Dried Morel Mushroom Butter

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5 from 4 votes

Yield: about 1.5 lbs of butter, enough to garnish 10 entrees, or flavor 6-8 entrees of pasta

Prep Time15

Cook Time20

Total Time35

Course: Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Compound Butter, morel mushrooms, Mushroom Butter

Servings: Portions

Calories: 287kcal

Author: Alan Bergo

Equipment

1 Food processor

Ingredients

1.5 oz dried morel mushrooms about two cups of dried morels depending on size, I really suggest using a scale since they vary, especially if you have gigantic Midwestern morels.
1.5 cup boiling water
¼ cup dry sherry
1 lb unsalted butter cut into ~1x1 inch cubes, at room temperature
1 tablespoon flavorless oil like grapeseed
1.5 teaspoons kosher salt
1 small shallot diced ¼ inch
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme optional

Instructions

Re-hydrate the morels in the water until softened, about 20 minutes. Agitate the morels in the water to remove any grit, then remove the morels, strain the liquid, then coarsely chop the morels. Reserve ¼ of the morels for garnish.
Heat the shallot and the oil in a saute pan until the shallot is translucent, about 3 minutes on medium heat. Add the sherry and cook until reduced by half.
Add the morels, their strained liquid along with the thyme and bring the mixture to a simmer, for 10 minutes to reduce the liquid a bit.
Transfer the mixture to a blender or use a hand blender or a food processor to finely puree the mixture.
Cool the puree to room temperature to avoid breaking the emulsion of the butter. When the puree is cooled, beat in a bowl with the room temperature butter and the reserved morels or whip in a stand mixer.
It's important to really whip it a bit, since it incorporates air into the butter, similar to when you would make whipped cream. If I want to make fluffy butter to spread on bread, I may add an ice cube or two while it's in the stand mixer, which adds a little extra fluff.
Taste the butter for salt and pepper and adjust until it's irresistible.
When evenly mixed and fluffy, transfer the butter with a spatula to parchment or wax paper and roll tightly into a log, then tie the ends closed with string or plastic wrap.
Label, date, and freeze the butter until needed. The butter can be kept in the fridge, and will keep for a week. If you're not going to use the butter in a few days, keep it in the freezer, then you can pull out the log(s), allow to thaw a bit, then cut off pieces as needed and return them to the freezer. Frozen, the butter will last for a year.

Notes

Using fresh vs dried morels

You can make a butter with fresh morels too. For instructions on how to do that, see my Fresh Porcini Butter.

Using other mushrooms

Many other dried mushrooms can be used here, and you can substitute your favorite species.

Nutrition