Guest Post! Axiom at Home: Mushoom and Walnut Pate


Hey Everyone! Yesterday marked the one month anniversary of LittleOwlCrunchyMomma. I am so glad you have joined me thus far. It has already been quite a wonderful, exciting and fun adventure. 

To celebrate, I am having a party! Today I have invited Linda from Axiom at Home to join us. She has decided to share with you all a fabulous recipe. I love Linda. I love her blog. I love her sense of humor, her recipes, her tips on natural skincare, and all the other  great stuff you can find on her site. If you haven't already, I highly encourage you to check it out. Subscribe to her via email or "like" her on Facebook

And now, without further ado, I present to you Linda from Axiom at Home: (*insert applause here*)


Hello, I'm Linda from Axiom at Home. I am very excited that Jacquelyn asked me to stop by and share a recipe with you all. I hope you enjoy!

This post is evidence I am a chicken... You see, I've been trying to find a way to incorporate organ meats into my diet, but I have a lingering fear of all things subconsciously labeled "innards".

Okay, I know it's silly--I mean, I used to eat McDonalds for goodness sake... pink slime anyone? But that doesn't change anything now... So, after someone recommended a chicken liver pate as a good start on my journey to this interior realm, I chickened out, and made this instead. 


Ingredients:
1 cup walnuts, read about soaking nuts here
1/2 cup shallots, chopped
About 4 ounces Shiitake mushrooms, chopped
About 4 ounces white (Crimini) mushrooms, chopped
About 4 ounces baby Portobello mushrooms, chopped
4-6 garlic cloves, chopped
2-3 tbsp of fresh parsley, chopped
5-6 pieces of fresh thyme, chopped
1/2 cup organic, grass-fed butter (try this if you cannot find a quality local source)
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil (or walnut oil)

How To:
1. Toast Walnuts: Spread walnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast for 10 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. Set aside.

2. Cook Mushrooms: In a large saute pan, cook shallots in butter over medium heat until translucent. Then add mushrooms, garlic, and seasonings/ fresh herbs. Cook until liquid has evaporated, stirring occassionally. You'll probably want to lower the heat a bit as you simmer, down to medium low.

3. Process: Add walnuts and oil to a blender or food processor or magic bullet and mix until a paste is formed. Then add the cooked mushroom mixture and blend until mostly smooth. I like to leave a few chunks here and there, but it's mostly pretty smooth.

4. Cool: Fill oiled "molds", cover and refrigerate for a minimum of three hours or overnight. I used little ramekins, you could use little custard cups or small regular bowls, or get fancy and use themed molds/ bowls. Be sure to grease-- oil works better than butter. I filled three ramekins of the size shown in the picture below. 




5. Extract and Serve: When ready to serve, remove from molds and invert onto a serving platter. I use a skinny, sharp knife and a large, shallow serving spoon to extract my pate and that works great. Eat with crackers or use as a spread for vegetables, sourdough bread, hamburgers, etc. Get creative! 




Comments:
This is very easy to make and makes a nice presentation, perfect for a party or holiday gathering. Also, you can make it in advance and it should be fine about a week in the refrigerator, although I personally would probably not make it any sooner than a day or two in advance just to keep it as fresh as possible. Also, I think one of these times I make it I will try to coat it with crushed walnuts and see how that changes the presentation.




This recipe serves about 15-20 people as an appetizer, assuming of course that you made a few other appetizers. The amount made fills three of the ramekins as shown in the picture above, and I think that's about a perfect height. Try serving with rye crackers or this or this. Total time on this (chopping and cooking) about 30 minutes, probably a little more your first time. 





5 comments:

  1. I love Linda too, isn't she amazing? Great post!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love the way the mushrooms make such a healthy substitute for meat. A really wonderful recipe. Please share it today on my foodie friday party. I have lots of vegetarians and non veg who would love this.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This looks really nice. We made a great country pate a few weeks ago and I was thinking it would be nice to make another version with a layer of mushroom pate on top. Thanks for the inspiration!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love liver pate, I love mushrooms, and I love walnuts. This is amazing! It's going to be really hard to leave it in the fridge until Hanukah dinner tomorrow night.

    ReplyDelete

Comments make me oh so happy! Feel free to comment away. I'd love to hear what's on your mind