Something to do With Mushrooms

I had about three pounds of leftover mushrooms from the pickling project (because you need them uniform in size, it requires purchasing more mushrooms than you will need). This is a good method for cooking mushrooms that can then be used as a filling for pastry, lasagna, or served on toast. I have made potted versions of this sealing it in  a jar with a layer of clarified butter. Tonight, I made the "Pile 'O Crepes", with onion jam, and cheese.

Unlike duxelles, you don't need to bother squeezing all the liquid from the mushrooms in a towel. I have rheumatoid arthritis, so anything involving squeezing is problematic. This method is nice as the liquid cooks off, and then you reduce it a second time after adding wine. I'll give you the recipe for 2 lbs of mushrooms, but feel free to reduce or double according to your mushroom glut.

You Will Need:

2 lbs. mushrooms, stemmed and very finely chopped (a big chef's knife works well here)
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
4 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
Fresh thyme to taste (I used about a tablespoon of picked leaves)
Black pepper to taste
1/2 cup red wine, or Port (I like port to drink, and usually have it around)

Melt your butter in a heavy, non reactive pan. Add the mushrooms, salt, sage, thyme, and pepper. Cook over medium heat until the mushrooms have released most of their liquid. It will look very wet at this point-don't worry about it. Turn the heat up to high, and stirring constantly with a wooden spoon ('caus it is gonna get hot and you don't want to be using a metal one)until most of the liquid is gone-about 5 minutes. Add the wine, and continue stirring until it is also evaporated. At this point you should turn the heat back down to medium, but keep stirring or you will have a burned mess to clean. Continue cooking the mushrooms until they are thick-like you could spread them on toast. When the mixture begins to stick, and the mushrooms hold together well, remove from heat and cool.

You should have about 2 1/2 cups of rich mushrooms to use as you like.