Mushroom & madeira gel

100 grams	shallots
3 grams	salt
400 grams	button mushrooms
6 sprigs	thyme
10	black pepper grains
5	cloves
150 grams	white wine
40 grams	sushi vinegar
1 liter	water
200 grams	madeira
3 grams	agar powder

Cut the shallots in half and clean them. Now cut them. Then add a drizzle of oil to a hot pot and glaze the shallots on a low heat. Also add the salt. Meanwhile cut the button mushrooms in thin slices. Add them to the pot and panfry the mushrooms till golden brown. Really take your time for this. Meanwhile make a herb bag from the thyme, the pepper grains and the cloves. Now bind this together. Here I use a coffee filter. Then deglaze the pot with the white wine and the sushi vinegar. Reduce this till it’s almost completely gone. Then add the herb bundle and the water. Let it simmer on a low heat for around 3 hours. After that we need to pass it through a sieve. For that first weigh your pan. This one weighs 930 grams. Now pass it through a fine sieve that’s lined with a kitchen paper to clarify it. Let it drain for at least 30 minutes, so you don’t waste a single drop. Then add the madeira to the broth and reduce it till your left with 300 grams. The pan weighs 930 grams, so to check if it has reduced to 300 grams the total amount needs to be 1230 grams. Then add the agar powder and mix it well. Now bring this to a boil for at least 1 minute. Then pour it into a bowl and let it cool down in your fridge. Once it has cooled down completely transfer it into a blender and blend it till smooth.

The trimmings from the broth you can transfer on a tray that’s lined with some parchment paper and remove the herb bundle. Then spread it and let it completely dry at 60 degrees Celsius. This is going to take a couple of hours. Once dried blend it into a fine powder. This is great for seasoning or to use to make a mushroom flavored dough.

Recipe used in mushroom & truffle tartelette