What are Duxelles?

Duxelles are a traditional French garnish or stuffing mixture made from very finely diced mushrooms and shallots lightly sautéed in butter.  It is a classic combination of flavors often used to stuff roulades (pieces of meat pounded thin and rolled around filling), but we used it in this baked oysters recipe.  The below recipe uses fresh porcinis, but you could also use any kind of fresh mushrooms. Fresh morel mushrooms, fresh hedgehog mushrooms, fresh chantrelles or any variety of wild mushroom all make fabulous duxelles. 

Mushroom Duxelles Recipe
Enough for a dozen oysters or several roulades.

Ingredients:
1/4  lb Fresh Mushrooms (Fresh Porcinis depicted)
2 whole shallots
4 tablespoons butter
¾ cup heavy cream
2 sprigs fresh oregano or other fresh herb
Salt & pepper to taste

For a lighter duxelles mixture, the heavy cream can be omitted.

Directions:
1.  Very finely dice shallots and wild mushrooms. 

2.  In a frying pan on the stovetop, saute the shallots in butter until translucent. 
3.  Add the diced wild mushrooms and continue to sauté until they’re slightly browned. 
4.  Pour in the cream and let the mixture simmer to reduce until a porridge-like consistency is reached. 
5.  Fine dice the oregano and add it with salt & pepper to taste.

If you’d like to use this in a roulade, we recommend using pasture-raised veal cutlets, dover sole, petrale sole, or strips cut from pink salmon fillets.