Wild Mushroom Pate on Brioche With Pickled Red Onion

By Chez_Alexander

A recipe from The Pantry, Seattle, WA. This pate is lovely served with fresh bread, crostini, brioche toast points, or any cracker of your choice. It can also be used as a spread on a sandwich, in combination with a slab of roasted eggplant, or a slice of tomato.

Ingredients

• 1/2 red onion
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/2 oz dried wild mushrooms (such as black trumpet, porcini, or morels, or a mixture of all three)
• 3 TBS unsalted butter
• 1 cup small-diced yellow onion
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt, plus more as needed
• 1/4 tsp smoked salt, plus more for garnish
• 1 tsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp minced fresh sage, plus a few tiny sage leaves for garnish
• 1 tsp minced fresh thyme
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 TBS Marsala
• 1/2 loaf of brioche bread, sliced into triangles and toasted
• Capers, for optional garnish

Preparation

Step 1

1. Core the red onion and slice it into paper-thin half moon. Submerge under the vinegar along with a healthy pinch of salt and allow to pickle for an hour. Meanwhile, rehydrate the mushrooms in hot water for 5 minutes until they are soft. Agitate them well to clean them then lift them out of the soaking water. Now add boiling water and rehydrate the mushrooms for about 10-20 minutes, until they are soft. Strain and reserve 1 cup of the rehydration liquid.

2. In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, melt 1 TBS of the butter and add the yellow onion and salt. Turn the heat down to medium and cook the onion, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes, until the onion is very soft and beginning to color. Add the mushrooms and saute for 3-4 minutes. Add the smoked salt, tomato paste, minced sage, and thyme, the lemon juice, soy sauce, black pepper, and cayenne to ingredients in the pan. Saute 1 more minute.

3. Deglaze the pan with the Marsala and then, 30 seconds later, add the reserved 1 cup strained mushroom soaking liquid. Reduce the mushroom mixture by about half (you should be left with roughly 3/4 cup). Transfer the mixture to a blender and puree until very smooth. Season to taste with salt.

4. Fill a 1/2- to 3/4-cup capacity serving dish with the pate. Use a spatula to smooth out the surface. Melt the remaining 2 TBS butter in a small saute pan, skimming the top with a spoon to scoop out the white milk solids. You can discard or spread the milk solids onto a piece of bread as a snack. Pour the clarified butter evenly over the top of the pate. Refrigerate until chilled and the butter is set.

5. Serve by spreading a small dollop of pate on a piece of toasted brioche. Garnish with a bit of pickled onion and optional capers on top.

NOTE: You can easily double the recipe and freeze one ramekin (wrap very tightly in plastic wrap and then foil), then thaw in the refrigerator overnight before serving.

Makes 4-8 servings.