Kitchen Basics: Mushroom Duxelles

I love a recipe that I can use in several different things. Duxelles is a mix of mushrooms, shallot and garlic chopped, sauteed and reduced. You can add herbs or wine in the reduction, but here I have kept it simple. Duxelles can be used in super fancy things like Beef Wellington or you can keep it simple and put it on garlic toast, add a spoonful to an omlette or a stir-fry. Like a rotisserie chicken, you can get many lives from this one recipe. I will be using this base recipe as a build on for others. Get creative!

Ingredients:

• 500 grams/1 lb mushrooms (whatever you like, button or cremini) cleaned and chopped.

• 1 shallot, chopped

• 1 clove of garlic, stem removed finely chopped

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil

• 1 Tablespoon butter

• Salt + pepper

• Optional: 1/2 tsp fresh thyme or rosemary, 1/4 cup of white wine

Directions

Start by cleaning the mushrooms, using a brush, or you can rinse them off and strain (either works). In a large skillet add one tablespoon of olive oil, shallot and garlic and put on medium heat for about 3-5 minutes. Once the shallot goes clear and the garlic is fragrant, add the mushrooms and stir. Cover and let the mushrooms sweat for about 3 minutes. Then remove the cover and let the mushroom liquid cook down, another 3-5 minutes. It won’t be the most attractive at this stage, but trust me, it does work out! Once the liquid is reduced and the mushrooms are starting to dry out add the pat of butter and let the mushrooms sear. When the mushrooms start to brown you can keep it like this or go for another layer of flavor. For this add the herbs, and the white wine and reduce again. Done. Let the mix cool and you are ready to play :)