Chapter 24

RECIPES FOR COOKING MUSHROOMS.

By MRS. SARAH TYSON RORER.

As varieties of mushrooms differ in analysis, texture and density of flesh, different methods of cooking give best results. For instance, the _Coprinus micaceus_, being very delicate, is easily destroyed by over-cooking; a dry, quick pan of the "mushroom bells" retains the best flavor; while the more dense _Agaricus campestris_ requires long, slow cooking to bring out the flavor, and to be tender and digestible. Simplicity of seasoning, however, must be observed, or the mushroom flavor will be destroyed. If the mushroom itself has an objectionable flavor, better let it alone than to add mustard or lemon juice to overcome it. Mushrooms, like many of the more succulent vegetables, are largely water, and readily part with their juices on application of salt or heat; hence it becomes necessary to put the mushroom over the fire usually without the addition of water, or the juices will be so diluted that they will lack flavor. They have much better flavor cooked without peeling, with the exception of puff-balls, which should always be pared. As they lose their flavor by soaking, wash them quickly, a few at a time; take the mushroom in the left hand and with the right hand wash the top or pileus, using either a very soft brush or a piece of flannel; shake them well and put them into a colander to dry.

AGARICUS.[E]

The wild or uncultivated _Agaricus campestris_, which is usually picked in open fields, will cook in less time than those grown in caves and sold in our markets during the winter and spring. Cut the stems close to the gills; these may be put aside and used for flavoring sauces or soups. Wash the mushrooms carefully, keeping the gills down; throw them into a colander until drained.

=Stewed.=--To each pound, allow two ounces of butter. Put the butter into a saucepan, and when melted, not brown, throw in the mushrooms either whole or cut into slices; sprinkle over a teaspoonful of salt; cover the saucepan closely to keep in the flavor, and cook very slowly for twenty minutes, or until they are tender. Moisten a rounding tablespoonful of flour in a little cold milk; when perfectly smooth, add sufficient milk to make one gill; stir this into the mushrooms, add a saltspoon of white pepper, stir carefully until boiling, and serve at once. This makes a fairly thick sauce. Less flour is required when they are to be served as a sauce over chicken, steak, or made dishes.

=Broiled.=--Cut the stems close to the gills; wash the mushrooms and dry them with a soft piece of cheesecloth; put them on the broiler gills up. Put a piece of butter, the size of a marrowfat pea, in the center of each; sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Put the broiler over the fire skin side down; in this way, the butter will melt and sort of baste the mushrooms. Have ready squares of neatly toasted bread; and, as soon as the mushrooms are hot on the skin side, turn them quickly and broil about two minutes on the gill side. Five minutes will be sufficient for the entire cooking. Dish on toast and serve at once.

=Panned on Cream Toast.=--Cut the stem close to the gills; wash and dry as directed for broiling. Put them into a pan, and pour over a very little melted butter, having gill sides up; dust with salt and pepper, run into a hot oven for twenty minutes. While these are panning, toast sufficient bread to hold them nicely; put it onto a hot platter, and just as the mushrooms are done, cover the bread with hot milk, being careful not to have too much or the bread will be pasty and soft. Dish the mushrooms on the toast, putting the skin side up, pour over the juices from the pan, and serve at once.

These are exceedingly good served on buttered toast without the milk, and will always take the place of broiled mushrooms.

=In the Chafing Dish.=--Wash, dry the mushrooms, and cut them into slices. To each pound allow two ounces of butter. Put the butter in the chafing dish, when hot put in the mushrooms, sprinkle over a teaspoonful of salt, cover the dish, and cook slowly for five minutes, stirring the mushrooms frequently; then add one gill of milk. Cover the dish again, cook for three minutes longer, add the beaten yolks of two eggs, a dash of pepper, and serve at once. These must not be boiled after the eggs are added; but the yolk of egg is by far the most convenient form of thickening when mushrooms are cooked in the chafing dish.

=Under the Glass Cover or "Bell" with Cream.=--With a small biscuit cutter, cut rounds from slices of bread; they should be about two and a half inches in diameter, and about a half inch in thickness. Cut the stems close to the gills from fresh mushrooms; wash and wipe the mushrooms. Put a tablespoonful of butter in a saucepan; when hot, throw in the mushrooms, skin side down; cook just a moment, and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Arrange the rounds of bread, which have been slightly toasted, in the bottom of your "bell" dish; heap the mushrooms on these; put a little piece of butter in the center; cover over the bell, which is either of glass, china, or silver; stand them in a baking pan, and then in the oven for twenty minutes. While these are cooking, mix a tablespoonful of butter and one of flour in a saucepan, add a half pint of milk, or you may add a gill of milk and a gill of chicken stock; stir until boiling, add a half teaspoonful of salt and a dash of pepper. When the mushrooms have been in the oven the allotted time, bring them out; lift the cover, pour over quickly a little of this sauce, cover again, and send them at once to the table.

=Another Method.=--Wash and dry the mushrooms; arrange them at once on the "bell plate." The usual plates will hold six good sized ones. Dust with pepper and salt; put in the center of the pile a teaspoonful of butter; pour over six tablespoonfuls of cream or milk; cover with the bell; stand the dish in a baking pan, and then in a hot oven for twenty minutes.

These are arranged for individual bells. Where one large bell is used, the mushrooms must be dished on toast before they are served. The object in covering with the bell is to retain every particle of the flavor. The bell is then lifted at the table, that the eater may get full aroma and flavor from the mushroom.

=Puree.=--Wash carefully a half pound of mushrooms; chop them fine, put them into a saucepan with a tablespoonful of butter, and if you have it, a cup of chicken stock; if not, a cup of water. Cover the vessel and cook slowly for thirty minutes. In a double boiler, put one pint of milk. Rub together one tablespoonful of butter and two tablespoonfuls of flour; add it to the milk; stir and cook until thick; add the mushrooms, and press the whole through a sieve; season to taste with salt and pepper only.

=Cream of Mushroom Soup.=--This will be made precisely the same as in the preceding recipe, save that one quart of milk will be used instead of a pint with the same amount of thickening, and the mushrooms will not be pressed through a sieve.

COPRINUS COMATUS and COPRINUS ATRAMENTARIUS.

As these varieties usually grow together and are sort of companion mushrooms, recipes given for one will answer for the cooking of the other. Being soft and juicy, they must be handled with care, and are much better cooked with dry heat. Remove the stems, and wash them carefully; throw them into a colander until dry; arrange them in a baking pan; dot here and there with bits of butter, allowing a tablespoonful to each half pound of mushrooms; dust with salt and pepper, run them into a very hot oven, and bake for thirty minutes; dish in a heated vegetable dish, pouring over the sauce from the pan.

The _C. micaceus_ may also be cooked after the same fashion--after dishing the mushrooms boil down the liquor.

=Stewed.=--Wash and dry them; put them into a large, flat pan, allowing a tablespoonful of butter to each half pound of mushrooms; sprinkle at once with salt and pepper; cover the pan, and stew for fifteen minutes. Moisten a tablespoonful of flour in a little cold milk; when smooth, add a half cup of cream, if you have it; if not, a half cup of milk. Push the mushrooms to one side; turn in this mixture, and stir until boiling. Do not stir the mushrooms or they will fall apart and become unsightly. Dish them; pour over the sauce, and serve at once. Or they may be served on toast, the dish garnished with triangular pieces of toast.

COPRINUS MICACEUS.

Wash and dry the mushrooms; put them into a deep saucepan with a tablespoonful of butter to each quart; stand over a quick fire, sort of tossing the saucepan. Do not stir, or you will break the mushrooms. As soon as they have reached the boiling point, push them to the back part of the stove for five minutes; serve on toast. These will be exceedingly dark, are very palatable, and perhaps are the most easily digested of all the varieties.

LEPIOTA.

These mushrooms, having very thin flesh and deep gills, must be quickly cooked to be good. Remove the stem, take the mushrooms in your hand, gill side down, and with a soft rag wash carefully the top, removing all the little brown scales. Put them into a baking pan, or on a broiler. Melt a little butter, allow it to settle, take the clear, oily part from the top and baste lightly the mushrooms, gill sides up; dust with salt and pepper. Place the serving dish to heat. Put the mushrooms over a quick fire, skin side down, for just a moment; then turn and boil an instant on the gill side, and serve at once on the heated plate.

In this way _Lepiota procera_ is most delicious of all mushrooms; but if cooked in moist heat, it becomes soft, but tough and unpalatable; if baked too long, it becomes dry and leathery. It must be cooked quickly and eaten at once. All the edible forms may be cooked after this recipe.

These are perhaps the best of all mushrooms for drying. In this condition they are easily kept, and add so much to an ordinary meat sauce.

OYSTER MUSHROOMS (Pleurotus).

Wash and dry the mushrooms; cut them into strips crosswise of the gills, trimming off all the woody portion near the stem side. Throw the mushrooms into a saucepan, allowing a tablespoonful of butter to each pint; sprinkle over a half teaspoonful of salt; cover, and cook slowly for twenty minutes. Moisten a tablespoonful of flour in a half cup of milk; when perfectly smooth, add another half cup; turn this into the mushroom mixture; bring to boiling point, add just a grating of nutmeg, a few drops of onion juice, and a dash of pepper. Serve as you would stewed oysters.

To make this into à la poulette, add the yolks of two eggs just as you take the mixture from the fire, and serve on toast.

=Mock Oysters.=--Trim the soft gill portion of the _Pleurotus ostreatus_ into the shape of an oyster; dust with salt and pepper; dip in beaten egg, then in bread crumbs, and fry in smoking hot fat as you would an oyster, and serve at once. This is, perhaps, the best method of cooking this variety.

RUSSULA.

While in this group we have a number of varieties, they may all be cooked after one recipe. The stems will be removed, the mushrooms carefully washed, always holding the gill side down in the water, drained in a colander; and while they apparently do not contain less water than other mushrooms, the flesh is rather dense, and they do not so quickly melt upon being exposed to heat. They are nice broiled or baked, or may be chopped fine and served with mayonnaise dressing, stuffed into peeled tomatoes, or with mayonnaise dressing on lettuce leaves, or mixed with cress and served with French dressing, as salads.

The "green" or _Russula virescens_ may be peeled, cut into thin slices, mixed with the leaves of water-cress which have been picked carefully from the stems, covered with French dressing, and served on slices of tomato. It is well to peel all mushrooms if they are to be served raw. To bake, follow recipes given for baking _campestris_. In this way they are exceedingly nice over the ordinary broiled steak.

One of the nicest ways, however, of preparing them for steak is to wash, dry and put them, gills up, in a baking pan, having a goodly quantity; pour over just a little melted butter; dust with salt and pepper, and put them into the oven for fifteen minutes. While you are broiling the steak, put the plate upon which it is to be served over hot water to heat; put on it a tablespoonful of butter, a little salt, pepper, and some finely chopped parsley. Take the mushrooms from the oven, put some in the bottom of the plate, dish the steak on top, covering the remaining quantity over the steak. Add two tablespoonfuls of stock or water to the pan in which they were baked; allow this to boil, scraping all the material from the pan; baste this over the steak, and serve at once.

_Agaricus campestris_ and many other varieties may also be used in this same way.

LACTARII.

Remove the stems, and wash the mushrooms. Put them into a saucepan, allowing a tablespoonful of butter and a half teaspoonful of salt to each pint. Add four tablespoonfuls of stock to the given quantity; cover the saucepan, and _cook slowly_ three-quarters of an hour. At the end of this time you will have a rich, brown sauce to which you may add a teaspoonful of Worcestershire sauce, and, if you like, a tablespoonful of sherry. Serve in a vegetable dish.

=Lactarius deliciosus Stewed.=--Wash the mushrooms; cut them into slices; put them into a saucepan, allowing a half pint of stock to each pint of mushrooms; add a half teaspoonful of salt; cover and stew slowly for three-quarters of an hour. Put a tablespoonful of butter in another saucepan, mix with it a tablespoonful of flour; add the mushrooms, stir until they have reached the boiling point; add a teaspoonful of kitchen bouquet, a dash of pepper, and serve it at once in a heated vegetable dish.

A nice combination for a steak sauce is made by using a dozen good sized _Lactarius deliciosus_ with four "beefsteak" mushrooms, using then the first recipe.

BEEFSTEAK SMOTHERED WITH MUSHROOMS.

Wash a dozen good sized mushrooms, either _Lactarii_ or _Agarici_, also wash and remove the spores from half a dozen good sized "beefsteak" mushrooms, cutting them into slices. Put all these into a baking pan, sprinkle over a half teaspoonful of salt, add a tablespoonful of butter, and bake in a moderate oven three-quarters of an hour. Broil the steak until it is nearly done; then put it into the pan with the mushrooms, allowing some of the mushrooms to remain under the steak, and cover with the remaining portion; return it to the oven for ten minutes; dish and serve at once.

BOLETI.

These are more palatable baked or fried. Wash the caps and remove the pores. Dip the caps in beaten egg, then in bread crumbs, and fry them in smoking hot fat; oil is preferable to butter; even suet would make a drier fry than butter or lard. Serve at once as you would egg plant.

=Baked.=--Wash and remove the pores; put the mushrooms into a baking pan; baste them with melted butler, dust with salt and pepper, and bake in a moderately hot oven three-quarters of an hour; dish in a vegetable dish. Put into the pan in which they were baked, a tablespoonful of butter. Mix carefully with a tablespoonful of flour and add a half pint of stock, a half teaspoonful of kitchen bouquet or browning, the same of salt, and a dash of pepper; pour this over the mushrooms, and serve.

=In Fritter Batter.=--Beat the yolk of one egg slightly, and add a half cup of milk; stir into this two-thirds of a cup of flour; stir in the well beaten white of the egg and a teaspoonful of olive oil. Wash and remove the pores from the boleti. Have ready a good sized shallow pan, the bottom covered with smoking hot oil; dip the mushrooms, one at a time, into this batter, drain for a moment, and drop them into the hot fat. When brown on one side, turn and brown on the other. Drain on soft paper and serve at once.

=Boleti in Brown Sauce.=--Wash and dry the boleti; remove the pores; cut them into small pieces. To each pound allow a tablespoonful of butter. Put the butter into a saucepan with the mushrooms; add a half teaspoonful of salt; cover the pan, and stew slowly for twenty minutes; then dust over a tablespoonful of flour; add a half cup of good beef stock; cook slowly for ten minutes longer, and serve.

HYDNUM.

As these mushrooms are slightly bitter, they must be washed, dried, and thrown into a little boiling water, to boil for just a moment; drain, and throw away this water, add a tablespoonful of butter, a teaspoonful of salt, a dash of pepper, and a half cup of milk or stock; cover the pan, and cook slowly for twenty minutes. As the milk scorches easily, cook over a very slow fire, or in a double boiler. Pour the mixture over slices of toast, and serve at once. A tablespoonful or two of sherry may be added just as they are removed from the fire.

CLAVARIA.

Wash, separating the bunches, and chop or cut them rather fine, measure, and to each quart allow a half pint of Supreme sauce. Throw the clavaria into a saucepan, cover, and allow it to stew gently for fifteen minutes while you make the sauce. Put a tablespoonful of butter and one of flour in the saucepan; mix, and add a half pint of milk or chicken stock; or you may add half of one and half of the other; stir until boiling; take from the fire, add a half teaspoonful of salt, a saltspoonful of pepper, and the yolks of two eggs. Take the clavaria from the fire, and when cool stir it into the sauce. Turn into a baking dish, sprinkle the top with crumbs, and brown in a quick oven. Do not cook too long, as it will become watery.

=Pickled Clavaria.=--Wash the clavaria thoroughly without breaking it apart; put into a steamer; stand the steamer over a kettle of boiling water, and steam rapidly, that is, keep the water boiling hard for fifteen minutes. Take from the fire, and cool. Put over the fire sufficient vinegar to cover the given quantity; to each quart, allow two bay leaves, six cloves, a teaspoonful of whole mustard, and a dozen pepper corns, that is, whole peppers. Put the clavaria into glass jars. Bring the vinegar to boiling point, and pour it over; seal and put aside.

This may be served alone as any other pickle, or on lettuce leaves with French dressing as a salad.

=Escalloped Clavaria.=--Wash, separate and cut the clavaria as in first recipe. To each quart allow a half pint of chicken stock, a teaspoonful of salt, a tablespoonful of chopped parsley. Put a layer of bread crumbs in the bottom of the dish, then a layer of chopped clavaria, and so continue until you have the dish filled. Pour over the stock, which you have seasoned with salt and pepper; dot bits of butter here and there over the top, and bake in a moderate oven thirty minutes.

This recipe is excellent for the young or button _Hypholoma_, except that the time of baking must be forty-five minutes.

PUFF-BALLS.

To be eatable, the puff-balls must be perfectly white to the very center. Pare off the skin; cut them into slices; dust with salt and pepper. Have ready in a large, shallow pan a sufficient quantity of hot oil to cover the bottom. Throw in the slices and, when brown on one side, turn and brown on the other; serve at once on a heated dish.

=A la Poulette.=--Pare the puff-balls; cut them into slices and then into dice; put them into a saucepan, allowing a tablespoonful of butter to each pint of blocks. Cover the saucepan; stew gently for fifteen minutes; lift the lid; sprinkle over a teaspoonful of salt and a dash of pepper. Beat the yolks of three eggs until light; add a half cup of cream and a half cup of milk; pour this into the hot mixture, and shake until smoking hot. Do not allow them to boil. Serve in a heated vegetable dish, with blocks of toast over the top.

=Puff-Ball Omelet.=--Pare and cut into blocks sufficient puff-balls to make a pint. Put a tablespoonful of butter into a saucepan; add the puff-balls, cover and cook for ten minutes. Beat six eggs without separating, until thoroughly mixed, but not too light; add the cooked puff-balls, a level teaspoonful of salt and a dash of pepper. Put a tablespoonful of butter into your omelet pan; when hot, turn in the egg mixture; shake over the hot fire until the bottom has thoroughly set, then with a limber knife lift the edge, allowing the soft portion to run underneath; continue this operation until the omelet is cooked through; fold and turn onto a heated dish. Serve at once.

Other delicate mushrooms may be used in this same manner.

=Puff-Balls with Agaricus campestris.=--As the _Agaricus campestris_ has a rather strong flavor and the puff-balls are mild, both are better for being mixed in the cooking. Take equal quantities of _Agaricus campestris_ and puff-balls; pare and cut the puff-balls into blocks; to each half pound allow a tablespoonful of butter. Put the butter in a saucepan, add the mushrooms, sprinkle over the salt (allowing a half teaspoonful always to each pint); cover the saucepan and stew slowly for twenty minutes. Moisten a tablespoonful of flour in a half cup of milk, add it to the mixture, stir and cook for just a moment, add a dash of pepper, and serve in a heated dish.

This recipe may be changed by omitting the flour and adding the yolks of a couple of eggs; milk is preferable to stock, for all the white or light-colored varieties.

MORCHELLA.

Select twelve large-sized morels; cut off the stalks, and throw them into a saucepan of warm water; let them stand for fifteen minutes; then take them on a skimmer one by one, and drain carefully. Chop fine sufficient cold boiled tongue or chicken to make one cupful; mix this with an equal quantity of bread crumbs, and season with just a suspicion of onion juice, not more than ten drops, and a dash of pepper. Fill this into the mushrooms, arrange them neatly in a baking pan, put in a half cup of stock and a tablespoonful of butter, bake in a moderate oven thirty minutes, basting frequently. When done, dish neatly. Boil down the sauce that is in the pan until it is just sufficient to baste them on the dish; serve at once.

=A Second Method.=--Select large-sized morels; cut off the stalk; wash well through several waters. Put into a frying pan a little butter, allowing about a tablespoonful to each dozen mushrooms. When hot, throw in the mushrooms, and toss until they are thoroughly cooked; then add a half pint of milk or stock; cover the vessel, and cook slowly twenty minutes; dust with salt and pepper, and serve in a vegetable dish. This method gives an exceedingly palatable and very sightly dish if garnished with sweet Spanish peppers that have been boiled until tender.

=Another Method.=--Remove the stems, and wash the morels as directed in the preceding recipe. Make a stuffing of bread crumbs seasoned with salt, pepper, chopped parsley, and sufficient melted butter to just moisten. Place them in a baking pan; add a little stock and butter; bake for thirty minutes. When done, dish. Into the pan in which they were cooked, turn a cupful of strained tomatoes; boil rapidly for fifteen minutes until slightly thickened; pour this over the mushrooms; garnish the dish with triangular pieces of toasted bread, and serve.

GENERAL RECIPES.

In the following recipes one may use _Agaricus campestris_, _silvicola_, _arvensis_, or _Pleurotus ostreatus_, or _sapidus_, or _Coprinus comatus_, or any kindred mushrooms. The _Agaricus campestris_, however, are to be preferred.

=To Serve with a Boiled Leg of Mutton=, wash well the mushrooms and dry them; dip each into flour, being careful not to get too much on the gill side. In a saucepan have a little hot butter or oil; drop these in, skin side down; dust them lightly with salt and pepper. After they have browned on this side, turn them quickly and brown the gills; add a half pint of good stock; let them simmer gently for fifteen minutes. Take them up with a skimmer, and dish them on a platter around the mutton. Boil the sauce down until it is the proper consistency; pour it over, and serve at once. These are also good to serve with roasted beef.

=Mushroom Sauce for Game.=--Wash well one pound of fresh mushrooms; dry, and chop them very fine. Put them into a saucepan with one and a half tablespoonfuls of butter; cover, and cook slowly for eight minutes; then add a half cup of fresh rubbed bread crumbs, a half teaspoonful of salt, a saltspoon of white pepper; cover and cook again for five minutes; stir, add a tablespoonful of chopped parsley, and, if you like, two tablespoonfuls of sherry; turn into a sauce-boat.

=A Nice Way to Serve with Fricassee of Chicken.=--Wash and dry the mushrooms; sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Put some oil or butter in a shallow pan; when hot, throw in the mushrooms, skin side down; cover the pan, put in the oven for fifteen minutes; baste them once during the baking. Lift them carefully and put them on a heated dish. Add to the fat in the pan two tablespoonfuls of finely chopped mushrooms, a half cup of good stock; boil carefully for five minutes. Have ready rounds of bread toasted; dish the mushrooms on these; put on top a good sized piece of carefully boiled marrow; season the sauce with salt, and strain it over. Use these as a garnish around the edge of the plate, or you may simply dish and serve them for breakfast, or as second course at lunch.

=Oysters and Mushrooms.=--Wash and remove the stems from a half pound of fresh mushrooms; chop them fine; put them into a saucepan with a tablespoonful of butter, a half teaspoonful of salt, and a dash of pepper; cover closely, and cook over a slow fire for ten minutes. Have ready, washed and drained, twenty-five good sized fat oysters; throw them perfectly dry into this mushroom mixture. Pull the saucepan over a bright fire; boil, stirring carefully, for about five minutes. Serve on squares of carefully toasted bread.

=Tomatoes Stuffed with Mushrooms.=--Wash perfectly smooth, solid tomatoes; cut a slice from the stem end, and remove carefully the seeds and core. To each tomato allow three good sized mushrooms; wash, dry, chop them fine, and stuff them into the tomatoes; put a half saltspoon of salt on the top of each and a dusting of pepper. Into a bowl put one cup of soft bread crumbs; season it with a half teaspoonful of salt and a dash of pepper; pour over a tablespoonful of melted butter; heap this over the top of the tomato, forming a sort of pyramid, packing in the mushrooms; stand the tomatoes in a baking pan and bake in a moderate oven one hour. Serve at once, lifting them carefully to prevent breaking.

Or, the mushrooms may be chopped fine, put with a tablespoonful of butter into a saucepan and cooked for five minutes before they are stuffed into the tomatoes; then the bread crumbs packed over the top, and the whole baked for twenty minutes. Each recipe will give you a different flavor.

FOOTNOTES:

[E] The recipes for Agaricus are intended for the several species of this genus (Psalliota).