Cauliflower Mushroom Confit

As of late, when I’m not working, I’m foraging. It’s like a treasure hunt—you never know what you’re going to find. Aside from eating them fresh, I outfit my pantry with mushrooms in a number of ways. I have dehydrated mushrooms for making soups; mushroom stock in my freezer for risotto; and as the special treatment reserved for my top shelf finds, mushroom confit. Confit is practical; by preserving something (read: anything) in oil, you can extend it’s shelf life one-hundredfold. Furthermore, confit makes it easy to add an immense depth of flavor to another dish.

Confit seemed an appropriate fate for two beautiful and rare cauliflower mushrooms, plus a handful of cinnabar chanterelles, I foraged last week. I figured it might be a while before I find another one, so might as well enjoy it as long as possible. Cauliflower mushrooms possess a lovely springy texture, similar to a bouncy noodle. The confit has done the work of preserving not just the mild and nutty flavor of the mushroom, but the pleasurable texture as well, as if I just foraged it whatever day I decide to eat it.

Lately I’ve been enjoying simple toast with a side of mushroom confit. I like to add some pickled fruit as garnish; the acid does wonders to cut through all the fat. I’ve included a recipe for pickled rhubarb and kumquat below. The recipe for pickled rhubarb I borrowed from On Vegetables by Jeremy Fox. Adding the kumquats was my idea. When garnishing the confit, I like to use just the peels of the kumquats, but do as you like.

For the confit:

• 1 1/2 pounds cauliflower and chanterelle mushrooms
• 10 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 sprigs thyme
• 2 sage leaves
• Salt, to taste
• Grapeseed oil, enough to submerge the ingredients

For the pickles:

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1/2 pound rhubarb, sliced on an angle into 1/4-inch pieces
• 15 kumquats

Preheat the oven to 275.

Clean and wipe down all mushrooms, removing as much dirt as you can. Preheat a dutch oven over medium heat. Sprinkle the mushrooms with salt, leaving them to sweat while the pot preheats. 

Sautee the mushrooms in the dutch oven for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms have released most of their water. Add the garlic and seasonings, followed by enough oil to fully submerge everything, then place the pot in the oven for an hour and a half.

Meanwhile, add the vinegar, sugar and salt to a pot and bring to a boil. Place the rhubarb slices and kumquats in a heat proof bowl. Remove the pot from the heat once it reaches a boil, and pour the liquid over the fruit. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside, allowing it to cool completely before transferring to a container and placing it in the fridge. Make sure to give the pickles at least one day to mellow out in the fridge; and they’ll continue to mellow over weeks and months.

Retrieve the confit from the oven. Allow to cool, then season with salt to taste. The confit will last in the fridge for weeks—so long as the mushrooms remain submerged in oil. Strain and transfer any excess oil to bottles or jars. Use in cooking or salad dressings.

When ready to eat, simply remove the confit from the fridge beforehand, allowing the confit to come up to room temperature. Serve with pickled kumquats and rhubarb and some nice toast. What more do you need?