A rainy summer means my fridge is filled with fungi. There's regular food too, but mostly mushrooms. When that happens it's time to make one of my favorite mushroom appetizer recipes: a rich, creamy mushroom dip or spread I call caviar on menus. It's easy to make, crazy delicious, and a quick way to make room in the fridge so you can go pick more!
If you've ever made duxelles the recipe is similar. It's basically finely chopped fresh, dried, or frozen mushrooms cooked slowly to concentrate the flavor and mixed with something to bind them. This is rich stuff, so a little goes a long way.
The finished product can be a simple dip, but it's also one of the richest condiments for potatoes I know. Try it on baked potatoes, mixed in pierogi filling or as a garnish for creamy potato soup. When I wanted a side of roasted potatoes to sell on a menu, putting a dollop on top made them sell like hot cakes.
After your first try I'm sure you'll have plenty of ideas of things you can do with it. Here's how to make it.
Step-By-Step
You can use just about any type of mushroom you want here. They can be fresh, dried, or a mix of both.
Fresh Mushrooms
Chop the fresh mushrooms by hand for the best texture and cook in a dry pan. When the water's evaporated, oil, shallots and garlic are added and cooked slowly until soft.
Deglaze with a splash of wine, cool and mix with just enough sour cream so that it holds together Add fresh herbs to taste, adjust the seasoning and it's ready to serve.
Dried Mushrooms
Using dried mushrooms is similar to using fresh, with a few key differences. After rehydrating in water they're squeezed dry and finely chopped before cooking with the shallot and garlic.
Fleshy varieties like porcini or hen of the woods should be baked until light golden to improve their flavor before the wine and cooking liquid are added. After that the process is the same as described above.
Dried mushrooms can have a strong flavor, so this is a good place to add other ingredients like cream cheese, goat cheese, or caramelized onions like the porcini spread below.
Variations and Serving Ideas
There's a lot of ways to be creative with this and I've never made it quite the same way twice. Here's a few examples of how it can be used, and different ways to be creative with the flavors.
- Using a mix of ⅔ fresh and ⅓ smoked mushrooms like my woodfire-grilled oysters will blow people away. It's one of the richest vegetarian appetizers you'll ever have.
- It's a perfect place to use frozen mushrooms or duxelles.
- Try a Russian-inspired version with porcini, dill, and diced pickles.
- Using dried or fresh morels is a luxury.
- Pair mild-tasting species like lobsters with things like fresh mint, curry powder and hot chili.
- Add cream cheese and caramelized onions to balance strong or bitter flavors like black trumpet mushrooms.
- Use mashed, roasted garlic instead of fresh garlic.
- Adjust the consistency with mayonnaise or sour cream to make a sandwich spread.
Related Posts
Creamy Mushroom Dip with Herbs
Equipment
- 1 10 inch saute pan or cast iron skillet
- 1 3 cup mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 8 oz Fresh mushrooms washed and cleaned if needed
- 1 tablespoon Cooking oil such as grapeseed or avocado
- 1 Small shallot 1 oz of diced shallot
- 1 clove Garlic ½ T minced
- 2 T Dry white wine, (a splash) marsala or brandy can work too
- 1 teaspoon Chopped fresh thyme plus more to taste
- ¼ tsp Kosher salt to taste
- 3 Tablespoons Sour cream mayonnaise or thick yogurt can be used too
Instructions
- If the mushrooms are wild, clean them with water and rest on a towel uncovered in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. Finely chop the mushrooms.
- Put the mushrooms and a pinch of salt in a 10 inch nonstick pan such as a cast iron skillet and cook without adding oil. (If they're very clean and dry you can add the shallot and garlic first).
- When the water has cooked off, push the mushrooms to the side of the pan, add the oil, shallot and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes over medium heat stirring occasionally, until the shallot is translucent.
- Stir the mushrooms and shallot together on medium heat, stirring occasionally until the pan is dry and the mixture threatens to get color around the edges. Take your time. Add the wine to the pan and cook off.
- Add the thyme, stir, then transfer the mushrooms to a bowl, add the sour cream and mix. I like it pretty stiff and heavy on the mushrooms, but you can add extra sour cream to loosen it.
- Taste the mushrooms and adjust the seasoning for salt, pepper and herbs until it tastes good to you, Refrigerate for up to a week.
Tammie
Used this recipe as a filling for my Roasted Wild Mushroom Ravioli.
Roasted 8 ounces of wild mushrooms, then hand chopped the mushrooms as directed in the recipe. The only substitution I made was to replace the sour cream with a couple of tablespoons of ricotta, a tablespoon of mascarpone, and a sprinkle of parmesan and romano cheeses.
Using fresh handmade pasta, I use a ravioli mold to fill each with a tablespoon of filling and cut into individual ravioli. These were added to a pot of salted boiling water, and removed them when they floated to the surface. Drizzled with a little extra virgin olive oil and topped with reserved roasted wild mushrooms... AMAZING!!!
Thanks, Alan, for the inspiration!
Alan Bergo
Hey thanks Tammie I'm so glad you tried that. It does make a great filling.
Sam Schaperow
Wouldn't the flavor be about the same to substitute onion (maybe little less) and a little extra garlic for the shallot? If so, there is a small cost savings and also shallots are a bit harder to find.
Alan Bergo
Shallots are in every grocery store near me, and at ethnic markets they’ll give you a cost savings as they’re dirt cheap and a fraction of the size of an onion. Look for them at an Asian market. I have a recipe with caramelized onions in this post too using dried mushrooms. You can play around with the recipe lots of different ways and make it your own.
LaRae
Another great creation!
LaRae
Another fabulous creation. Love that I can use a mix of mushrooms!
Flanman
Thank you once again fine sir for yet another compelling recipe. I belonged to a mycology association for a good 10 years and I started an annual mushroom dinner that still exists to this day ( I started it in 1998). Anyway, we had an elderly couple from Russia in the club and every year they would bring mushroom caviar made from fresh Grifola frondosa ( aka Hen of the Woods). I would look forward to having it each and every year. It didn't have pickles as I recall but it did have dill and garlic. It was outrageously good and a real treat. Thank you for reminding me how awesome it was and now I'm waiting for some rain! It will be Grifola season here very soon (Upstate NY). Can't wait to try this again. Thx!!!
Alan Bergo
Thanks David. I do like it with hens too.
Hortense
Beautiful! Thanks, Alan!
Gene
Seems like something I should have on hand. How long should this last in the refrigerator? I’m sure that’s partly determined by the freshness of the ingredients but also perhaps by the fact that they are now combined.
Alan Bergo
It'll last at least a week. You can also cook frozen mushrooms to make it.
Tammie Lee
yum yum yum, thank you.
Alan Bergo
Thanks Tammie Lee