Pickled Saffron Milk Cap Mushrooms

Overflowing with saffron milk cap mushrooms and want to make something delicious to preserve them? Then try pickled mushrooms! This super easy (and I mean it is done and dusted in 10 minutes) recipe for pickled mushrooms can be used with all sorts of raw mushrooms. The pickling liquid also makes for a wonderful salad dressing!

I have to admit that I was so delighted when I had the chance to play with these saffron milk cap mushrooms that we foraged. I loved the colour of these and while they may look striking and strongly flavoured, they're surprisingly mild with a little peppery flavour to them. They were just so pretty sitting in their basket in my Autumnal kitchen. And now is a good time to show you what else is new in my kitchen, a monthly event hosted by the lovely Sherry from Sherry's Pickings.

On the same trip to Oberon where we picked these saffron milk caps we were given some of these lovely, luscious figs from the lovely people at Lowes Mount Truffles. Figs are my favourite fruit in the world and Sue brought out a tray of figs that had to be eaten straight away. I chose a plump, fat one and it was so incredibly luscious that it was the best fig I had eaten this year. Heaven...

The next item in my kitchen are these sturdy, resuable little zip lock travel snack bags that my friend Tandy sent me. Tandy travels a lot and she uses these to bring her snacks. My favourite snack to nibble on is toasted granola so I always bring some along with me for travelling especially when I don't like the airline snack that they give out as it fills me up and satisfies my need to crunch on something.

The next haul are some chips from Sammie who recently got back from visiting the UK. She knows how much I love chips and she brought me back a very tasty selection. I loved trying them all and my favourites were the chip shop curry ones and the sweet chilli and red pepper and the Chinese spare rib ones were also good because I like my chips ridged over smooth.

The next item isn't so much a food item but more a travelling one. I've had some trouble sleeping ever since daylight savings has stopped and that one little hour has played havoc with my sleeping patterns. So I have been using these Black Chicken remedy products that they sent me. It's an Australian company that makes natural remedies using 100% certified organic ingredients that are free from toxins. In particular I love the Slumber one to help me sleep and the Respire one for when I am travelling and feel congested on the plane! In fact I was using them so much I had to check that I wasn't over using them (they confirmed you can't use them too much). Mr NQN uses the Axilla deodorant paste and loves it.

And of course my precious jar of pickled saffron milk cap mushrooms! Please don't feel like you have to search out saffron milk cap mushrooms. Any more common mushrooms will definitely do. I like these because Autumn and Winter food tends to be quite rich and they really go well on a plate with creamy mash or a roast.

So tell me Dear Reader, do you prefer ridged over smooth potato chips? Have you ever had pickled mushrooms?

Pickled Saffron Milk Cap Mushrooms

Adapted from Richard Robinson

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 5 minutes

• 250g/8ozs. saffron milk cap mushrooms (or other mushrooms), cleaned and sliced*
• 200ml/7flozs. sherry or red wine vinegar
• 200ml/7flozs. water
• 100g/3.5ozs. sugar
• 50ml/1.7ozs. olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 5 black peppercorns
• 3 cloves garlic
• 3 juniper berries
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 sprig rosemary
• 1 sprig thyme

To clean saffron milk cap mushrooms, soak and clean them in a vinegar cleaning solution (6 cups water with 1/2 cup white vinegar).

Step 1 - Place the vinegar, water, sugar, olive oil, salt, peppercorns, garlic, juniper berries, bay leaves, rosemary and thyme in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the sliced mushrooms and simmer for a minute.

Step 2 - Remove from the heat and once cooled, place in a sterilised jar. Make sure that the liquid reaches above the mushrooms. These can keep in the fridge for 6 months (as long as the liquid always covers the mushrooms).