Some foraged mushrooms came my way this past weekend. After mushroom risotto and reserving some for requested mushroom ravioli, I found a recipe for preserving them. Besides drying, here is a batch of mushroom pickles.
Boletus edulis can be called by several names, such as: King Bolete, Porcini, Cepe, King Boleta, Penny Bun, and simply Boleta mushroom.
This mushroom can be found from 7,000 ft. to treeline. The season runs from June to August.
The best place to look for them is near conifers, such as Spruce. Boletes subsist by a symbiotic relationship with tree roots.
As you can see in the pictures, they can vary in size.
These mushrooms are a good source of protein, selenium, niacin and potassium. It is great to preserve all of that, as the season is quite short. On to making pickles....
Cut the mushrooms into slices. Not all the slices are going to be as iconic as the ones below. That is ok, they taste the same.
Along with the mushrooms you will need:
White vinegar (I used rice wine vinegar, I think straight up white vinegar is too harsh), white wine, thyme, peppercorns, garlic, rosemary, sage, sea salt, sugar, and olive oil. The instructions I followed didn't list measured amounts. I guess it depends on how productive a forage it was for how much you pickle. There is a video below from Youtube that will explain how to make the pickles. Some things not mentioned in the video: 1. The mushrooms shrink in size quite a bit, so when you are figuring out which jar to use take that into consideration. 2. Since there aren't measurements involved in the recipe, I would recommend tasting your brind before adding the mushrooms to see if it is balanced.
