Mushroom "Caviar" (spread)

Herbs from my garden: lovage, sage, and rosemary 

Mushrooms are one of the staple ingredients in my kitchen. I use about 10-15 lb of mushrooms per month. What do I do with it?
Spread, pate, stuffed mushrooms, and many other dishes that I remember my grandma made along with the new ones. Mushrooms are not picture perfect material, but by blog is not a food fashion show. Hence mushrooms, along with other "ugly ducks", eggplants and artichokes, live on pages of this blog. Hey, Julia Child's books don't have pictures at all, and how popular they are!

I think they are pretty...

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Mushroom "Caviar"

For this recipe you need just a few ingredients:

• 1-2 lb mushrooms (white, crimini, portobello, or any other you like)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2-4 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp mayo (I use Grapeseed Vegenaise)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Clean and rinse mushrooms. Make sure you don't leave the mushrooms in a water: mushrooms are sponges and will absorb a lot of water in it. 
I clean mushrooms with a damp towel from any dirt and debris, then I quickly rinse them. 
Cut mushrooms in 1 cm (1/2in) cubes.

Cubed

Preheat olive oil in a large skillet or brazer. 
When oil is hot (bubbles starts to form), add mushrooms, stir, and turn the heat down to a medium. 
Cook 10-20 minutes (until liquid evaporates), stirring occasionally.

Liquid evaporated and mushrooms start to brown: add salt and pepper

When all liquid evaporated and mushrooms start to brown, salt and pepper it, and taste. Adjust seasoning, if needed.
Remove mushrooms from the skillet into a mixing bawl to cool down.
Set your food processor (if you don't have one, then wait for mushrooms to chill, and mince it with a knife).
In a food processor start with garlic until minced (or mince garlic with a knife).
Add mushrooms and run food processor for about 10 seconds.
Add mayo, run another 10 seconds. 
Make sure all ingredients have minced to the same size. You may need to scrape sides of the ball, and run food processor for another 5 seconds.
Place the "caviar" into the serving bawl.

Mushroom "caviar"

Mushroom "caviar" (spread) is delicious. It is great on toasted bread, with vegetables, and as a dressing to any salads. 

I love it on a sliced tomato, mmm!

Until next time,
Cowboy Country Vegetarian