Pickled mushrooms

[tommag]

That thread on drying veggies got me to thinking. One of our favorite recipes is pickled mushrooms. It's hard to let them sit long enough to develope the proper flavor. You have to let them be for at least two weeks after canning, a month is better.
Here is the recipe, from the book "putting food by" My wife increases all the spices a touch from the recipe amounts, especially the garlic!
6 cups small button mushrooms
1/2 cup lemon juice or 1 1/4 tspns citric acid
1 quart water
1 cup vinegar (5%)
1 cup water
2 tspns salt
1/2 tspn dried oregano
3 bay leaves
1/2 tspn sweet basil, dry
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/2 cups olive oil
As with all products that are pickled in oil, the main ingredient (mushrooms) must take up enough acid to get pickled before the oil is added. The oil will soak into the mushrooms and not allow enough acid to be absorbed to make them safe.

In a stainless or enamel kettle, bring the 4 cups of water and either the lemon juice or citric acid powder to a boil. add the mushrooms and simmer for for 5 minutes. Drain the mushrooms. In a stainless or crock bowl, combine the 1 cup water and 1 cup vinegar, add the mushrooms. Cover and let stand at least 12 hours. Overnite is better.

Combine the salt, oregano, bayleaf, and basil in a small dish. Divide up the garlic, and put in the bottom of 4- 1/2 pint jars along with 1/4 of the spice mixture.

Pack the mushrooms in the jars, leaving 1/4" headroom. Pour oil over the mushrooms, and use a plastic spatula or butter knife to clear out any air bubbles. (this part is very important).

Wipe the rims, put on lids, and put in a hot-water bath (180 degrees F) for 20 minutes.

The book specifies 1/2 pint jars, but we have used pint jars with no ill effects,(so far)

I like this recipe so well I even drink the oil after eating the mushrooms.

[waksupi]

Sounds good. Isn't that an awful lot of cooking for mushrooms? Ever tried just doing the water bath for the cooking stage? I'd like to try it on some small shaggy manes, but am afraid I would end up with mushroom mush! I think I see the point, though. Shaggys would never survive 12 hours without being cooked!

[tommag]

Sounds good. Isn't that an awful lot of cooking for mushrooms? Ever tried just doing the water bath for the cooking stage? I'd like to try it on some small shaggy manes, but am afraid I would end up with mushroom mush! I think I see the point, though. Shaggys would never survive 12 hours without being cooked!

Actually, it's not a lot of cooking. The mushrooms are only simmered for a few minutes in the lemon juice solution. That's the important part. Mushrooms are only slightly better than string beans when it comes to botulism. The botulinin toxin thrives in an anaerobic environment, and that is the reason for the acidic solution, to inhibit the growth of botulism. The mushrooms are only cooked for a few minutes, but allowed to sit in the solution for a long time to ensure that they absorb enough acid or lemon juice to thouroughly pickle them.

When you talk about shaggys, they actually fair pretty well for up to 24 hrs. in an ice-water bath. I have collected them and submerged them in ice-water for a day when I was too busy working to take care of them immediately.

I have never tried pickling them, don't kow how that would work. I don't know if I would try pickling shags after soaking them, as that would discourage the absorbtion of the acid.

If Mt. doesn't have minimum size regs on B. Edulis, I would think the very young buttons (mushrumps) would pickle up very nicely. We have only pickled agaricus bisporus. (common grocery store mushrooms)

By the way, I no longer travel I-15, so I'll let you know of a favorite spot for B. Edulis. I found wonderful patches of them 1/2 way between Helena and Butte on that creek that flows along I-15 in mid to late August, depending on rain-fall. It might be a bit out of the way for you, but if you really love Boletus.....

I would like to try Chanterelles pickled, I bet they would be good, although they can be a bugger to clean.