This recipe for Wild Mushroom Cheese Spread comes from Eric and Michelle Whitehead, the owners of Untamed Feast in St. Albert, Alberta. When I asked Eric his favourite recipe to make with Untamed Feast products he didn’t even hesitate. “Oh, it’s the mushroom dip,” he said. “It’s just so easy and it’s loaded with flavour.”
He had me at mushrooms but, easy? Loaded with flavour? That’s a triple whammy of reasons to make this dip. There’s also the huge appeal of eating something so utterly and wildly Canadian. I can’t even imagine the nutrients that come from something so intimately connected with the organic matter of forest and earth. Fire is also intricately involved with the morels that foragers pick.
Each year, foragers keep track of forest fires. Then, the next year, they make a beeline there for the spring morel season. The Universities of Washington and Montana did a joint study on the incidence and distribution of morels after forest fires and their research did indeed confirm that morels do grow in clusters through a burnt area. They still don’t understand scientifically why this is. But, they were excited to prove what had previously only been anecdotal.
Watch the video above and find the printable recipe below. Order from Untamed Feast here.
Note: This is NOT a sponsored post. I write about Food Artisans of Alberta because I believe it will help build a strong local food system. Photos, video and recipe are used with permission of Untamed Feast.
PrintWild Mushroom Cheese Spread
A flavour bomb dip that’s going to be the new favourite to take to parties and potlucks.
Make ahead tip: The flavour develops more fully if the spread sits for a day in the fridge before eating.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 8 to 12 servings
- Category: Appetizers/Snacks
- Method: saute
- Cuisine: Canadian
Ingredients
1 package (20 g = 1 cup) Untamed Feast Wild Mushrooms
½ cup hot water
2 Tablespoons butter or olive oil
½ cup diced onion
2 cloves minced garlic
1 package (250 grams – 8 ounces) cream cheese, goat cheese, or spreadable vegan substitute
¼ teaspoon salt – or to taste
Pinch pepper – or to taste
Instructions
- Rehydrate the mushrooms by putting them in a small bowl and covering them with the hot water. When they are soft (about 30 minutes), squeeze them gently to remove the water then finely chop them. Reserve the water.
- Heat the butter (or olive oil) in a skillet over medium heat, add the onion and cook until golden then add the garlic and cook about 30 seconds or until fragrant.
- Stir in the chopped, rehydrated mushrooms and cook until dry.
- Stir in the reserved mushroom liquid, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook down until dry again. Tip: This is the key step. The slower you let this happen, the more mushroom flavour you will get.
- Remove from stove. Add the warm mushrooms to the cream cheese or spreadable substitute of choice. Blend well and refrigerate until firm.
- Enjoy on bread, crackers, with chips, on a burger, with potatoes, on a pork chop or steak or just eat it with a spoon.
Keywords: Wild Mushroom Cheese Spread
