Samuel’s Roasted Mushroom Base

This is the mushroom base that Scott Samuel, a chef instructor at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa, Calif., uses in conjunction with beef in his burgers. I have cut the amount of olive oil to 1/4 cup from 1/2. Some of America’s biggest food service companies are committed to increasing vegetable consumption, but they don’t want to lose their meat-loving customers, so they are figuring out ways to create dishes with less meat that are still appealing. You may face this challenge in your own family; you want everybody to cut down on meat consumption, but they love their burgers. Mr. Samuel has developed a savory roasted mushroom base that he mixes with hamburger meat for a delicious burger. It looked, smelled, acted and tasted like a burger (well, a very vegetal burger), and it had the added quality of being very moist. Everybody gave it high marks in a taste test, and I made a mental note to make the base at home and use it in burgers, meatballs and more.

Ingredients

• ¼cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2pounds cremini mushrooms, cut in small dice if large, quartered if small
• Kosher salt to taste
• ¼teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1teaspoon mushroom powder, made by pulverizing dried mushrooms in a spice mill (optional)

• Nutritional Information

  • • Nutritional analysis per serving (2 servings)

      339 calories; 27 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 19 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 19 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 7 grams sugars; 11 grams protein; 934 milligrams sodium

  Note: Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available data.

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1 1/4 pounds (about 3 cups)

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
2. In a large bowl mix together the olive oil, mushrooms, salt and pepper. Spread in an even layer on the baking sheets.
3. Bake 1 sheet at a time on the middle rack of the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until the mushrooms are tender. They will reduce considerably in volume. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Process in a food processor fitted with the steel blade until chopped fine but still retaining some texture. Taste and adjust seasonings. Mix in mushroom powder if desired.

• Advance preparation: You can keep this on hand in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.

30 minutes