Mushrooms

[welsh wizard]

Hi all

As I am sure a lot of you will know ther have been masses of mushrooms growing in the fields this year and I have been collecting Abrahams for all I am worth and turning them into bases for soups as well as frying them off in a little butter and garlic for my breakfast.

I was wondering as I seem to have gluts of these if there are any recipes you have for mushroom sausage? Of course the field mushrooms such as the Abraham will turn blackish as time goes on but I really fancy having a go at a wild mushroom sausage........

Cheers WW

[dougal]

I wonder what it is that you are calling "Abrahams"??? - that's a new term to me...

I've seen recipes using dried mushrooms (sometimes powdered) - I think the balance of water and flavour needs to be tipped fairly dramatically from where mushrooms start off...

[vinner]

Okay, WW, that's a new challenge, so I went to the books. One of my books is a venison book. It espouses using mushroomsin ANY sausage in lieu of fat, for a relatively fat free version. Here is one:

FF Venison and Mushroom breakfast sausage

4 lbs boned venison
2lbsmushrooms
2 cloves garlic
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp marjoram
2 tsp thyme
2 tsp basil
4 tsp salt
2 tbsp ground sage
2 tbsp parsley
2 onions chopped
6 tbsp ice water.

Mix meats and mushroom place in freezer for 30 minutes,

Season with seasonings, add onions pass through medium plate of grinder. Mix in ice water well, until tacky in consistency. Stuff into hog casings.

NOTE: If I tried this, I would still add a pound of prok fat, and maybe 1/4 cup of white wine.

Now one from a trusted source:

Pheasant and Wild Mushroom Sausage

3/4 pounds cleaned, finely chopped musrooms
1 lbs boneless pheasant meat, skin on
1/2 lbs pork fat Or half pork, half chicken fat)
2 TBS Calvados
1 tbs chopped parsley
2 tsp chopped shallotss
2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/4 tsp dried sage
1 pinch each of ground cloves a fresh ground nutmeg

Grind pheasant and fat through a 1/4 inch plate. Add other ingredients and mix well. Stuff into casings.

[Michelle]

Mmm...drool,drool... Looks good Vinner! I put this on my definitly to try list! Thank you!

Michelle

[vinner]

J' vous en prie. Let me know how they trun out.

[welsh wizard]

WOW Vinner - well done you, I will give those a try this weekend and post my findings - many thanks.

HI Dougal - sorry about the name Abrahams but this is what horse mushrooms are known as locally. They are called horse mushrooms because they are prolific where horses are (more muck, more mushrooms) and you will also find them under trees, especially Oak trees. They are a large mushroom and smell of anaseed. Personally they are my favourite.

Thanks one and all - Cheers WW...........

[TJ Buffalo]

Hi WW
I found this over at a place called Clay's kitchen at

http://www.panix.com/~clay/cookbook/bin/table_of_contents.cgi?sausage

Grilled Wild Mushroom Sausage
6 ounces chicken breast, boned and skinned
1 egg
2 ounces heavy cream, cold
3 ounces cremini mushrooms
3 ounces portabella mushrooms
3 ounces shitake mushrooms
3 ounces button mushrooms
� ounce fine herbs, (parsley, tarragon, chives, chervil)
1 ounce shallots, chopped
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
butter


For the chicken mousse, puree chicken in a food processor until smooth. Add salt and pepper and the egg. Pulse just to combine and scrape the sides. While food processor is running, add cream gradually through the feed tube. Chill and reserve. Wash and slice the mushrooms. In a hot saut� pan, cook the mushrooms with butter. When mushrooms are brown, add shallots and herbs. Remove from the pan and chill. Fold together mushrooms and chicken. Lay out plastic wrap on a table. Down the center, spoon a 1-inch pile of the mushroom mixture. Roll the plastic into a log. Tie the ends with a string and tie into links. Poach in simmering water for 10 minutes. Shock the links in ice water. This can be done up to 3 days ahead. To serve, remove the sausage from the plastic and grill, roast, or smoke, until it is hot throughout. Slice the sausage and serve it with a tossed salad.

[dougal]

.. HI Dougal - sorry about the name Abrahams but this is what horse mushrooms are known as locally. They are called horse mushrooms because they are prolific where horses are (more muck, more mushrooms) and you will also find them under trees, especially Oak trees. They are a large mushroom and smell of anaseed. Personally they are my favourite.

Thanks, I now have another name for Agaricus arvensis...

[Paul Kribs]

WW

If you want the flavour of the mushrooms to come through, try this.. Put a small knob of butter into a frying pan/skillet, add a teaspoon of oil and heat to amalgamate them. Thinly slice the mushrooms and add them to the oil/butter on a medium heat, and put a lid on the pan. The moisture from the mushrooms will be emitted and basically, will steam cook them in their own moisture. After about 3-4 minutes remove the lid and turn up the heat. Continue to cook the mushrooms whilst continuously moving them in the pan. The moisture will evaporate and the mushrooms will darken and dry out. Stay with them and keep them moving and they will end up almost dry. You will find the taste is much more concentrated using this method, hence more flavour in your sausage.. All you have to do then is either mince them or chop to your desired size.. I use this method a lot, although not for sausage making.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[welsh wizard]

thanks one and all - some really good advice coming in here.

Ref cooking mushrooms, I similar to Paul place the mushrooms in a pan with butter, add a table spoon of water (to reduce the shrinkage) and then cook off the water which leaves the butter cooked mushrooms.

Oh gawd - breakfast time now....................

cheers WW..............