Pickled Mushrooms

First off, a disclaimer: THIS RECIPE AND THIS ONE ARE NOT MEANT TO BE PICKLED FOOD THAT CAN SIT ON THE SHELF FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME AND THEN EATEN AT A LATER DATE! This is a way of very lightly pickling food that should be enjoyed within a day or two or three of its preparation; it should remain refrigerated the whole time, and is not really preserving the food in any sustainable way. In fact, real picklers would probably advise that this technique is not pickling at all, but should probably be called something like a marinade. When you get into real pickling, that is, preserving things, you have to abide by all sorts of sterilization rules which I can only guess at but technically know nothing of; otherwise, you risk encountering things like botulism or other nasty things which we want no part of. So do not be mistaken.

I used to make these as part of an antipasto plate, several dozen of which I was responsible for conjuring up every night, and which needed to be supplied with a half dozen or so little snacks in addition to meats and cheeses. This was a delicious and easy way to fill up one or two of those slots, and I did this with turnips, carrots, and other things which I’ve long since forgotten about, but mushrooms and eggs were my favorite.

You can easily buy a premade pickling spice, but when making my own, I generally used whole mustard seeds, whole coriander seeds, a few bay leaves, red pepper flakes, and perhaps a star anise or two.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups white wine vinegar
• 2 cups water
• 2 TBS pickling spice
• 1 pound white mushrooms or creminis, wiped clean and stems trimmed

Directions:

Bring the water and vinegar to a boil along with the pickling spice. Place the cleaned mushrooms in the liquid and boil for 10 minutes. Pour the whole thing into a container, let cool on the counter for about 30 minutes, then seal and place in the refrigerator for at least a day.

Enjoy at least a 24 hours and not more than 72 hours later.