Mushroom essence

Yield: 1 Batch

Measure Ingredient
1 ounce Boletus mushrooms, dried*
6 cups Very warm water
2 mediums Shallots, peeled & chopped
6 eaches Peppercorns
1 each Blade whole mace -=OR=-
1 pinch Ground mace
½ small Bay leaf

*One oz. = ⅔ cup. Suggested mushrooms are cepes, porcini, Steinpilze or boletes marketed as "Chilean dried mushrooms." Combine mushrooms in a bowl with 4 cups very warm water. Push them under the surface, weight them with a saucer, and let them soak overnight or for at least 6 hours, until they are very soft. Stir them occasionally. Lift mushrooms from the liquid with a slotted spoon (save the liquid) and chop them fine, saving as much juice as possible. Combine them with the remaining 2 cups water in a saucepan, bring them to a simmer, and simmer them, covered, for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, to clear the soaking liquid of grit, pour it carefully into a bowl, leaving behind the sediment - this is certain to be sandy. Let the liquid settle again and again pour it off; repeat, if necessary, to be sure any grit has been left behind. Pour the simmered mushrooms and their liquid into a sieve set over a bowl and lined with fine nylon net or two layers of dampened cheesecloth.

Press hard on the mushrooms to extract all possible liquid; discard the debris. Let this second batch of liquid settle, then decant it as described for the soaking liquid; repeat if necessary. Combine the two batches of liquid with the shallots, peppercorns, mace and bay leaf in a saucepan. Bring the liquid to a boil over medium-high heat and simmer it briskly, uncovered, until it has reduced to 2 cups.

Strain out the solids and let the concentrated liquid settle for one last time - we're still on the track of any sand that may remain.

Decant the cooled essence, then freeze it in an ice-cube tray. Remove the cubes from the tray and store them in an airtight freezer container. Keeps for up to a year in the freezer. Yield: 16 cubes, about 2 tb. each.

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