The essence of mushroom

Mushrooms are not a universally popular item in our house, but Dylan and I love them. If you're looking for an easy way to prepare mushrooms to have on hand for various uses (the classic pairing is Beef Wellington, but it's great in scrambled eggs or as part of the appetizer below), try duxelles (pronounced dook●sel). Named for the 17th-century French Marquis d'Uxelles, who employed the chef who came up with the idea, duxelles is basically a mushroom paste made from finely diced mushrooms sauteed in butter with a little shallot, herb, salt, and pepper. Once it's cooked down and browned, duxelles is like the essence of mushroom—which sounds great to me, but may seem like a nightmare to some of you (but definitely not to Dylan, who made the crostini appetizer with duxelles and pronounced it "ridiculously good," which is his equivalent of Mom's "heavenly").

Crostini

Time: 15 minutes

1 large baguette

Place a rack in the center of the oven, and heat to 400 degrees. Cut the baguette on the bias into ½-inch-thick slices. Arrange the pieces in a single layer on an 18-by-13-inch baking sheet. Bake for 5 minutes. Turn the pieces with tongs. Bake until the bread is dry and crisp and taking on a little color, about 5 minutes more. Makes about 20 crostini.

Seasoned crostini
As soon as the crostini come out of the oven, rub them lightly with a peeled, raw garlic clove. Brush lightly with extra-virgin olive oil. Season to taste with fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Duxelles

Adapted from Vegetables Every Day (2001) by Jack Bishop

Time: 30 minutes

There are many uses for duxelles: try adding ¼ cup when beating scrambled eggs, making the appetizer below, or stirring them into soups or stews or mashed potatoes or rice or anything else you can think of. Dylan likes to spread duxelles on the inside of a grilled cheese made with Asiago, which sounds fabulous.

10 ounces/285 grams cremini or white button mushrooms or a mixture
1 tablespoon unsalted butter or extra-virgin olive oil or a mixture
2 tablespoons (15 grams) minced shallot (1 small shallot)
½ teaspoon minced fresh thyme or rosemary leaves
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
a few drops of dry sherry or white wine (optional)

    1. Wash the mushrooms. Trim a thin slice off the bottom of the stems. Halve the mushrooms. Mince the mushrooms into ⅛-inch pieces. You can do this by hand, but it’s easiest in the workbowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, using 5 or 6 one-second pulses. You want very small pieces, not mushroom puree (see the photo above).
    2. Melt the butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Stir in the shallot and thyme or rosemary and cook, stirring frequently, until the shallot is softened but not browned, about 2 minutes.
    3. Stir in the mushroom pieces. Season with a big pinch of salt and a few twists of pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms have released their liquid, the liquid has evaporated, and the mushrooms are browned, about 15 minutes. If you have a lot of fond on the bottom of the pan, you may choose to deglaze the pan with a few drops of dry sherry or white wine. Taste for seasoning. Use promptly or store in an airtight container in the fridge for several days. Duxelles also freezes well, so you may want to double the recipe, using a 12-inch skillet if you do. Makes about ¾ cup.

Crostini with Whipped Chèvre and Duxelles

Whipped chèvre adapted from The Quick Recipe (2003) by the Editors of Cook's Illustrated

Time: 8 minutes to make the whipped chèvre; 15 minutes to assemble the crostini

4 ounces/113 grams fresh chèvre goat cheese
2 tablespoons (30 grams) half-and-half or heavy cream
2 teaspoons lemon juice
fine sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
20 crostini (from recipe above) or firm crackers such as Trader Joe's Pita Bite Crackers
¾ cup duxelles (from recipe above)
a good finishing salt such as fleur de sel or Maldon

    1. For the whipped chèvre: Place the goat cheese, half-and-half, lemon juice, a pinch of sea salt, and a twist or two of pepper into a medium bowl. Whip with a handheld mixer until soft and homogeneous, about 1 minute. (The whipped chèvre may be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days.) 
    2. Spread a good dab of the whipped chèvre over each of the crostini. Place a spoonful of duxelles over the chèvre on each of the crostini. Sprinkle a small pinch of finishing salt over all of the crostini.