Dried mushrooms: recipe ideas?

[lperry]

Due to the enthusiasm of my mushroom-loving BF, I am now the proud owner of a half-pound jar of the "Gourmet Mushroom Blend" by Manitou, currently selling at your local Costco. I found a few topics on dried mushrooms in Asian cooking, but apart from a few shiitakes in the batch, these are mainly western varieties. Here's the list:

Morels, Porcini, Brazilian caps (?), Ivory Portabellas (I'm guessing these are regular Agaricus button mushrooms), Shiitakes, and Oyster mushrooms.

The packaging indicates that you should use them as a mix. I tend to disagree, and my reasoning is that some of these have quite distinctive flavors that might be best used alone. I have some decent recipes for porcini and shiitakes, but I've never used any of the others in dried form. Rather than have a year's worth of risotto (which would not necessarily be a bad thing), I thought I would check here to see what everyone else is doing with dried mushrooms. It seems like there should be some good fall ideas out there.

Does anyone have recipes that they can share?

-L

[Anna N]

A few re-constituted dried mushrooms can add an amazing depth of flavour to most beef-based soups and stews and I make a sausage and chicken stew that calls for dried as well as fresh mushrooms and always goes over very well. A fresh mushroom soup to which you add some dried mushrooms is a revelation in mushroominess!

[weinoo]

Anna took the words right out of my mouth - I also love mushroom-barley soup, even based on a vegetarian broth.

Risotto, pasta with a mushroom sauce, etc.

[nikkib]

Re hydrate them and sautee with parsley, garlic olive oil and a splash of brandy before blitzing and spreading over a joint of beef which is then wrapped in puff pastry - a variation on beef wellington mmmmm

[little ms foodie]

or reconsitute them and add them to a cream brandy sauce to put over steaks! yum!

[lperry]

I like the idea of adding them into fresh mushroom dishes to up the flavor. Plus, I have barley in the pantry..... It's supposed to be cold this weekend, so I'll go for the soup first.

I tend to use porcini in sauces - I love the flavor they impart. Add a little bourbon, and well, there you have it. Brandy is a new idea that I will definitely try.

[Jonathan Kaplan]

A fav of mine is to grind morels finely (to almost a 'dust') with salt and pepper, coat scallops with the mix, let the scallop "rest" in the 'fridge for a few hours or so, then quickly pan fry it, deglazing with sherry, marsala, or port. I haven't played with it, but I imagine this would work well with salmon, as well.

A similar 'dust' made from porcini is quite nice on red meat...

jk

[HVRobinson]

OMG, YES! (Changing underdrawers)...

Reconstitute them reserving the water. Chow them quickly in a wok with oyster sauce and a touch of soy and sugar pea pods. Add a touch of cornstarch / water slurry and a couple healthy shakes of sesame oil, and serve over rice cooked (in the rice cooker) with the reserved water.

HVR

[petite tête de chou]

I second the idea of grinding them to a powder. This powder is incredibly versatile and adds that "certain something." There's more ideas here...

Dried Shitakes, Needs ideas, please

Dried morels, how would you use them?

Dried Mushrooms 101, The how's why's and what's - I hope

Soaking dried mushrooms, Should you use the soaking water?

And if you do decide to grind some of them into powder...dried shitakes..texture??, grinding them

[APPS411]

Reconstitute them then reduce the liquid into a rich mushroom stock and add back the mushrooms chopped finely. I then like to use that stock w/ some cream and grated parm to make a nice rustic sauce for penne pasta.

[Lisa1349]

I like them reconstituted, simmer the liquid to reduce almost all the way. Add some cream and a clove of garlic, reduce again, blend with 1/2 of the mushrooms. This is a great sauce for ricotta gnocchi, with the rest of the mushrooms and maybe some asparagus sauteed on top. Mushroom duxelle wrapped in phyllo like spanokopita are great hors d's. Store them unbaked in the freezer to toss in the oven when company surprises you.

[lperry]

I second the idea of grinding them to a powder. This powder is incredibly versatile and adds that "certain something."  There's more ideas here...

Dried morels, how would you use them?

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Thanks for finding the morel thread! It didn't occur to me to search for specific mushrooms. I searched for "mushroom" and found most of the Asian threads.

These sauces sound wonderful APPS411 and Lisa1349. I got another tip yesterday from a friend - they can be put directly into your rice cooker with the rice (or any other grain) as long as you use "clean" mushrooms (i.e., not sandy porcini).

[mojoman]

lperry,

Thanks for the tip about the mushrooms at Costco. I gotta git me some. At which Costco did you find them?

TIA.

[lperry]

lperry,

Thanks for the tip about the mushrooms at Costco.  I gotta git me some.  At which Costco did you find them?

TIA.

←

They came from the Springfield Costco - off Fullerton Road just south of the beltway.

[ludja]

I like the idea of adding them into fresh mushroom dishes to up the flavor. Plus, I have barley in the pantry.....  It's supposed to be cold this weekend, so I'll go for the soup first. 

...

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One of my most requested recipes is based on "Wild Mushroom Soup w/Madeira" from the "New Basics Cookbook" by Rosso and Lukins. A recipe has to be very good for me to repeat it and this is the soup I usually make at Thanksgiving upon popular request.

The use of 1 lb of regular button mushrooms along with 1 oz of reconstituted dried wild mushrooms (they suggest morels; I use porcini) makes an incredible non-cream based mushroom soup. Well, good beef and chicken stock (50:50) also helps in this case along with sauteed leeks and onions and Madeira. A small amount of flour is also added to the leeks and onions towards the end after sauteeing them in butter. The creme fraiche garnish they suggest is wonderful with it as well.

Love the mushroom dust ideas; thanks for posting those!

Edited September 27, 2007 by ludja (log)

[monavano]

I like the idea of adding them into fresh mushroom dishes to up the flavor. Plus, I have barley in the pantry.....  It's supposed to be cold this weekend, so I'll go for the soup first. 

...

←

One of my most requested recipes is based on "Wild Mushroom Soup w/Madeira" from the "New Basics Cookbook" by Rosso and Lukins. A recipe has to be very good for me to repeat it and this is the soup I usually make at Thanksgiving upon popular request.

The use of 1 lb of regular button mushrooms along with 1 oz of reconstituted dried wild mushrooms (they suggest morels; I use porcini) makes an incredible non-cream based mushroom soup. Well, good beef and chicken stock (50:50) also helps in this case along with sauteed leeks and onions and Madeira. A small amount of flour is also added to the leeks and onions towards the end after sauteeing them in butter. The creme fraiche garnish they suggest is wonderful with it as well.

Love the mushroom dust ideas; thanks for posting those!

←

I think mushrooms and wine marry well. I made a mushroom soup with dried Polish borowik mushrooms, and regular white mushrooms. I added sherry that I had on hand.

Recipe here.

I go to the same Costco (love it!) and I'm going to pick it those mushrooms.