Dryad Saddle Confit
Traditionally, confit denotes meat that has been marinated in salt and herbs, then slowly and gently cooked in its own fat, the end result being a nice and meltingly tender piece of meat. For this preparati0n I use the word confit to express the end result and texture, soft juicy, and full of flavor.
Hands down, this is one of the easiest, most flavorful, and simplest ways to cook and preserve mushrooms, especially firm mushrooms like chicken of the woods, hen of the woods, dryad’s saddles, and very firm boletes such as scaber stalks. Remember that when freezing mushrooms you must cook them before they are frozen, since otherwise they will have a bitter flavor with a spongy, soft texture.
After your mushrooms are confitted, you can take them out of their liquid and reheat them, add them to a salad or whatever you like, they are very versatile.
Wild Mushroom Confit
Polypores, and young boletes are great for this, if you want to use an older bolete or agaric, remove the pores or gills before confitting.
Usually after I cook the mushrooms slowly in oil like this, I will refrigerate them, then reheat them in their juice before adding to other dishes as a garnish.
Ingredients
- 1 lb wild mushrooms, such as young dryad saddles or boletes
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- Some herbs of your choice,I would recommend savory, thyme, or sage
- 1 clove of garlic, lightly crushed
Method
- Take your mushrooms,and cut them into pieces, 1/2 in thick should be fine.
- Place the mushrooms in freezer bags along with a small amount of aromatic herbs, the oil, and the garlic.
- Close the ziploc bags, leaving one corner open just wide enough so that you can suck the air out. Suck the air out of the bag, it should look like it was vacuum sealed. This is important as it will help the mushroom not to float in the water and cook unevenly, also, if the mushrooms are to be refrigerated after poaching, this lack of air will further extend their shelf life. Double bag the mushrooms in another plastic bag and repeat, this should stop any water from entering and diluting their flavor.
- Now bring a pot of water to a boil, turn off the heat and add your double bagged mushrooms and then weight them down with something that will not crush them, like a small plate. All you really want to do here is keep them under the hot water and prevent them from rising, which would cause them to cook unevenly.
- Leave the mushrooms in the water for 20 minutes, or until they are fully cooked and have exuded their juice. then remove the bag and and freeze or refrigerate immediately.
I’m wondering about the safety of this technique. Most wild mushrooms need to be cooked. But mushrooms cooked this way will never even really approach a boiling temperature, let alone the temperature that most mushrooms reach for several minutes when you fry them in hot oil.
Hi Rob, I understand your concern. This post does assume that the cook understand those basic precautions. In light of your comment, I have amended it to have a little more clarity for those new to cooking wild mushrooms, in the hopes they don’t get some G.I. issues from preparing something like a leccinum this way. Rest assured though, left in the bag in the hot water for the time mentioned, the mushrooms will be fully cooked, I have been using this technique for years.
Ok, thanks. I don’t see the updates, maybe I am missing something.
I tried this with Lactarius corrugis and the results were quite good. I ate half of one yesterday and so far so good 🙂
By the way, this blog is one of my favorites. I follow it consistently. I just fear it will make mushroom foraging and cooking a more popular hobby (!). That would mean less for those of us with a headstart.
Hi Rob. The updates are in the recipe method. It now says to bring the water to a boil and place the mushrooms in it, as well as a couple other little tweaks to ensure people cook their mushrooms thoroughly. I have had the GI once brought on from undercooked mushrooms (leccinum sp.), and it really sucks. The tricky part here is that I also needed to give an example of how I might use these after the slow cooking in oil. After cooking in oil, I usually heat them and their juice (past the point of boiling in a pan) to add as a garnish to other dishes, which negates any worry about undercooking. I didn’t put anything in there about that though, so I’m going to now. Thanks for your thoughts.
Hi Alan,
I really appreciate your information. It is unlike anything else I have found. The quality of your recipes, and their originality is really fabulous!
I would like to try your mushroom confit but can you give me an idea of the volume of oil you would normally use? Do you just cover the mushrooms?
Thanks again.
Has anybody used this method with chanterelles?
And…how much oil do you recommend? You do not specify a quantity above.
Doesn’t need to be a lot. a couple tablespoons if you’re doing it in a bag or sous vide (which I don’t like to use). When I do this in restaurant settings I use lots of oil, as in a gallon or so for 5-10 lbs.
Chants would work fine here.
From NW Illinois. I have been using Dryad Saddle mushrooms for many years now. I just pinch the edge of it before I cut it off. If the edge is tender there will at least be an inch or so around the edge that is edible. I haven’t found the need to scrape off the pores. If I am lucky enough to find really young ones, I will use most all of it, sometimes even the stem. It is easy to tell while cutting them if the are tender or not. If there is resistance to the knife, you can’t cook them tender lol. Sometimes I just cut the edge off and leave the rest on the tree to spread spores, and not fill my bag so quick.
My usual cooking method is to slice them about 1`/4 inch thick. Then fry them in a little olive oil and salt on medium heat. The juice will pour out of them in the skillet. I cook it down until it is like a little thin gravy. If I am not going to use them right away, I put them in quart zip lock bags and squeeze all the air out and seal and work the bags flat before freezing. They thaw out just like they were before freezing. Real nice to have to add to different dishes all year. I always say they are not hard to find, but it is hard to find good ones.