[Sca-cooks] Anne-Maries Mushroom Pate....was RE: Thanksgiving menu

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Nov 23, 2007, at 2:52 AM, Anne-Marie Rousseau wrote:

> Happy to share, though its not medieval in any way that I can think  
> of.
> Classically oriented foodies will recognize a basic duxelle, I  
> believe?
>
> Mushroom Pate
> (the original recipe came from my then-apprentice Genot. I've  
> tweaked it, of
> course, because that's what cooks do :))
>
> 3/4 lb mushrooms, sliced
> 1 small onion chopped
> 1 large clove garlic, smooshed
> 1 T dried thyme (I like a lot :) you might adjust this according to  
> your own
> preferences)
> salt, pepper
> 2 T olive oil
>
> in a large sautee pan,

This is pretty similar to my basic vegetarian mushroom stuffing, for  
anything from other mushrooms to rolled chicken breast cutlets (or  
even turkey for that pseudo-Veal-Orloff effect). If you think of the  
classic Duxelles mixture as one part mushrooms to one part onion or  
shallot, but of a classic mirepoix as two parts onion, one of carrot  
and one of celery, this would be a synthesis of two parts mushroom,  
two parts onion or shallot, one of carrot and one of celery, sauteed  
until most of the liquid is cooked away, possibly remoistened with  
butter if needed, then a few bread crumbs added to bind the mixture.  
Salt, pepper, chopped herbs (optional). Naturally everything is  
chopped small, either in the food processor or, if one is insane, 1/8"  
dice by hand.

Because there's no egg (although I suppose there could be, but it's  
really not necessary) it has a very light, delicate, sort of fragile  
mouth feel...

I love the 1/8" dice thing. It's a little labor-intensive, but it  
gives a real "value-added" sense to some very simple ingredients.

On previous occasions, when called upon to make a mushroom-paté type  
of thing, I've just made English potted mushrooms, which is a modern  
tea-table classic; basically the chopped, sauteed mushrooms seasoned  
with a little lemon juice, and made into a sort of confit under a  
layer of butter in a jar or ramekin.

Adamantius