mushrooms-msg - 2/8/08
Period mushrooms. recipes. Growing and collecting mushrooms in period and today.
NOTE: See also the files: 23-Ger-Mushrm-art, capers-msg, herbs-cooking-msg, marrow-msg, nuts-msg, spices-msg.
************************************************************************
NOTICE -
This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.
This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org
I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.
The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors.
Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s).
Thank you,
Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous
Stefan at florilegium.org
************************************************************************
From: "Philip W. Troy" <troy at asan.com>
Date: Fri, 02 May 1997 13:00:18 -0400
Subject: Re: SC - Mushrooms!
Jeanne Stapleton wrote:
> Okay: I got a five-lb flat of fresh mushrooms in lovely shape as
> part of a bonus for working with the SCA group at the public TV
> station this week. Since I'm not going to eat that much stroganoff
> in the next week or so, I'd like some suggestions/recipes/sources on:
> - interesting ways to pickle
> - interesting snack/appetizer things for a Pelican vigil next Friday
> - things other than stroganoffing or sauteeing
For what it's worth, I served this at an EK 12th Night a couple of years
ago:
_Funges in Pasty_
"Mushrooms of one night be the best and they be little and red within
and closed at the top; and they must be peeled and then washed in hot water and parboiled and if you wish to put them in a pasty add oil, cheese, and spice
powder."
Le Menagier de Paris, translated by Eileen Powers, pub. Harcourt, Brace,
New York, 1928
A pasty is a great way to cook almost anything moist, as the pastry case seals in any juices which would otherwise escape during cooking. The exact nature of the dough is fairly unimportant; most likely it would have been a hot water/shortening dough such as are used in modern English raised pork pies.
Pasties are always free-standing; without a pan to shape them. Classic
shapes are turnovers and double-crust rounds, like large round ravioli.
They can be, and were, either baked or deep-fried.
I suspect le Menagier is talking about some other mushroom than our
standard champignon; the need for peeling and parboiling suggests some
level of toxicity. We don't usually have to worry about that unless we
hunt up our own mushrooms.
For eight servings:
Eight frozen empanada wrappers (Goya makes cool yellow ones, 10 per pack!) or one recipe standard short piecrust, divided into eight and
rolled out into thin circles, or one frozen 9-inch pie-shell,
partially prebaked.
12 ounces, drained weight, canned sliced mushrooms plus one ounce soaked
dried wild mushrooms, chopped and sauteed (we used porcinis)
OR
1 1/4 pounds fresh mushrooms, sliced and sauteed
2-3 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup ricotta cheese or equivalent in cheese of your choice
2 Tbs grated parmesan cheese
2 tsp quatre ep=EDce or mixed pepper, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves
salt and pepper
3-4 cups vegetable oil for deep-frying, if you're going that way
Make the filling. Mix your mushrooms with the cheese, the olive oil,
and the spice powder. If you use premixed spice powder, remember it
probably already has some pepper. Season with salt and, if necessary,
pepper. If you're using a commercial baked pie shell, add one or two
beaten eggs to hold the filling together.
If using frozen wrappers, follow package directions for thawing and
keep covered with a slightly damp towel. If you're using homemade wrappers do the same.
Fill two or three wrappers at a time, keeping the rest covered. If
necessary, brush inside edges with water or beaten egg to seal. Pinch
shut any cracks the same way; a rub with a wet fingertip erases them.
Crimp the edges with fingers or a fork (optional). Fried pasties need to
be well sealed or they'll explode and fill your oil with brown curds.
Baked ones are easier, but not as good. Any leftover beaten eggs can be
used to glaze the baked version.
Deep-fry at 350 degrees F, til golden, or bake at 375 degrees F for 25 minutes or until a knife point comes out clean.
G. Tacitus Adamantius
From: Uduido at aol.com
Date: Fri, 2 May 1997 21:35:54 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: SC - Mushrooms!
<< For what it's worth, I served this at an EK 12th Night a couple of years ago:
_Funges in Pasty_ >>
I can vouch for this recipe. I redacted it several years ago and the Shire
now sells them from our period food booth when we set up at mundane
(translate: public) events. They always sell out! Well worth the effort.
P.S. Thanks for fine tuning this recipe for me! :-)
Lord Ras
From: "Sue Wensel" <swensel at brandegee.lm.com>
Date: 2 May 1997 13:09:28 -0500
Subject: Re: SC - Mushrooms!
> Okay: I got a five-lb flat of fresh mushrooms in lovely shape as
> part of a bonus for working with the SCA group at the public TV
> station this week. Since I'm not going to eat that much stroganoff
> in the next week or so, I'd like some suggestions/recipes/sources on:
>
> -interesting ways to pickle
> - interesting snack/appetizer things for a Pelican vigil next Friday
> - things other than stroganoffing or sauteeing
>
> Countess Berengaria de Montfort de Carcassonne, OP
> Barony of Caerthe
> Kingdom of the Outlands
Dining with William Shakespear has a wonderful mushroom dish, not good as a
finger food, but delicious. I've modified the redaction a little, to suit my
own tastes (while not an Italian persona, I believe that one can never have
too much garlic or too many onions in a dish). I use about equal amounts of
onion and mushrooms.
Saute the onions and garlic in about two sticks of butter (more for more
onions -- this is based on a 12 oz. pkg of mushrooms).
When the onions are clear, not brown, add the mushrooms.
When the mushrooms are totally wet and just beginning to soften, add enough
breadcrumbs (very fine) to absorb the butter. I usually remember to add any
spices right about now. I like to use mace, salt, nutmeg, pepper, ginger, and
cinnamon; basil, oregano, salt, and pepper; etc. If you are very experienced
in cooking, you can develop spice combinations you like.
When the butter is absorbed by the breadcrumbs, then add enough white wine to
make a slightly thinner than necessary sauce. Cook for about 10 minutes to
cook off the alcohol.
This is sufficiently yummy that my mom, who is hopelessly mundane, wanted the
recipe.
Derdriu
From: Emily Epstein <epsteine at spot.Colorado.EDU>
Date: Fri, 2 May 1997 14:34:17 -0600 (MDT)
Subject: Re: SC - Mushrooms!
Greetings from Alix Mont de fer.
On Fri, 2 May 1997, Countess Berengaria wrote:
> Okay: I got a five-lb flat of fresh mushrooms in lovely shape as
> part of a bonus for working with the SCA group at the public TV
> station this week. Since I'm not going to eat that much stroganoff
> in the next week or so, I'd like some suggestions/recipes/sources on:
> -interesting ways to pickle
> - interesting snack/appetizer things for a Pelican vigil next Friday
> - things other than stroganoffing or sauteeing
Here are a couple of recipes that I've served at events in the Shire of
Spinning Winds some years ago. The pickled mushrooms became sort of a
signature dish of mine-- they always seemed to go over well. These are
taken from my files with very little alteration- they were tinkered with
at Shire Cooks' Guild meetings over the course of several months before
the feast. Most of the work on the Funges was done by Lady Lisbet, who
probably has a surname by now, but I don't know what it is. For powder
fort we just used my usual formula (I keep it on hand, ready to use.)
Hurts and Promises, Feb. 17, 1990, Shire of Spinning Winds.
PICKLED MUSHROOMS (Elinor Fettiplace's Receipt Book p. 173)
Take your buttons, clean ym with a spunge & put ym in cold water as you
clean ym, then put ym dry in a stewpan & shake a handfull of salt over ym,
yn stew ym in their own liquor till they are a little tender; then strain
ym from ye liquor & put ym upon a cloath to dry till they are quite cold.
Make your pickle before you do your mushrooms, yt it may be quite cold
before you put ym in. The Pickle must be made with white-wine,
white-pepper, quarter'd nutmeg, a blade of mace, & a race of ginger.
Brine:
1 c. Rhine wine (or other white wine)
12 white peppercorns
1/8 t. grated ginger
1 nutmeg, broken
approx. 1/8 t. mace
Combine wine and spices in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer ca.10
minutes. Cool.
8 oz. mushrooms
1/2 t. salt (In period, they probably used more salt)
Put mushrooms in a heavy saucepan (Visions works well). Sprinkle with
salt. Cook over high heat, stirring frequently and stew them in their own
juices. until they're tender and there's almost no juice left (about 10
min.) Drain off excess mushroom juice. Cool. Pack into jars, cover with
brine, and cover tightly.
Served at Morgana's Althing 1993, Shire of Spinning Winds
FUNGES
Take funges and pare hem clene, and dyce hem; take leke and shrede hym
small, and do hym to seeth in gode broth. Colour it with safroun, and do
therinne powdour fort.
1 lb mushrooms
1 cup beef or pork broth
1/2 teaspoon powder forte
2 oz. leeks
Clean mushrooms and leek. Cut mushrooms in a rough dice, chop leek finely.
Add spices and broth. Bring to a boil and simmer 5 min.
Hieatt, Constance B. & Butler, Sharon, eds. Curye on Inglysch. London:
Oxford University Press for the Early English Text Society, 1985. iv 12 p.100
Do not freeze- texture gets nasty
Course 1 - 1 recipe/4 tables (32 people)
I hope you find these useful.
Ly. Alix Mont de Fer (m.k.a. Emily Epstein)
Shire of Caer Galen, Outlands
epsteine at spot.colorado.edu
From: Marvette Gleason <mgleason at corp.ultratech.com>
Date: Fri, 02 May 1997 10:22:00 -0700
Subject: SC - Mushrooms! -Reply
One thing I really love and freezes well: (while not necessarily period it
is a wonderful recipe)
3 lbs Sliced Mushrooms
1 bag of Colombo Stuffing Bread Crumbs (in the bread section or make your own)
4-10 cloves of fresh garlic finely chopped
1 lb butter
1 cup red wine
1 cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese (more or less if desired)
1/2 cup Finely Chopped Parsley
salt & pepper
2 packages of puff pastry sheets
1 beaten egg
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Remove puff pastry from packages and let thaw.
Melt butter in very large skillet. Add Garlic and saute until lightly
browned. Add mushrooms, wine and salt & pepper, saute until mushrooms
are cooked. Add parsley and stir, then add bread crumbs and parmesan, mix
thoroughly. Check seasoning - add more if necessary.
Cut puff pastry sheets into three even strips (along the fold lines).
Roll each piece out width-wise until almost double in width. Put mushroom
mixture lengthwise onto the puff pastry and roll like a burrito. Seal the
edge with a little of the beaten egg. Cut each roll into about 8 pieces.
Bake at 400 degrees until pastry is golden brown (approx. 10 - 15 minutes)
(for tips look at the sausage roll recipe on the puff pastry box.)
From: LadyBetta at aol.com
Date: Fri, 2 May 1997 22:22:01 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: SC - Mushrooms! and a recipe (no documentation)
This is a recipe given to me by Genrose of the Incipient shire of Eir Tun
Mushrooms
Butter
Parmesan cheese grated (Krafts works well)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
clean the mushrooms
carefully remove the stems, save these for other uses.
cut flutes in the mushroom caps, being careful not to cut thru the bottom
generously cover in butter
generously sprinkle with Parmesan cheese
Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes
Hope you like it:)
From: Lasairina at aol.com
Date: Fri, 2 May 1997 23:53:47 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: SC - Mushrooms!
Countess Berengaria de Montfort de Carcassonne, OP writes:
> Okay: I got a five-lb flat of fresh mushrooms in lovely shape
*snip* I'd like some suggestions/recipes/sources on:
>
> -interesting ways to pickle
> - interesting snack/appetizer things for a Pelican vigil next Friday
> - things other than stroganoffing or sauteeing
You might try stuffed mushroom caps - chop the stems very finely, mix with
grated cheese (Parm, Romano, and/or Sharp Cheddar) minced garlic, S & P, then
stuff the caps and broil until browned. There is also a wonderful mushroom
cheese tart recipe in Pleyn Delit that can either be individual tarts or a
pie...you might also try drying them for future use.
Lassar Fhina
From: Lasairina at aol.com
Date: Sat, 3 May 1997 00:02:03 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: SC - Mushrooms!
Philip Troy writes:
> I suspect le Menagier is talking about some other mushroom than our
> standard champignon; the need for peeling and parboiling suggests some
> level of toxicity. We don¹t usually have to worry about that unless we
> hunt up our own mushrooms.
Damn! Sorry about the first posting mess-up....I meant to say....
Actually, the parboiling is necessary for even the common mushroom we use
today. If this step is left out, the mushroom juice will cause your dough to
be extremely soggy. But parboiling them for a few minutes will take most of
the extra juice out.
Lassar Fhina
From: Deloris Booker <dbooker at freenet.calgary.ab.ca>
Date: Fri, 2 May 1997 22:09:10 -0600 (MDT)
Subject: SC - Re: elinor fettiplace's receipt book
"Elinor Fettiplace's Receipt Book" - edited by Hilary Spurling. Penguin
Books, 1986, 0-14-046956-7. $Can18.99, I have no idea of the US$ price.
YIS
Aldreada of the Lakes (D. Booker, Blue Castle Books, Calgary Alberta
Canada)
On Fri, 2 May 1997, Dottie Elliott wrote:
>
> Emily Epstein 5/2/97 3:34 PM
>
> >Elinor Fettiplace's Receipt Book
>
> What is this source? Any suggestions on where I could obtain a copy?
>
> Clarissa
From: dragon7777 at juno.com (Susan A Allen)
Date: Fri, 2 May 1997 21:37:30 -0700
Subject: SC - Re: Mushrooms & Herbal Oils
Mushrooms can be frozen, if they are sauted first.
I usually slice them and then saute in a good olive oil
until the water is cooked out. This will keep in the
refrigerator for a couple of weeks or frozen.
A friend of mine cooks them this way with garlic, but
I am allergic to the stinking rose.
Herbal Oils, you must have totaly DRY herbs for
getting the flavor into the oil, I don't mean dried herbs, I
mean no surface moisture at all, a hair dryer works, a
warm oven (150 - 200 ) or a drying rack (very period dried stuff)
work well to get that moisture off
Susan
dragon7777 at juno.com
From: "Philip W. Troy" <troy at asan.com>
Date: Sat, 03 May 1997 01:17:04 -0400
Subject: Re: SC - Mushrooms!
Lasairina at aol.com wrote:
> Philip Troy writes:
> > I suspect le Menagier is talking about some other mushroom than our
> > standard champignon; the need for peeling and parboiling suggests some
> > level of toxicity. We don=92t usually have to worry about that unless we
> > hunt up our own mushrooms.
> Damn! Sorry about the first posting mess-up....I meant to say....
> Actually, the parboiling is necessary for even the common mushroom we use
> today. If this step is left out, the mushroom juice will cause your dough to
> be extremely soggy. But parboiling them for a few minutes will take most of
> the extra juice out.
> Lassar Fhina
Yes, and much of the flavor too. I agree that the common cultivated
mushroom is a juicy beast, but I've had a fair amount of success with
sauteeing them before using. This has the advantage of concentrating the
juice in the pan and improving the flavor of the mushrooms. Sometimes
this can take a while. One trick I sometimes use when I'm in a hurry is
to take the sliced mushrooms, bundle them up in a clean kitchen towel,
and squeeze them until most of the juice drains out. You need a bit of
hand strength for this. I do this right over the saute pan. The juice
cooks down quite quickly, almost to a glaze, and then you add the
mushrooms. They cook in about 1/4 of the time.
Adamantius
From: Uduido at aol.com
Date: Sat, 3 May 1997 17:58:41 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: SC - Mushroom Recipe
<< You might try stuffed mushroom caps - chop the stems very finely, mix with
grated cheese (Parm, Romano, and/or Sharp Cheddar) minced garlic, S & P, then
stuff the caps and broil until browned. There is also a wonderful mushroom
cheese tart recipe in Pleyn Delit that can either be individual tarts >>
I found this on a wrinkled piece of paper in my "Feast Recipes" folder. Enjoy
MUSHROOMS y-Baked
100 mushrooms, quartered
5 lbs. cheddar cheese, grated
Ground Black Pepper
Ground Grains of Paradise
Ground Ginger