If you love mushrooms, pâté, and are a little squeamish when it comes to grinding up squishy animal organs (I love the taste of pâté but try to avoid thinking about what actually goes into it) this is a recipe for you.  This is an old recipe of my Mom’s that I stumbled upon recently.  She has not made in at least 20 years.  I was intrigued, and thought why not try it?  Turns out that it was a very simple and easy recipe to follow, with a great flavor profile.  I will definitely be making this again – although, one batch makes a whole lot of pâté.

Mushroom Pâté

Recipe makes 1 regular sized (9′ x 5′ ) loaf pan or four 4′ in diameter ramekins. 

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp Butter
• 1 cup chopped Onion
• 1 lb diced Mushrooms (I used baby bellas, but I think the common white variety of button mushrooms were used in the original recipe so you can probably use them as well)
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp ground Mustard
• 1 tsp chopped fresh Cilantro (or dill)
• Black Pepper
• dash of Cayenne
• 3 tbsp White Wine
• 1/4 cup Bread Crumbs (or wheat germ for more nutrition)
• 3 tbsp Sour Cream
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease a loaf pan or the baking ramekins.
3. On the stovetop melt the butter in a large sauté pan.
4. Sauté the onions and mushrooms.
5. Season the sautéed vegetables by adding the salt, mustard, cilantro, black pepper, cayenne.
6. Add the white wine as the vegetables have started to cook down.
7. Add the bread crumbs.
8. Remove the mushrooms from the heat, and pour them into a blender.
9. In the blender, blend the seasoned mushrooms with the sour cream and parmesan cheese until nice and smooth.
10. Fill the baking dishes with the mushroom puree.  The mixture might bubble up so leave a little bit of space at the top.  I also set my ramekins on a cookie sheet before sliding them into the oven (the logic being that it is easier to clean burnt food off of an old cookie sheet then the bottom of the oven).
11. Bake for an hour in the oven (~45 minutes for the individual ramekins).
12. Store the pâté in the refrigerator.