dip
terrine into a bowl of hot water 10 seconds. Invert a large plate over terrine and invert pate onto plate.

Mound topping on top of pate and serve with toasts and/or crackers. Serves 30 as an hors d'oeuvre.

Mushroom Timbale with Sorrel Sauce

There are mushrooms that look just like white button mushrooms but are
brown. These are sold under many different names. The name most
frequently seen in the part of the world where I live is crimini.
Criminis have a lot more flavor than a white button mushroom. They
are my favorite everyday mushroom. Any recipe I made that calls for
mushrooms without specifying the type, I usually use criminis.

Portabello mushrooms are overgrown criminis. Except for a few
preparations, I prefer to eat criminis over portabellos. A fresh
crimini has a crisp texture that a portabello can never achieve. I
find portabellos to be kind of spongy in texture.

I would recommend Rhonda start off with something like a crimini
before moving on to the portabello, which I view as a fad mushroom of
the day.

Other than criminis, another mushroom I haven't seen mentioned in this
thread is shiitake. This mushroom has some serious flavor.

Here's a recipe using button mushrooms or criminis. This recipe is
from _The Greens Cookbook_ by Deborah Madison with Edward Espe Brown.

Kay Hartman

14 ounces mushrooms [I used crimini]
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 small yellow onion, very finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 teaspoons parsley, finely chopped
1 teaspoon thyme leaves and blossoms, finely chopped, or 1/4 teaspoon
dried thyme
Salt
Pepper
5 eggs
2 cups light cream or milk, warmed
Nutmeg
About 1/2 cup toasted bread crumbs
Sorrel Sauce

Clean the mushrooms and chop them finely, either by hand or in a food
processor. Heat the butter in a skillet; add the onion and cook for a
minute or two until it has softened and colored a little. Add the
mushrooms, garlic, parsley, and thyme, raise the heat, and cook
briskly until all the moisture has been reabsorbed, about 3 to 4
minutes. Turn off the heat and season with salt and freshly ground
black pepper.

Beat the eggs well; then stir in the cream or milk, and add the
mushrooms. Season with a few scrapings of nutmeg, and salt and black
pepper to taste. Put the filling in a food processor or blender and
process until the custard is fairly smooth but still retains some
flecks of mushroom.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter 1-cup-capacity ramekins
well, and coat them liberally with the bread crumbs. Fill them; then
set them in a deep pan and add enough hot water to come halfway up
their sides. Bake until they are firm to the touch, about 1 hour.
Prepare the sorrel sauce while the timbales are cooking. When they
are done, let them cool briefly; then unmold them onto your hand and
set them on serving plates, top side up, with the sauce spooned around
or over them.

Serves four to six.

Sorrel Sauce

2 cups Wild Mushroom Stock or 1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
2 1/2 tablespoons butter
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
2 to 3 cups sorrel leaves, stems removed
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup light cream
1/2 cup creme fraiche
Salt
Pepper

If you are not using the Wild Mushroom Stock [I did], cover the dried
mushrooms with 2 1/2 cups boiling water, and set them aside to soak
for at least 1/2 hour. Once they have soaked, squeeze them dry, and
pour the liquid through a coffee filter or a strainer lined with a
paper towel. It is fine to use the less expensive mushrooms imported
from South America for this as the mushrooms themselves are not used
in the sauce. If you are using better quality dried mushrooms, rinse
them after soaking to remove any sand or grit, squeeze them dry, and
set them aside to use in another dish. As before, strain the soaking
liquid.

Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a saucepan and add the onion. Cook
it gently for 1 minute or so; then add the sorrel. Cover the pan to
sweat the leaves for a few minutes; then remove the lid and stir down
the sorrel, which will melt to almost nothing. Add the stock or
mushroom liquid, bring to a boil, then simmer slowly, covered, for 5
minutes. Cool briefly, and set aside.

Melt the remaining butter, stir in the flour, and cook over low heat
for 2 minutes. Add the pureed liquid all at once, and whisk it into
the roux. Add the two creams, and season to taste with salt and
freshly ground black papper. Bring to a boil; then cook gently,
stirring occasionally, for 12 to 15 minutes.

Makes 3 cups

Wild Mushroom Stock

1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
4 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced or chopped (optional) [I used
criminis]
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 medium onion, chopped into 1/2-inch squares
1/2 cup leek greens, roughly chopped into 1-inch pieces (optional) [I
used them]
4 to 6 thyme branches or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves
6 branches parsley, roughly chopped
3 sage leaves or large pinch dried sage
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
9 cups cold water

Cover the dried mushrooms with 1 cup hot water and set them aside.
Heat the olive oil in a soup pot, add the vegetables, herbs, garlic,
salt, and cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, for about
5 minutes. Next add the dried mushrooms and their soaking liquid plus
the 9 cups cold water, and bring to a boil; then simmer for 45
minutes. Strain the stock through a fine-meshed sieve. Use it as is
or return to the stove and reduce it further to intensify the flavor
as much as desired. Generally it takes about 15 minutes at a slow
boil to reduce the volume by 1 cup.

Variation: For a darker-colored stock, caramelize the onion
separately first. Heat the oil, add the onion, and cook it until it
has turned a very dark brown, stirring occasionally at first, then
more frequently as it gets darker. Add the remaining ingredients plus
the water, bring to a boil, cook as above, and strain.

Makes 6 to 8 cups

"Kantarellsoppa" (Chanterelle soup)

300g fresh chanterelle mushrooms, cleaned
1 finely chopped yellow onion
6dl (600ml) mushroom flavoured or vegetable stock
1 dl (100ml) milk
1 dl (100ml) whipped cream
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
Freshly ground salt and pepper

Sauté the chanterelles and onion in the fat long enough so that they become crisp.
Add the stock, milk and cream and simmer for 15 minutes until the soup chickens.
Liquidise with a hand blender and season with salt and pepper.
Garnish with fresh chanterelles, onion and flat leaf parsley.
Serve with crusty bread.

Vegetarian Mushroom Pie

Serves 4

2tbsp / 30ml vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
6oz / 175g string beans, cut into ½in / 1cm pieces
8oz / 225g chestnut mushrooms, quartered
10oz / 275g open cup mushrooms, sliced
5tsp / 25ml flour
200g carton virtually fatree fromage frais
10oz / 275g open cup mushrooms, sliced
2tsp / 10ml Dijon mustard
salt and pepper

Pastry:
2oz / 65g margarine
5oz / 150g plain flour
2tsp / 10ml fresh mixed herbs, chopped
cold water to mix

To glaze:
Beaten free range egg or milk

1. Heat oil and cook onion and beans in a covered pan over a gentle heat for about 4 minutes.

2. Stir in all the mushrooms, cover and continue cooking for another 5 minutes.

3. Stir in flour and cook for a minute.

4. Gradually stir in fromage frais, mustard and seasoning. Bring to the boil, stirring. Turn mixture into a pie dish and allow to cool.

5. Rub margarine into flour until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in herbs and enough water to form a fairly stiff dough.

6. Roll out and use to cover pie in usual way. Decorate with pastry leaves cut from frimmings Brush with egg or milk, then cook in oven 400°F/200°C/gas mark 6 for about 35 minutes.

Chanterelle Terrine (Terrine de chanterelles)

This recipe is from _Pates and Terrines_ by Friedrich W. Ehlert, Edouard Longue, Michael Raffael, and Frank Wesel. From Kay Hartman

1 tablespoon butter
2 shallots, sliced
3 thin slices white bread, crusts removed
1/2 egg white, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons light cream
5 ounces lean boneless veal
little salt and ground white pepper
3/4 cup whipped cream
1 1/2 pound fresh, whole small chanterelles
3 tablespoons oil
1/3 cup diced shallots
3/4 cup jellifying veal broth
1 teaspoon chopped caraway seeds
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
butter for greasing mold
1-quart pate mold [I used a loaf pan]
port wine aspic to finish [recipe below]

Melt 2 teaspoons of the butter, glaze the sliced shallots in it and leave to cool. Moisten the bread with the egg white and cream. Cut the veal into strips and place on a baking sheet with the moistened bread and shallots. Season with salt and pepper. Grind twice through the finest blade of the grinder. Push the forcemeat through a fine strainer and beat until smooth and silky. [Instead of this I just whirr the forcemeat in the food processor until it is smooth.] Gradually add the whipped cream and beat thoroughly after each stage.

Braise the chanterelles in the oil and drain well. Soften the diced shallots in the remaining butter and add the veal broth. Add the caraway and reduce to a thick essence. Push through a strainer, add the drained chanterelles and simmer for a few moments. Leave to cool and then stir into the forcemeat with the parsley. Grease the mold with butter, add the forcemeat and bang several times on a damp cloth. Seal and cook, in a water bath, for about 35 minutes, regulating the oven so that the water temperature does not exceed 176 degrees F.

When cool cover the terrine with an aspic made with port wine and finely chopped parley.

Port Wine Aspic

1/2 cup egg white, beaten until soft peaks form
1/2 cup finely diced onion
1/2 cup finely diced leeks
1/2 cup finely diced celeriac [I just used celery]
few stems of parsley
1 teaspoon salt
8 white peppercorns
1 piece bay leaf
1 quart light broth (meat, poultry or fish, depending on the type of pate) [I used chicken]
1/2 cup white wine or 3 tablespoons wine vinegar [I used 1 cup Port wine]
3 envelopes aspic powder or unflavored gelatin

1. Tip the finely diced vegetables and seasonings into the egg white. The egg white should have been beaten until soft peaks formed. Work the ingredients with your hand or a wooden spoon.

2. Tip the egg white and vegetable mixture into the broth. The broth should be cold at this stage. Place over the highest possible heat and whisk continuously with a wire whisk.

3. Beat firmly with the whisk, scraping around the bottom of the pan to prevent the egg white solidifying. It is easier if you use a spatula for this. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat.

4. The egg white separates and floats on the surface. Add the white wine or vinegar. Simmer the broth very gently for 40-50 minutes without allowing it to boil. This gives the broth time to absorb all the flavor from the vegetables and seasonings.

5. The broth is clarified. You can see from looking at the pan that the egg white has absorbed even the tiniest impurities, leaving the broth completely clear. Line a conical strainer with filter paper and strain the hot broth. An alternative method is shown on the next page. A sheet of cheesecloth is attached to the legs of an upturned kitchen stool. [The book shows a picture with an upside-down stool and cheesecloth attached to the legs with a bowl underneath.]

6. Add the gelatin to the clarified broth. [Soften the gelatin in water for 5 minutes or so before adding it to the broth.] If the broth has become too cool during filtering, reheat to allow the
gelatin to be completely dissolved.

7. A crystal-clear aspic of exactly the right consistency, firm enough but still tender. Three envelopes aspic powder or gelatin to 1 quart broth is about the average requirement. This quantity will keep the aspic firm at normal room temperature.

Aspic temperature

Regardless of whether you are filling a pie or covering a galatine, the correct temperature of the aspic jelly is always important. It should be used just before it reaches setting point, while still slightly fluid, but allowing it to set as quickly as possible once used. There is a very simple and reliable method of checking the temperature.

Pour a little liquid aspic into a bowl and keep the remaining warm aspic to hand. Place the bowl in iced water and stir gently with a small slotted spoon or pastry brush. Vigorous stirring would cause bubbles which would not look very good when poured over a terrine. Before setting you can see clearly that the aspic becomes slightly thick. Remove from the water at once and use. This ideal temperature period is quite short. If the aspic in the bowl begins to set, add a little of the warm aspic and if necessary cool again until you have the right consistency.