Drying Mushrooms!

It's autumn, and what do you get fresh from the fields after the rain?  Yes of course you do... Mushrooms!  OK... well in spite of having loads of field mushroom lookalikes on our finca we have bought our mushrooms from the supermarket.  This is a precaution.  Firstly.... I have been mushrooming for field mushrooms in the UK since I was a child.  I am very happy spotting a field mushroom and very confident about eating them.  But here.... I looked at all the mushrooms popping up and although at first my heart leapt and I thought... yippeee... very soon after I had a nagging doubt.

The mushrooms appear to be your common old field mushroom but this is rural Spain.  Lots of very strange mushrooms pop up on our finca and I am filled with doubts.  So... not to worry... I'm not an expert and I am happy to admit it... I don't want to poison myself or my family... so its off to the supermarket where the season is reflected in the prices.

A couple of packs of Setas - Wild Mushrooms - a couple of euros and I have peace of mind as well as yummy food.

The mushrooms are ripped apart into roughly similar sizes and then I hang them up in net bags (rescued from onions at some point in the past) on the veranda to dry.

At night they are brought into the kitchen and then put out again in the morning.  Its rained a bit these last few days so they may take as much as a week to dry.  Once they are very very dry - like cardboard,  I will put them into a jar and keep them for use in stews and soups over winter.  They can be reconstituted by adding hot water and leaving them to soak for a little while and then they can be used almost like fresh mushrooms, except you might notice that the mushroom flavour becomes stronger after drying.  They can even be blitzed into a powder which is a wonderfully flavourful addition to a meal, without using a lot of mushrooms to achieve it.

Now, we have a very dry atmosphere here in South West Spain, its only really during January or February that it is too wet to air dry stuff.  If you live somewhere wetter then you might want to dry them in the airing cupboard, on the aga, above a radiator or even in a very low oven for several hours.  It all works.  Just make sure they are totally dry before storing or they will go mouldy.

Really Easy Economic Cream of Mushroom Soup

Mushrooms have a very strong flavour so it is really easy to make a little go a long way.  Here I am using whole mushrooms but did you know that you can make a bowl of soup from just the stalks?  Yes that's right... just the stalks.  If you are the kind of person who habitually chops off the stalk and chucks it away then you might consider trying this in the future.

Chop up your mushrooms (or your mushroom stalks).  Here I have taken the dirty bit off the end but kept most of the stalk on.  I haven't peeled them either... you lose a lot of vitamins if you peel them.  A wipe with a damp kitchen towel should be enough to dislodge any dirt that is clinging to them.

Chop up some onion and fry it gently in a little vegetable oil - or whatever you have in the cupboard.  When the onions are soft add the chopped mushroom (or mushroom stalks) and sweat them down a bit with the lid on.  When the mushrooms are cooked but not mushy add some stock (veggie, chicken beef ... whatever) or plain water if you don't have any stock to hand.  How much?  Well it depends upon how many mushrooms or mushroom stalks you have ... if you are only using stalks you might want to just make enough for one bowl of soup... so you will have to judge.

Put the lid back on and simmer it for about 20 minutes on a low heat.  Remove from the heat and whizz it up in a liquidiser or using a hand whizzer until it is creamy and smooth.

Finally add some single cream or the top of the milk (do we get the top of the milk these days?... you don't here in Spain - at least not where I live, but you do get a uht cooking cream which works a treat).  Season to taste, if it has cooled then warm it through again but try not to let it boil.  Remember a soup boiled is a soup spoiled!

PS.  If you made a very small amount using the stalks, instead of turning it into soup you can use it as gravy or as an enhancement to a meat gravy... added to a casserole, pie... whatever you fancy.  Leave out the cream but add a dash of Lea and Perrins or even a splash of ketchup or brown sauce - delicious vegetarian gravy!