Today/Tonight/Whatever - Mushroom Confit

I never quite know where I am these days; sometimes everything seems such a blur.  Sometimes the days go so fast and others interminably slow.

I was meant to post this yesterday, however I ran out of time and therefore thought would do just one post covering two days.  I have been busy.

Today has been a relatively busy one.  Started off with a big stock up on basic stuff from Home Bargains.  G is not the right person to go shopping with. He hates it with a vengeance.  Me, I like to have a good look around to see what is available. I did not get a good look around the store to see what they actually had.  Managed to obtain what I was after though to hopefully see us through the next couple of months on the cleaning and consumable items, soap powder, conditioner, loo rolls that sort of thing front.  Larger boxes of soap powder are often on offer or cheaper although you have to select from what they do have rather than necessarily what you are after.

We then nipped into Iceland The Food Warehouse.  It has some interesting bits like a lot of stores, but I did not think that they were particularly cheap and I noticed that sizes varied quite a bit.  Like a lot of places they had offers on some of which were very good.  However toilet tissue and one or two other things were far cheaper in Home Bargains.

I have decided that I am not cooking a full meal tonight.  We are having a roast Chicken and chips which is far easier for me to rustle together and be able to get on with what I need to get on with i.e. the Preserving.

Progress Report

The Beetroot is cooked and cooling down ready for the addition of spiced vinegar later on.

I have made some Confit Mushrooms to keep on the fridge shelf in order that we can have mushrooms either for breakfast or within another dish during the month.  I am utilising reduced mushrooms from the supermarket for this as a means to put something a little extra on the shelf.  G is particularly fond of a mushroom and bacon sarnie and this may go someway to feeding that need.  You can use various fats in a Confit, (the fat excludes air and preserves the food) and the fat can be used two to three times to prepare more of the same item or be used for roasting potatoes, anywhere you would use fat in general cooking. Although Goose fat is the preferred fat of many, you do not have to use Goose Fat (it is £5 a jar locally at the moment).  You can use oil, butter and Lard.  I am opting to use the Lard as that is the cheapest option for me at the moment, plus I was bought up using lard or fat from cooked meats in general cooking before cooking oils such as Sunflower were introduced.  So this to me is a really good way around (on paper at least) of preserving, even if it is only short term preserving.  It is an experiment for me, but the figures are adding up in my mind at least.  We shall therefore see how we get on with this on a practical basis.

I have been guided by two articles/recipes.

The first mention I found of Mushroom Confit was on the Le Parfait Recipe site - link here:

Mushroom Confit Le Parfait

There is also an accompanying video within this link which is also very helpful.

Wanting to know more I then started to some research and came across the Forager Chef site - link here:

Forager Chef Mushroom Confit

This gentleman uses the Confit to extend the life of Wild Mushrooms in Lard for use within his restaurant thus extending the season.

I am therefore starting to experiment for myself.  I truly believe the fact that although mistakes are made it is the only way for you to find your way around making certain preserves. I am also interested in using this technique for other items such as Confit chicken legs or Duck legs.

Now we just need the Dream house with the land, a lake or a stream and a Cave to keep all these wonderful foods in!  Only jesting.

I have prepared Chestnut Mushrooms and ordinary Mushrooms (standard ones) to preserve in this way and to keep in the fridge.  As I have said, I have bought reduced Mushrooms and found them to be just as good as those full price.  I also intend to dry some for the Pantry shelf and possibly make some Mushroom Ketchup for seasoning soups and gravies etc. in the days to come.

Basically you do the following:

Check jars to make sure they are intact and safe to use. Wash and sort your jars and sterilise them.

Sort through your mushrooms.  Mine were from the supermarket and relatively clean, but sometimes bits stick to them which need brushing off.  If the mushrooms are large cut them into even size pieces.

Prepare your onion by peeling it and cutting in half and then finely slice. Crush the garlic.

On a low heat in a large saucepan gently and slowly melt your chosen fat.  Then add your mushrooms, onion slices, garlic and sprigs of thyme and white pepper.   Slowly bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes.  Add vinegar and cook for five minutes. Remove from heat and then remove mushrooms to pan and add them to warmed jars distributing between the jars evenly.  Then add the melted fat to the top of each jar up to the top of the jar.  Heat treat by water bathing for 45 minutes, timing starts from when boil is reached.

As I had been busy with the preserving, I did not get around to putting all the items bought away.  I therefore set too and did this after tea.  I also sorted out under the kitchen sink and got things organised a bit more under there.  Everything is nice and clean again there now.

Friday

Laundry day today in readiness for the weekend.  Now I have the soap powder can get stuck in and get this out of the way.  Also bought Fabric conditioner, and stain remover.  Hopefully the stock up of these items will mean that we are covered for at least the next 6 to 8 weeks on washing powder.

Inbetween doing all this will be back in the kitchen again to do a bit more sorting.  

Will then get on to the Preserving again hopefully on Saturday.  Still have a load of things to make.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

x

Today has been designated to make Apple Sauce and process the Plums and the Tomatoes. Fingers crossed and toes plaited!

I intend in a few days to do an update on the progress of the Preserves situation over the past few weeks as a bit of a proper update is a little overdue and I have been fire-fighting other issues as well.

And the poor garden, well it has been a little neglected, but once I have the kitchen and the preserves under control I will be back out there.

I have a lot of work to do, but we need the Preserves on the Pantry shelf in order to help fire-fight the food situation.  In reality it is the last week of any month where there is a bit of a struggle and I am trying to address this, in my own inimitable style so that there is something in the fridge either fresh or preserved for the best part of the month.  It is the littlest things that make the most difference.