Mushroom Confit: a Weekend Project That Simplifies Weekday Meal Preparation
Burning meals are the worst. Prepare canned mushrooms this weekend, and next week when it’s lunchtime and you’re short on ideas, turn to the ingredient as a starting point for any weekday evening meal.
In the Washington Post this week, food preservation expert Katie Barrow argued for mushroom confit or canned mushrooms slowly poached in oil, a process that enhances the mushroom flavor and creates a lush, velvety texture:
After a bit of work over the weekend, this jar of umami sits in the fridge, ready to prepare inspiration for the entire week. Use canned mushrooms for quick pasta sauces or pizza toppings, or tuck them under the skin of the chicken for a skillet. Meat and hearty mushrooms are waiting to be covered with a puff pastry pie, rubbed with bread pudding, rolled into a taco, or spooned into an omelette.
Mushroom confit is rich in nucleotides and enhances the savory meatiness or umami factor of any dish. You can use it as a filling, filling, flavoring, or sauce base to dramatically shorten your weekday dinner preparation time.
This is a short but satisfying weekend project; expect it to take about an hour and a half. You will need a glass jar, an instant reading thermometer, and edible mushrooms. The rest – whether you want to use buttons or morels, a mixture of mushrooms or one variety to chop or preserve whole – is entirely up to you. Although you can use it right away, it will last at least two weeks. The confit recipe, as well as some cooking ideas, can be found at the link below.
Here’s What You Need To Do To Start Cooking On Weekday Nights | Washington Post
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