Makes 1.5 – 2 litres stock
| Ingredients | |
| 75g dried shitake mushrooms 1 ½ tbsp olive oil 100g fresh mushrooms 2 medium carrots, peeled, diced 1 medium onion, chopped into 1 cm pieces 2 celery stalks diced ½ cup leek greens, roughly chopped, 1 cm pieces |
3 sage leaves or large pinch dried sage
Bouquet garni – 4-6 thyme sprigs or ¼ tsp dried thyme; 2 bay leaves; 6 parsley stalks. 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped |
Cover the dried shitake mushrooms with one cup of hot water and set aside to soften.
Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot and add the vegetables, herbs, garlic and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently for about 5 minutes. Add the dried mushrooms and their soaking liquor plus the 2L of cold water. Bring to the boil and immediately reduce the heat to a simmer, or lazy bubble, and cook for an hour; simmer longer for a reduced intense stock which takes less space in the freezer.
For my every-day mushroom soup, I remove the bay leaf from this stock and do not strain out the vegetables; I simply leave the vegetables in the stock and puree.
To continue with the stock, strain it through a fine-meshed sieve, pushing on the vegetables to remove as much flavoured liquor as possible. For the strained stock, Use it as it is or return it the pot and simmer to reduce it further to intensify the flavour as much as desired. Generally, it takes about 15 minutes at a slow boil to reduce the volume of liquid by 250ml or one cup.
Variation: for a darker coloured stock, caramelise the onion separately first. Add the oil to the pot, add the onion and cook slowly for a few minutes and then turn up the heat a little to brown without burning, stirring occasionally and then more frequently as it gets darker. Add remaining ingredients and continue as above.
Flavoursome mushrooms
Dried mushrooms such as porcini, chantrelles, shitake and a mixed bag of dried mushrooms give intense flavours to the dish. I buy these dried at the Grocer and in the Chinese shops at the South Melbourne Market. They need to be re-hydrated and so also use the hydrating liquid in the dish you are making.
Most importantly, cook them in small batches so they caramelise and are golden, giving the best flavour. If you overload the pan, they sweat and give of their moisture and tend to steam rather than caramelise. You want the moisture in the mushroom, so they keep tender and moist. So spend a few more minutes cooking them to get the better flavour.
White button mushrooms are the most readily available. They have a nutty and tender taste when cooked. I use them a lot when making a light mushroom sauce to go with steak.
Swiss browns are similar to the white button mushrooms; however, I think they have more flavour.
Flat browns are the largest and have the strongest flavour of all the cultivated mushrooms.
Portobello mushrooms are good for grilling and baking. The texture and taste can be compared to meat and has an intense smokey flavour; they are mostly used as the main dish when replacing meat.
Shitake mushrooms have a combination of woody, earthy and slightly smoky flavour. They are also available as dried. Good in soups and your stir fry. Shitake mushrooms suit pork or chicken dishes.
Enoki mushrooms look like a cluster of bean sprouts, white coloured and taste sweet. They have a crunchy bite, perfect for salads and sandwiches.
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