What to do with seven and a half pounds of mushrooms

Browsing through ElmhurstFreeCycle yesteday I ran across a gentleman giving away seven and half pounds of Green Giant mushrooms. His post said that they were on the verge of spoiling and needed to be cooked that day or the next. I'm thinking, mushroom soup might be good. I replied, he got back to me, and I end up with 14 eight oz. containers of sliced and whole mushrooms. I gave four pounds away to three neighbors and had three and half pounds left. I made mushroom soup with three containers. I browsed the internet and found an interesting recipe for Mushroom Pie here: http://www.erinseasyeats.com/vegetarian/148/moosewoods-mushroom-pie/.

The recipe is by no means lo-cal. The pastry calls for two sticks of butter and a cup of sour cream. There's also eight ounces of cream cheese in the filling. Well it was fabulous. I'll be watching for the next time my new friend has mushrooms to give away.

The latest issue of Cook's Illustrated has a small piece on Over-the Hill Mushrooms (subscription may be required).

The gist of it is that, while older mushrooms may look discoloed or blemished, as long as they aren't slimy or smell fermented, they can actually produce earthier, more mushroomy results, possibly because some of the moisture have evaporated.

So you may not have to worry about using them all up right away.

A problem I would not mind having...

For preservation... I would make large amounts of duxelles in the canonical fashion and also a similar preservable minced preparation with seasonings (olive oil, restrained application of garlic, etc.) of a more Italianate sort.

Antonius

Antonius wrote:I would make large amounts of duxelles

The exact word that occurred to me on reading the title of the thread.

Throw 'em into the Excaliber dehydrator, (or, if you are not blessed with such an appliance, dry them in the oven. Sealed in glass jars they are a culinary gift from the Food Gods.

They should never be allowed to spoil.Put them in a oven at 200deg till they dry enough to snap in two.Put a hand full in a beef stew and they will change the flavor immensely.I pickup old mushrooms from River Valley Ranch in Slades Corners Wisc very often .The older mushrooms will have the cap seperating from the stem at the underside of the 'shroom.This is when they develope the deepest flavor.

The mushroom pie looks amazing. Is it the sort of thing that could be a side dish? Or is it so rich, it should be a main course, with only a salad on the side?

Cynthia wrote:The mushroom pie looks amazing. Is it the sort of thing that could be a side dish? Or is it so rich, it should be a main course, with only a salad on the side?

Cynthia - probably too rich for a side dish. Served with a side salad is the best option. I also made them as mini tarts appetizers last week. I put balls of dough in mini muffin tins, used my tart shaper to flatten them out and filled with a heaping teaspoon of mushroom mixture. Didn't top them with anything. Got raves from the party goers.

What is in the mix besides just the mushrooms, when you make the tarts? sounds great!

Thanks to Ms. Ingie for the recipe link. A bunch of my friends had a winter solstice party last night, and needing one vegetarian dish that could stand shoulder to shoulder with roast duck and smoked beef tenderloin, we figured that mushroom pie would work. It was great -- and even the non-vegetarians couldn't resist it.

Being the solstice, we also had wassail and figgy pudding, among other delights. A splendid meal made even better (as so often happens) by a post here on the forum.

Thanks.