Pickled Butter Mushrooms for Winter

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   Gather the ingredients for the preserve. Butter mushrooms are best foraged after a rain, so they're not dry or spoiled. Pick out small, pretty, fresh mushrooms for pickling. Clean off any forest debris, peel the slippery film from the caps, discard any wormy or damaged mushrooms, and rinse. Cover the mushrooms with cold salted water and let them sit for 20 minutes so any insects come out, then rinse them once more.

2. Step 2:

   

   Boil the butter mushrooms in salted water for 10 minutes.

3. Step 3:

   

   As they cook, skim off the foam that forms on the surface. Drain the mushrooms, tip them into a colander, and let all the water run off.

4. Step 4:

   

   Make the marinade. Pour the water into a saucepan and set it over the heat. Add the salt, sugar, bay leaves, and peppercorns.

5. Step 5:

   

   Prepare your jars ahead of time. Wash them with a baking-soda solution and sterilize them — in a water bath, the oven, or the microwave, whichever you prefer. Small jars are easy to sterilize over a boiling kettle; just hold the jar there for about 5 minutes, until the first drop runs down from the bottom.

6. Step 6:

   

   When the marinade comes to a boil, add the boiled mushrooms. Stir and simmer them in the marinade over medium heat for about 10 minutes, then pour in the vinegar. If you like, add a few cloves of garlic for extra aroma. Turn off the heat.

7. Step 7:

   

   Fill the jars with mushrooms up to the shoulders, then top them off with the remaining marinade from the pan. Seal the jars right away. Turn them upside down, cover with a warm blanket, and let them cool at room temperature, then move them to a cool place for storage. Enjoy!