Sunday, April 25, 2021

The Real Bristol Renaissance Faire Garlic Butter Mushrooms recipe; portioned for at-home cooks.

A vendor, I don't remember his name, so I'll call him Chef Mike, sold the most delicious garlic butter mushrooms at the Bristol Renaissance Faire in Bristol, Wisconsin (near Kenosha). Be sure to buy a quart on your way out.







From memory: Chef Mike started making and selling his garlic butter mushrooms for the King Richard's Faire in the late 1970s, today's Bristol Renaissance Faire. After chatting with Chef Mike every year and asking for the recipe, he finally told me in the mid-1990s, "My kid didn't want my business," so he'll give me his recipe, "You've come here every year for a long time, so I know you'll enjoy the mushrooms." I wrote down what he told me.

A different gentleman was stringing the pot in the same spot the following year. I bought some mushrooms — lo and behold — they were exactly the same! On my way out of the Faire, I always purchased a quart or two (one to give as a gift). I asked him about Chef Mike, "He sold me his business and retired to Arizona." 



I recalculated Chef Mike's recipe for home cooks from the commercial portion size I wrote down.
Chef Mike's Garlic Butter Mushrooms Recipe:
YOU WILL BE 100% SATISFIED REMEMBERING THE TASTE AT THE FAIRE IF YOU FOLLOW THIS RECIPE EXACTLY THE FIRST TIME YOU MAKE IT.
Do you remember the mushrooms at the Renaissance Faire being too salty? Me neither!

Ingredients:
2 pounds whole mushrooms; Button, Cremini or both, stems trimmed
Mushroom Brush
2 cups white onion, roughly chopped
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 LEVEL tablespoons salt (see: Note From The Chef, below)
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper, not too coarse
10 cloves of Garlic, Very Thinly Sliced
1/2 cup of a quality dry White Wine (Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon
      Blanc, Chablis, dry Reisling, or your favorite white wine)






HEED THIS NOTE FROM CHEF MIKE: 
"I know that 2 tablespoons of salt seems like a lot. If you’re like me, you tend to routinely reduce the salt or totally leave the salt out of some recipes. After making several thousand pounds of mushrooms, I know one thing, if you don’t salt the mushrooms adequately while they are cooking, you’ll end up adding twice as much salt later to get the same flavor."  Chef Mike

DON'T CUT THE SALT THE FIRST TIME YOU MAKE THIS!

Directions:
Lightly clean the mushrooms with a mushroom brush or with a paper towel. Then, place the mushrooms in a bowl and add enough water to cover them. (Since mushrooms float, put a plate over them to weigh them down and keep them underwater.)

Add the mushrooms to a large pot.
You'll have enough to share if you multiply the recipe by two or three.
Cover with water. Add a plate over the top that will fit INSIDE THE POT to ensure the mushrooms get an 8-hour or overnight soaking.

Next, heat a large skillet on medium heat. Add the butter and let it melt. Toss in the onions, garlic, and cracked black pepper. Give it a nice toss. Let this cook on medium heat, stirring along the way, until the onions soften, about 5-7 minutes.

  DON'T  BROWN  OR  CARAMELIZE  THE  ONIONS, IT WILL RUIN THE FLAVOR.  

Remove the plate from the mushrooms, and add the onion mixture to the pot. Add in the salt and white wine. Stir. Cover the pot and bring the mixture to a simmer. Simmer for about 8 hours. Yes, 8 hours. 

At about 6 hours in, remove the cover and bring the heat up to medium. Then cook for the remaining 2 hours.

The broth will reduce a bit, which is normal. You'll have plenty of broth, so don't water it down.
Here, this one's for you.

ANOTHER NOTE ABOUT SALT FROM CHEF MIKE:
"From my years of experience at running my mushroom stand  at over 25 Renaissance Fairs around the country, the amount of salt had not been an issue."


A partial list of U.S. Renaissance Faires That Sold Chef Mike's Garlic Butter Mushrooms.
All Faire, Lacey, WA
Bristol Renaissance Faire, Kenosha, WI
Canterbury Renaissance Faire, Oregon
Carolina Renaissance Festival, Concord, NC
Carolina Renaissance Festival, Huntersville, NC
Central Coast Renaissance Festival, San Luis Obispo, CA
Colorado Renaissance Festival,  Larkspur,  CO
Glastonbury Renaissance Faire, Toledo, OR
Koroneburg Renaissance Festival, Corona, CA
Koroneburg Renaissance Festival, Los Angeles, A.
Maine Renaissance Faire,Acton,ME
Mid-Michigan Renaissance Festival, Vassar, MI
Midsummer Renaissance Faire, Ansonia, CT
Newbourne Village Renaissance Faire, Chippewa Falls, WI
North Dakota Renaissance Faire,  Fargo,  ND
Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival, West Newton, PA
Pride Renaissance Tour, Lansing, MI
Renaissance Fair, Orlando, FL
Renaissance Festival, Austin, TX
Santa Fe Renaissance Fair, Santa Fe,  NM
Sterling Renaissance Festival, Sterling, NY
Upstate Renaissance Faire, Greer, SC
Vermont Renaissance Faire, Stowe, VT
Washington Midsummer Renaissance Faire, Snohomish, WA
West Virginia Renaissance Festival, Lewisburg, WV

Shared by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Please come back to tell us how your mushrooms turned out.

20 comments:

  1. Thanks for posting this! Did he give you the recipe directly?

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  2. Has anyone ever tried this in the crockpot?

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    Replies
    1. Stick to the exact recipe and cooking method. Then the next time you make this recipe, try a crock pot. Please come back to let us know your outcome.

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    2. I have made these twice in a crock pot and it works great.

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    3. Hi, did you cook them entirely in a crockpot or just reheat them?

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    4. yea did u do 6 hours on low in the crockpot then 2 hours high?

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    5. If you don't follow the direction to the "T," you'll never know how this recipe should taste to compair them to a crock pot.

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  3. Followed recipe to a T and it was WAY too salty. I added additional water to the broth to tone it down. Could use 1 tbsp salt instead of 2. You can always add more, you can never remove what's already in there. Err on side of caution.
    Other than that, these were AMAZING!

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  4. Thank you so much for this. Can't believe I found it with search "those mushrooms from the Renaissance faire." I've been enjoying these since the 70s as well. Now if I only had some of that amazing ice cold sassafras to go with it!

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  5. Making these right now. I will report back at 10PM to let you know how they turn out! We go to Bristol and get these every year- I hate mushrooms but I eat the HECK out of these when we go!

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  6. I tried these a couple months ago... So so good.

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  7. Just found this page and made the mushrooms. Yep, they're still delicious!

    Found out partway in that I was out of white wine so used a dryer red instead and it worked just fine.

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  8. My broth is super light compared to what I get at the Faire. Wondering if beef broth has since been added to the recipe?

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    Replies
    1. Nothing has changed in this recipe. It sounds like it didn't simmer long enough.

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  9. You’re right - I realized I still had 2 hours to go. They turned out spot on!

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