Quick Pickled Mushrooms (No Canning)

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   If you've foraged for mushrooms, here's a delicious way to pickle them. You can also use frozen mushrooms — just thaw them at room temperature first. Almost any kind works for no-canning pickling: porcini, slippery jacks, honey mushrooms, birch boletes, and so on. They all come out perfectly tasty!

2. Step 2:

   

   First, clean and rinse the mushrooms well. Wipe any debris off the caps and trim the stems wherever there's dirt.

3. Step 3:

   

   Cut the mushrooms into medium pieces (small ones can stay whole). Pickle the meaty, large stems too — they come out just as good as the caps. Put the mushrooms in a pot, cover with water, and set over high heat. Once it boils, skim off the foam, reduce the heat to medium, and cook, stirring now and then, for 30 minutes.

4. Step 4:

   

   While the mushrooms cook, make the marinade. Pour 1 liter (about 4 cups) of water into a separate pot. Add the salt, sugar, bay leaf, cloves, peppercorns, and garlic. Set over high heat and bring to a boil.

5. Step 5:

   

   Once the mushrooms have boiled, drain them in a colander and rinse them under running water several times.

6. Step 6:

   

   Add the mushrooms to the boiling marinade and cook over medium heat for about 15–20 minutes. (Stir in the vinegar near the end.)

7. Step 7:

   

   Pack everything into sterilized jars along with the marinade (sterilize the jars however you prefer — oven, microwave, or water bath), seal with hot lids, and set aside to cool. Once cooled, store the jars in a cellar or the fridge until you're ready to use them.

8. Step 8:

   

   You can make a fabulous salad from these pickled mushrooms. Drain the brine from the jar, put the mushrooms in a bowl, and add finely chopped dill and green onion (or shallot). Dress everything with vegetable oil and toss well. Taste it — if it needs more tang, add just a splash of vinegar to the finished salad.