Thursday, February 23, 2012

Mushroom "Caviar" (spread)

Herbs from my garden: lovage, sage, and rosemary 
Mushrooms are one of the staple ingredients in my kitchen. I use about 10-15 lb of mushrooms per month. What do I do with it?
Spread, pate, stuffed mushrooms, and many other dishes that I remember my grandma made along with the new ones. Mushrooms are not picture perfect material, but by blog is not a food fashion show. Hence mushrooms, along with other "ugly ducks", eggplants and artichokes, live on pages of this blog. Hey, Julia Child's books don't have pictures at all, and how popular they are!


I think they are pretty...


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Mushroom "Caviar"


For this recipe you need just a few ingredients:

  • 1-2 lb mushrooms (white, crimini, portobello, or any other you like)
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2-4 cloves garlic
  • 1 tbsp mayo (I use Grapeseed Vegenaise)
  • Salt and pepper to taste



Clean and rinse mushrooms. Make sure you don't leave the mushrooms in a water: mushrooms are sponges and will absorb a lot of water in it. 
I clean mushrooms with a damp towel from any dirt and debris, then I quickly rinse them. 
Cut mushrooms in 1 cm (1/2in) cubes.


Cubed


Preheat olive oil in a large skillet or brazer. 
When oil is hot (bubbles starts to form), add mushrooms, stir, and turn the heat down to a medium. 
Cook 10-20 minutes (until liquid evaporates), stirring occasionally.


Liquid evaporated and mushrooms start to brown: add salt and pepper


When all liquid evaporated and mushrooms start to brown, salt and pepper it, and taste. Adjust seasoning, if needed.
Remove mushrooms from the skillet into a mixing bawl to cool down.
Set your food processor (if you don't have one, then wait for mushrooms to chill, and mince it with a knife).
In a food processor start with garlic until minced (or mince garlic with a knife).
Add mushrooms and run food processor for about 10 seconds.
Add mayo, run another 10 seconds. 
Make sure all ingredients have minced to the same size. You may need to scrape sides of the ball, and run food processor for another 5 seconds.
Place the "caviar" into the serving bawl.


Mushroom "caviar"


Mushroom "caviar" (spread) is delicious. It is great on toasted bread, with vegetables, and as a dressing to any salads. 


I love it on a sliced tomato, mmm!




Until next time,
Cowboy Country Vegetarian





31 comments:

  1. It looks great! I love mushrooms, in all kind of dishes!
    I'm gonna try the mushroom caviar!

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    1. I love mushrooms too. My mother told me that when I was little I didn't eat mushrooms at all! How our taste changes through the years!

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  2. I really love mushrooms, they are my favorite :) I need to try this! Lovely photos :)

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  3. Oh wow this looks good! I love mushrooms but always feel like they're expensive. Such great flavor- I shouldn't have read this while hungry :)

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    1. I buy mushrooms in bulk at the local organic store. They are chipper this way. And we do eat a lot of mushrooms along with other vegetables.

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  4. I have mushrooms in the fridge that I didn't know what to do with. Thank you; this is my kind of recipe.
    Rita

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    1. Bring it to my kitchen, we'll make something of it for you to enjoy! :)

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  5. Oh, I love mushrooms....and this spread looks amazing!!! So yummmy!

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    1. Thank you Lizzy. It was yummy - all gone, they asked me why I didn't make more!

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  6. This looks terrific, I love mushrooms. I could spread that on bread right now. Do you happen to have a good veggie pate? Have a great day!

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    1. Veggie pate is coming, how did you know? :)
      Thank you Suzi!

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  7. This looks amazing! I have been eatting alot of mushrooms too, I find they help my migraines stay at bay. I will have to make this!

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    1. Really? Mushrooms help with migraines? I didn't know that. Thanks!

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  8. This looks really yummy! I'm looking forward to trying it. I'm going to ask the hubs to make it. I see that garlic cloves are involved, lol. Thank you for your kind words : )

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    1. If you get the elephant garlic, tell him to use cheese grater instead of knife! Take care!

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  9. I haven't had like this looks wonderful

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    1. Easy to make, try it. Thanks for coming to my kitchen!

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  10. I haven't had this caviar before.. looks really good :).. Thanks for dropping by..Glad to follow u now :)

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    1. Thank you. I am glad you came to my kitchen!

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  11. Looks awesome. We are mushroom lovers for sure.

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  12. We love mushrooms but I've never made this before! Great recipe! ♥

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    1. Thank you Diane! Try it, if you like garlic, you would love this one too.

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  13. Hey Marina, I just got the comment you left on my blog. Thank you! And I looove mushrooms, but hubby doesn't, so I try to sneak them in when he isn't looking :) This looks really good! I think your pictures look great!

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    1. Thank you Jane. I sneak a lot of veggies into the food I make for our teenager. Garlic does the trick with mushrooms so those who hate mushrooms, don't even notice they eat actually mushrooms. Ha!

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  14. I use mushrooms a lot but never made caviar out of it. I am loving your vegetarian dishes.

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  15. I love this - there's a brand which sells something similar ready-made in a tube. It's alright, but I think home-made would be SO much nicer. It looks amazing... I can't believe I never tried making it myself! Thanks for the wonderful idea!

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Your warm comments put a smile on my heart.