5 Ingredients or Fewer

Stuart Brioza's Mushrooms in Pickle-Brine Butter

by:
May 19, 2015
4
9 Ratings
Stuart Brioza's Mushrooms in Pickle-Brine Butter
Photo by Mark Weinberg
  • Serves 6 to 8, but scales down well
Author Notes

Unless you're approaching the proportions used for pickles (i.e. literally swimming in brine), it's just a contained burst of acid, salt, and mulled seasonings that together work background magic. Used in tablespoons, not pints, it doesn't announce itself, but somehow makes the butter and mushrooms speak louder and more clearly. Adapted slightly from Food & Wine and State Bird Provisions —Genius Recipes

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1 stick plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 3 medium shallots, thinly sliced (1 1/2 cups)
  • 3 pounds mixed mushrooms, such as cremini, oyster, and stemmed shiitake, thickly sliced or quartered
  • 3/4 cup brine, strained from a jar of dill pickles
  • Kosher salt
  • Pepper
Directions
  1. In a very large skillet, melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over moderately high heat, swirling, until the butter is golden, about 2 minutes. Add 1/3 of the shallots to the skillet and cook, stirring, until softened, about 1 minute. Add 1/3 of the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Add 1/3 of the pickle brine and cook until absorbed, about 1 minute. Transfer the mushrooms to a serving bowl and keep warm.
  2. Repeat the process 2 more times with the remaining butter, olive oil, mushrooms and pickle brine. Season the mushrooms with salt and pepper to taste and serve.
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  • Virginia Howard
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  • zooey
    zooey
  • Courtney C
    Courtney C
Genius Recipes

Recipe by: Genius Recipes

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24 Reviews

Matt N.
Matt N. May 21, 2020
I broke down and saved this recipe for just 1 pound of mushrooms -- which is how it's actually prepared -- and just noted that the dish can be scaled up by repeating. A very nice side dish for 2 or 3.
 
Virginia H.
Virginia H. December 13, 2018
I wonder if this would work in a crustade, I make a mushroom crustade with cream to bind it, it just might hold together without cream. I'll try it and find out!
 
Tmcnam1690@gmail.com
[email protected] June 6, 2018
Sounds Great, I use picle juice in tune fish too, adds a real nice tang!
 
CondimentQueen
CondimentQueen April 19, 2018
Awesome. I have a jar of wonderfully flavourful brine from some locally made pickles and was wanting something to do with it. I will make this recipe this weekend. Thanks for re-running this article.
 
KKLCQ
KKLCQ November 18, 2016
Are these good made a day in advance or better prepared just before eating?
 
Christine N.
Christine N. January 14, 2016
Have you ever attempted this with banana pepper brine? I always have some left over. A Greek restaurant I used to work for used it in a vinaigrette. I wonder how it would meld here....!
 
Maggie
Maggie March 21, 2016
OMG do it! That would be good!
 
JJ A.
JJ A. January 3, 2016
This recipe sounds as if it would transform into mushroom soup very nicely!
 
zooey
zooey October 17, 2015
omgsh - this was AMAZING. i didn't have any shallots and used shiitake. i served it with a poached egg on top for an easy dinner. super impressed! great use for extra brine.
 
Brooke
Brooke August 14, 2015
Courtney C, have a recipe for Porcini gravy?
 
Courtney C.
Courtney C. August 12, 2015
I was so happy when I tried this. I had some beautiful oyster mushrooms from the farmer's market. I used only butter and cooked until the mushrooms began to develop a nice crust. The pickle brine was a phenomenal addition - just enough acid to perk them up. I served the mushrooms over Parmesan polenta with a thick Porcini gravy.
 
MsBunny
MsBunny June 19, 2015
Another way we use pickle brine is to fill the jar with hard-boiled eggs and let them steep for a couple days. Yum.
 
SophieL
SophieL December 1, 2020
What a fantastic idea! I'm definitely going to try this - genius (IMHO)!
 
Michele @.
Michele @. June 10, 2015
I've been thinking about these lovely mushrooms since you published the recipe and finally got to make a "dinner for two" version of it tonight... They were an incredible side for our grilled pepper crusted steaks! So simple and so, so good. Thanks!
 
Yolanda
Yolanda May 29, 2015
I just made this & it is really good! I used 1/3 the amount of butter & olive oil. Also added garlic, pepper, & herbes de Provence because I al use these with mushrooms. I only used 2 tablespoons of he pickle brine per batch. BUT on the last batch, I used 2 tablespoons of olive brine instead. OMGness! That took it to another level!!! It was stronger & tasted more savory but when I mixed all 3 batches together, I was literally eating it out of the bowl just like that! It tastes DIVINE! I'm getting ready to put this mixture on some flatbread with some mozzarella & nobody can't tell me nothin'! Trust & believe.
 
Tom
Tom May 24, 2015
Is this recipe referring naturally fermented pickles?
 
Kristen M.
Kristen M. May 24, 2015
The recipe is referring simply to any sort of classic dill pickle brine, but it's very flexible.
 
Idette B.
Idette B. May 24, 2015
I am definatly going to prepare these mushrooms. I have pickle brine in th fridge .
 
Heatherpete
Heatherpete May 21, 2015
Would love to know the make and model of that serving dish above please! Is it pewter/metal or ceramic?
 
Kristen M.
Kristen M. May 24, 2015
It's pewter and I picked it up in a second hand store for $3! I was pretty excited.
 
foofaraw
foofaraw May 20, 2015
I am not sure that 3 medium shallots resulted in 1 1/2 cups. Would you mind checking which measurement is correct please?
 
Kristen M.
Kristen M. May 20, 2015
lleello, see my response to steve below!
 
stevestroud
stevestroud May 20, 2015
A comment on one of the ingredient amounts: I cannot imagine how 3 sliced shallots could possibly equal 1.5 cups - those would be some incredibly large shallots! Did you mean 3 sliced shallots = 1/2 cup??
 
Kristen M.
Kristen M. May 20, 2015
Shallots vary in size (and you will probably need to use whole shallots, as opposed to lobes of a shallot), but yes, this is correct! When sliced as opposed to minced, they take up more volume in the cup. And if you have more or less, the recipe will still be good.