Dried morels rehydrated, cooked down with shallot and sherry, and beaten into a pound of butter. The result is a compound butter to slice onto steak, fish, eggs or pasta. Alan Bergo calls it “a restaurant secret I used to use to be able to afford to put morels on restaurant menus”: an ounce and a half of dried morels flavours a whole pound of butter.
Untested: I have not cooked this one yet. It is here because the Mushrooms dive needed it, and it is adapted from the source named in the Notes.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 oz dried morels
- 1 1/2 cups boiling water
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 small shallot, minced
- 1/4 cup dry sherry
- 1 lb unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (optional)
Directions
- Rehydrate. Cover the dried morels with the boiling water and soak about 20 minutes. Lift the morels out and squeeze them gently. Let the soaking liquid settle, then pour it off carefully, leaving the grit behind.
- Chop and cook. Chop the morels fine. Warm the oil in a pan and cook the shallot until soft. Add the morels, the sherry and some of the strained soaking liquid, then cook until the pan is dry and the morels are cooked through. Cool completely.
- Beat. Beat the soft butter with the salt, the cooled morel mixture and the thyme until evenly mixed.
- Roll and chill. Roll into logs in parchment or plastic wrap, then refrigerate or freeze. Slice from frozen as needed.
Notes
Where this recipe came from Adapted from Alan Bergo’s “Dried Morel Butter” at Forager Chef (foragerchef.com). The quantities are his.
Keeping it Keep it in the refrigerator for about a week, or freeze it for months. Because the morels are fully cooked before they go in, this is safe to use raw as a finishing butter.
The soaking liquid Any liquid left over is excellent in a pan sauce, soup or risotto. See Risotto with Wild Mushrooms (Risotto ai Funghi).
About the photo The photo shows dried morels, the ingredient that makes the butter.