Mushroom Essence Recipe
Yield: 1 BatchRecipe by luhu.jp
Ingredients:
1 ounce: Boletus mushrooms, dried*
6 cup: Very warm water,
2 medium: Shallots, peeled & chopped
6 each: Peppercorns,
1 each: Blade whole mace -=OR=-,
1 pinch: Ground mace,
1/2 small: Bay leaf,
Directions:
*One oz. = 2/3 cup. Suggested mushrooms are cepes, porcini,
Steinpilze or boletes marketed as "Chilean dried mushrooms." Combine
mushrooms in a bowl with 4 cups very warm water. Push them under the
surface, weight them with a saucer, and let them soak overnight or
for at least 6 hours, until they are very soft. Stir them
occasionally. Lift mushrooms from the liquid with a slotted spoon
(save the liquid) and chop them fine, saving as much juice as
possible. Combine them with the remaining 2 cups water in a
saucepan, bring them to a simmer, and simmer them, covered, for 20
minutes. Meanwhile, to clear the soaking liquid of grit, pour it
carefully into a bowl, leaving behind the sediment - this is certain
to be sandy. Let the liquid settle again and again pour it off;
repeat, if necessary, to be sure any grit has been left behind. Pour
the simmered mushrooms and their liquid into a sieve set over a bowl
and lined with fine nylon net or two layers of dampened cheesecloth.
Press hard on the mushrooms to extract all possible liquid; discard
the debris. Let this second batch of liquid settle, then decant it as
described for the soaking liquid; repeat if necessary. Combine the
two batches of liquid with the shallots, peppercorns, mace and bay
leaf in a saucepan. Bring the liquid to a boil over medium-high heat
and simmer it briskly, uncovered, until it has reduced to 2 cups.
Strain out the solids and let the concentrated liquid settle for one
last time - were still on the track of any sand that may remain.
Decant the cooled essence, then freeze it in an ice-cube tray. Remove
the cubes from the tray and store them in an airtight freezer
container. Keeps for up to a year in the freezer. Yield: 16 cubes,
about 2 tb. each.
Source from luhu.jp
Steinpilze or boletes marketed as "Chilean dried mushrooms." Combine
mushrooms in a bowl with 4 cups very warm water. Push them under the
surface, weight them with a saucer, and let them soak overnight or
for at least 6 hours, until they are very soft. Stir them
occasionally. Lift mushrooms from the liquid with a slotted spoon
(save the liquid) and chop them fine, saving as much juice as
possible. Combine them with the remaining 2 cups water in a
saucepan, bring them to a simmer, and simmer them, covered, for 20
minutes. Meanwhile, to clear the soaking liquid of grit, pour it
carefully into a bowl, leaving behind the sediment - this is certain
to be sandy. Let the liquid settle again and again pour it off;
repeat, if necessary, to be sure any grit has been left behind. Pour
the simmered mushrooms and their liquid into a sieve set over a bowl
and lined with fine nylon net or two layers of dampened cheesecloth.
Press hard on the mushrooms to extract all possible liquid; discard
the debris. Let this second batch of liquid settle, then decant it as
described for the soaking liquid; repeat if necessary. Combine the
two batches of liquid with the shallots, peppercorns, mace and bay
leaf in a saucepan. Bring the liquid to a boil over medium-high heat
and simmer it briskly, uncovered, until it has reduced to 2 cups.
Strain out the solids and let the concentrated liquid settle for one
last time - were still on the track of any sand that may remain.
Decant the cooled essence, then freeze it in an ice-cube tray. Remove
the cubes from the tray and store them in an airtight freezer
container. Keeps for up to a year in the freezer. Yield: 16 cubes,
about 2 tb. each.
Source from luhu.jp