A few months ago, I was in Portland, Maine, and dined at my favorite farm-to-table restaurant there, Fore Street. One highlight of the meal was the appetizer they called a “Mushroom Paté”.
I asked the server how it was made. After discussing it with the chef, she returned and gave me the basics. Chefs will leave out an ingredient or two at times. Here is my version of that paté.
You can buy a beautiful fresh variety of mushrooms from Deb Allen, owner of Allen Farms Certified Organic Herbs & Greens, at a number of Cape Cod farmers’ markets including Chatham, Falmouth, Osterville and Provincetown.
Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 2 cups fresh roughly-chopped mushrooms of your choice, I used shiitake, oyster, maitake, and others
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 large shallot, finely minced
- 1 teaspoon minced marjoram
- 1 teaspoon minced thyme
- 1 heaping tablespoon of whole milk yogurt
- Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
The ingredients for the paté.
Place the nuts in a heatproof dish, roast for 10 minutes, and remove from oven.
Adjust oven temperature to 400 degrees.
Toss the mushrooms in a small bowl with 1 tablespoon of olive oil to coat, and spread out onto a cookie sheet. Roast for about 20 minutes and stir occasionally until lightly brown. Remove from the oven and let cool.
Heat the butter in a saucepan, sauté the shallot until lightly browned, and set aside.
Place the nuts, mushrooms, shallots, herbs, and yogurt in a food processor and pulse until the mixture is well combined and has a chopped consistency. Add the salt and pepper to taste.
Place the mixture into a serving bowl. Serve with crackers of your choice.
Serves 4 to 6
