Mushroom mousse(-ish) that takes well moderate heat

[tobast]

Hello,

 

I had already asked my question on stackexchange before a friend pointed me to this community. While there are already some answers here, I don't really have a solution yet. Please excuse me for the cross-posting!

 

I am preparing a buffet, and one of the ideas I came up with was thick slices of deep-fried potatoes with some kind of mushroom piped on top of it (hopefully in a stylish fashion). However, I'm struggling to achieve a mousse-like texture for the mushroom part (to allow for the piping, and to contrast with the thick potato) that would not "melt" when put in contact with the hot slice of potato.

 

So far, I tried a thick mushroom béchamel (thickened with a good quantity of roux), which turns out heavy and still melts, and a kind of whipped cream version: cooking the mushrooms in cream, cooling it all down, blending until smooth and whipping; this works up to a point but the texture is not entirely satisfying and it melts a lot.

 

I also thought (but could not test yet) of starch to thicken it, or some amount of agar-agar (it should remain vegetarian, hence no gelatin) — I'm not really confident in the amount of agar-agar to use, neither am I in the result.

 

Someone advised using a whipping siphon, but I don't have one and never used one (so I don't have any intuition on its results), and I fear it would still melt upon warm contact…

 

Do you have any advice on the options I have for this? Or, if you see no way of doing this, advice on what type of mushroom-based preparation I could top the potato with?

 

Thanks for your help!

[gfweb]

I think you are on the right track with agar as it melts at a much higher temp than oil based thickeners. 

 

You might make progress with xanthan gum which isn't temp dependent but I'm not sure if it will thickem enough. 

 

I'm pretty sure agar is the trick temp wise but not sure it would be pipable when hot. Perhaps put it in a mold and then apply it when set?

[TdeV]

Hello @tobast. Welcome to eGullet. You'll find many great folk here. Sorry that I know nothing about mushroom foam, but will follow the discussion with interest.

[tobast]

Hello, and thanks for both your replies!

 

I've crash-tested a bit more, and I think I've reached something that has not much to do with a mousse, but works quite well for what I want to do.

 

* On one side, slice and fry well the mushrooms in olive oil, deglaze with vegetable stock. Process in a blender until thin — it won't get smooth, but it's fine. Add about 50% fluid cream, blend again.

* In a saucepan, thicken some more fluid cream with a hell of a lot of starch (about 12-15% in weight). It should thicken to a near-solid consistency. It will taste of starch, but that will be hidden by the mushrooms' strong taste.

* Mix both with a 2:1 ratio (more mushrooms than thickened cream).

 

This seems to reasonably take the heat of the potato, and somewhat keep its shape when piped.

[Chris Hennes]

You could use 0.8% the weight of your liquid in low-acyl gellan as long as you are going to have cream in there (it needs the calcium to set) -- you make a fluid gel and can then use a blender to aerate it to the texture you want.

[Chris Hennes]

As an alternative, it you want more of a gel and less of a foam, Modernist Cuisine suggests the following scaling for mushroom puree (no cream required, so you're maxing out on mushroom flavor):

0.20% high-acyl gellan

0.10% low-acyl gellan

0.15% xanthan gum

0.05% sodium hexametaphosphate

 

Those ingredients are available from Modernist Pantry, among other places.

[tobast]

Thanks a lot for your reply! Since the buffet I'm trying this recipe for is happening in about 10 days and I have to account for the ingredients' order delay, I am quite scared to try things that are completely new to me at this point -- I worried about this way too late. I'm however quite curious on the results of this, and I'll definitely try it out, whether it is for a later buffet or just to satisfy my own curiosity

[heidih]

I just processed the word "buffet" so dish will sit out. Under heat lamps? Is it intended to be a vegetarian main? To me (and what do I know) seems a one note item as potato innards are also soft even if you achieve a crisp on exterior - which  may not survive buffet environment. What was your inspiration?

[tobast]

@heidih the idea was to deep-fry the potato either right before the buffet begins, or on-the-fly, reserve under heat lamp, and apply the mushroom preparation in front of the person; partly because it's stylish, partly because, well, as you point out, it wouldn't hold together for the whole length of the buffet. I believe this setup could work out, but I appreciate more experienced feedback on this!

 

As for my inspiration, the idea just came up when I was trying to find ideas for this buffet — I don't remember my exact train of thoughts, but I think I was trying to find a good match for mushrooms, and fried potatoes came to my mind.

[tobast]

My experience with buffets is quite thin — I'm not a professional cook, but I made a few events with 100-300 persons within my university. However, we tend to stick to simpler things most of the time, but I was eager to try out more challenging stuff this time. I'm definitely taking in any feedback on this item — if you think it just won't work, I'd rather hear it now than experience it live.

 

(it seems that I can't edit my previous post, sorry for the double-post)

[heidih]

I understand wanting and getting the input on your concept but can you give us an overview of the entire menu - it might prompt responses that help you. Brave undertaking ')

[TdeV]

1 hour ago, tobast said:

(it seems that I can't edit my previous post, sorry for the double-post)

 

3 dots on top right of post produces a dropdown, Edit is one of the choices.

 

I'm really curious about these mushrooms! 😄

[tobast]

9 hours ago, heidih said:

I understand wanting and getting the input on your concept but can you give us an overview of the entire menu - it might prompt responses that help you. Brave undertaking ')

 

The menu doesn't really aim for great coherence — it's more a variety of small items we came up with independently. But I'm surely glad to share The buffet is entirely vegetarian, and we aim for a decent share of vegan (that is, vegan people shouldn't be frustrated by the lack of diversity). We're not entirely finished with the crash tests, so it might still change, but we have

 

* Gougères with Comté cheese (salted choux pastry with melted Comté cheese inside), topped with sesame and nigelle;

* Mini-skewers with caramelized roasted butternut cubes, raw finely-sliced butternut marinated with apple vinegar and mozzarella balls (vegan alt: dried tomato), topped with zaatar;

* Verrines of squash topped with coconut whipped cream and chili;

* Verrines of split peas and roasted hazelnuts;

* "Toasts" of puff pastry topped with apple marmelade, onion cream, leaks and sumac;

* Similar "toasts" with tapenade (olive spread), heavy cream and balsamic vinegar cream

* The mushrooms & potatoes described here — I think I'm actually switching for sweet potatoes though

Edited November 26, 2021 by tobast (log)

[shain]

I'd suggest you look into a crème patisserie kind of preparation. It's intended to withstand heat.

Make it as one would, sans sugar, and mix in the blended mushrooms.

Edited November 26, 2021 by shain (log)

[Mjx]

Have you tried agg white as a gelling agent? Not only does it tolerate heat, heat actually sets it. You could make something along the lines of a Swiss buttercream, but omit the sugar, and use mushroom-infused cream instead of butter (e.g. https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/swiss-meringue-buttercream/); also, it should be easy to pipe.

[Anna N]

5 hours ago, Mjx said:

Have you tried agg white as a gelling agent? Not only does it tolerate heat, heat actually sets it. You could make something along the lines of a Swiss buttercream, but omitting the sugar and using mushroom-infused cream instead of butter (e.g. https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/swiss-meringue-buttercream/); also, it should be easy to pipe.

But I thought the goal was vegetarian/vegan. 

[Mjx]

2 hours ago, Anna N said:

But I thought the goal was vegetarian/vegan. 

 

I did see that it was supposed to be vegetarian, but since some of the experiments have included cream, it seemed okay if it wasn't vegan..?

[tobast]

On 11/27/2021 at 9:18 AM, Mjx said:

Have you tried agg white as a gelling agent? Not only does it tolerate heat, heat actually sets it. You could make something along the lines of a Swiss buttercream, but omit the sugar, and use mushroom-infused cream instead of butter (e.g. https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/swiss-meringue-buttercream/); also, it should be easy to pipe.

That actually seems to also be a good idea that I need to try! Thanks

 

The goal is indeed to have a vegetarian buffet, and we try to have a decent amount of vegan options. If I somehow manage to make this vegan, that's a plus, but it's not a requirement, and all my tests so far included cream anyway.