Mushroom essence
Yield: 1 Batch
Ingredients:
- 1 oz Boletus mushrooms dried*
- 6 c Very warm water
- 2 md Shallots peeled & chopped
- 6 ea Peppercorns
- 1 ea Blade whole mace -=OR=-
- 1 pn Ground mace
- 1/2 sm Bay leaf
Instructions:
*One oz. = 2/3 cup. Suggested mushrooms are cepes porcini Steinpilze or boletes marketed as "Chilean dried mushrooms." Combine mushrooms in a bowl with 4 cups very warm water. Push them under the surface weight them with a saucer and let them soak overnight or for at least 6 hours until they are very soft. Stir them occasionally. Lift mushrooms from the liquid with a slotted spoon (save the liquid) and chop them fine saving as much juice as possible. Combine them with the remaining 2 cups water in a saucepan bring them to a simmer and simmer them covered for 20 minutes. Meanwhile to clear the soaking liquid of grit pour it carefully into a bowl leaving behind the sediment - this is certain to be sandy. Let the liquid settle again and again pour it off; repeat if necessary to be sure any grit has been left behind. Pour the simmered mushrooms and their liquid into a sieve set over a bowl and lined with fine nylon net or two layers of dampened cheesecloth. Press hard on the mushrooms to extract all possible liquid; discard the debris. Let this second batch of liquid settle then decant it as described for the soaking liquid; repeat if necessary. Combine the two batches of liquid with the shallots peppercorns mace and bay leaf in a saucepan. Bring the liquid to a boil over medium-high heat and simmer it briskly uncovered until it has reduced to 2 cups. Strain out the solids and let the concentrated liquid settle for one last time - we're still on the track of any sand that may remain. Decant the cooled essence then freeze it in an ice-cube tray. Remove the cubes from the tray and store them in an airtight freezer container. Keeps for up to a year in the freezer. Yield: 16 cubes about 2 tb. each.
