Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Quick Pickled No-Fuss Spicy and Sassy Mushrooms

I've launched a little food-related project in conjunction with the folks at Fooducopia, a site where small food producers sell their products. My part in this is that I'll be creating recipes specifically for products sold on the Fooducopia site. This is one of those recipes, and this time I'm using Captain Spongefoot Steak Wash.

Hi, my name's Donna, and I'm a mushroom-aholic.

When I was a kid, I loved mushrooms, whether they were canned or fresh. Yes, I was the weird kid who loved all sort of vegetables.

Later, When I was off on my own, I found a mushroom farm not to far from where I lived. I'd go there just about every week and pick up three or four pounds of mushrooms. Every week.

I've cut back on that a bit. In fact, I don't buy mushrooms every week. But although I've cut back in volume, I've increased the diversity of the mushrooms that I use. Back when I had the four-pound-a-week habit, it was mostly white mushrooms, and sometimes there would also be some brown ones. But no exotic varieties.

Now, there's a stand at the farmer's market that sells a pretty interesting variety of mushrooms. And of course I have my stash of dried mushrooms.

But even though I've expanded my mushroom horizons, I still like standard white or brown mushrooms for many things. The top of a pizza for example. Cream of mushroom soup.

Or for pickling. Particularly for pickling.If you're going to pickle a mushroom, you're going to add a LOT of flavor from the pickling liquid, so there's no sense in using an exotic (and expensive) variety.

When it comes to pickled mushrooms, you can opt to slice your mushrooms, leave them whole, or cut them in halves or quarters. I depends, in part, on how big the mushrooms are. Slices will pickle faster than whole mushrooms, so if you need them soon, slicing or quartering makes sense. It also depends on what you plan on using them for. If they're destined for a tray of nibbles, the whole ones make sense. But if you're using them as a condiment, slices might make more sense.

These pickled mushrooms have a nice kick to them and a slightly smoky flavor. They make a great topping for sandwiches, burgers or tacos. You can also add them to a stir-fry, scrambled eggs, or cook them briefly with the rest of your fajita ingredients.

Quick-Pickled No-Fuss Spicy Mushrooms

1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, cleaned
1/2 small onion, medium dice
1/4 cup Captain Spongefoot Steak Wash
Juice of 1/2 lemon

Slice, halve or quarter the mushrooms, if desired. Combine all the ingredients in a nonreactive container. Stir to coat the mushrooms. Refrigerate at least a couple hours, or up to several days. It's a good idea to give the container a little shake once in a while, or open it up and stir things around, to make sure all the mushrooms are getting equal time in the marinating mixture.

If you prefer, you can put the mixture into a plastic bag and squeeze out as much air as possible. Then put the bag in a bowl (because if you don't the bag will leak. If it's in the bowl to catch drips, chances are you won't lose a drop.)

Serve these cold, room temperature, or heat them up, if you prefer.


To be clear, I'm not reviewing or endorsing the products in this recipe. I've created the recipe for Fooducopia to post its site and I'm re-posting the recipe here for my readers as well. Then again, since I created the recipe, rest assured that I liked it. I don't cook stuff that we're not going to eat.
Yum