Chef Juliette
Carottes Glacées pour Garnitures
Carottes Glacées prove that a garnish can teach a whole sauce lesson: carrots cook in butter, sugar, salt, and water until their own liquor reduces to a brilliant, clinging coat.
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Champignons Grillés
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 2074, Champignons Grillés, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Eight bronzed mushroom caps, grilled gently so they stay tender, circle a mound of lemon-parsley maître d'hôtel butter: a quick side that proves heat control matters more than complication.
Side Dishes
French
Weeknight
Quick Meal
20 min
Active Time
15 min cook•35 min total
Yield4 servings
Champignons Grillés (gently grilled mushroom caps) teach one true thing before you touch the pan: mushrooms need measured heat. Grill them patiently and they become supple, bronze, and glossy with their own juices; rush them under a fierce flame and the edges toughen before the thick centers are tender.
The old entry asked nothing of a saucier and nothing from the stockpot. It assumed a salamander glowing overhead, a pantry holding maître d'hôtel butter ready for service, and brigade quantities arranged on a round dish. Your broiler supplies the overhead heat, distance from the element makes it gentle, and six tablespoons of freshly mixed butter are enough for four. The brigade mise en place was scaffolding and can go. Peeled caps, a brush of oil, patient grilling, and softened butter at the center are the dish, so those stay.
The finished caps should yield easily under a knife while keeping their shape, with maître d'hôtel butter beginning to slump at the edge of the warm platter. Set the rack far enough from the broiler before you begin. That distance decides everything.
Champignons de Paris take their name from the cultivated mushrooms raised for generations in the cool limestone workings beneath and around Paris, which supplied the city's markets beyond the brief season of meadow fungi. Grilling the largest caps and serving them with maître d'hôtel butter passed readily between Parisian cuisine bourgeoise and the grand kitchen, where this spare preparation appeared as either a vegetable dish or a garnish.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
large Paris mushroom caps
Quantity
8 caps, about 1½ pounds (680 g)
stems removed and caps carefully peeled
neutral oil, such as grapeseed oil
Quantity
1½ tablespoons (22 ml / 20 g)
unsalted butter
Quantity
6 tablespoons (90 ml / 85 g)
very soft but not melted
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 8 g)
finely chopped
fresh lemon juice
Quantity
2 teaspoons (10 ml / 10 g)
fine sea salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon (5 ml / 6 g)
divided
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
½ teaspoon (2.5 ml / 1 g)
divided
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| large Paris mushroom capsstems removed and caps carefully peeled | 8 caps, about 1½ pounds (680 g) |
| neutral oil, such as grapeseed oil | 1½ tablespoons (22 ml / 20 g) |
| unsalted buttervery soft but not melted | 6 tablespoons (90 ml / 85 g) |
| flat-leaf parsleyfinely chopped | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 8 g) |
| fresh lemon juice | 2 teaspoons (10 ml / 10 g) |
| fine sea saltdivided | 1 teaspoon (5 ml / 6 g) |
| freshly ground black pepperdivided | ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml / 1 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •Rimmed metal sheet pan
- •Pastry brush
- •Small flexible knife
- •Round serving platter
Instructions
- 1
Make maître d'hôtel butter
Beat the softened butter with the parsley, lemon juice, ¼ teaspoon of the salt, and ⅛ teaspoon of the pepper until evenly flecked and pliable. Maître d'hôtel butter is a compound butter, not a separate cooked sauce, and it should hold a soft mound without running. If it becomes greasy or sheds liquid, the butter has grown too warm. Ça se rattrape: chill the bowl for 5 minutes, then beat again until smooth. Keep it at cool room temperature.
- 2
Set the home grill
Place an oven rack about 8 inches (20 cm) beneath the broiler and heat the broiler for 10 minutes. This distance is the home equivalent of a gently managed salamander: close enough to bronze the caps, far enough to cook their thick flesh before the surface hardens. Set a bare rimmed metal sheet pan beside the stove.
- 3
Peel and season
Wipe the mushrooms free of grit. Pinch the thin skin at the rim of each cap and pull it toward the center, removing only the skin and not gouging the flesh. Season both sides just before cooking with the remaining salt and pepper, then use a pastry brush to coat them thinly and evenly with the oil. Brushing matters: a heavy pour leaves the caps greasy while bare patches dry under the broiler.
If the mushrooms are too dirty to wipe, rinse them quickly and dry them thoroughly before peeling. Water left on the surface delays browning. - 4
Grill them gently
Arrange the caps on the sheet pan with their rounded sides facing the heat. Broil for 6 to 8 minutes, until lightly bronzed, then turn them hollow-side up and cook for another 5 to 7 minutes. They are ready when a small knife enters the thickest part with little resistance and the edges remain plump. If the surfaces darken before the centers soften, don't leave them under the fierce heat. Ça se rattrape: move the tray to the middle rack, switch the oven to 375°F (190°C), and finish them for 4 to 6 minutes.
- 5
Arrange and serve
Set the mushrooms on a slightly warmed round platter, rounded sides up, overlapping them loosely in a ring. Mound the well-softened maître d'hôtel butter in their midst exactly as the original preparation intends. Bring the platter to the table at once, while the butter is still shaped but beginning to soften against the warm caps. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Choose broad, tightly closed caps with firm dry flesh. Ordinary cultivated white mushrooms are the proper Paris mushrooms here; expensive wild varieties aren't required.
- •Meadow mushrooms are suitable only when supplied by a trusted market or identified by a qualified forager. Never identify a wild mushroom from a recipe, photograph, or common name.
- •Keep the oil coat thin. Its work is to carry heat evenly and protect the peeled surface, not to turn the platter slick.
- •For an outdoor grill, use moderate indirect heat and a fine grate or grill basket. Turn the caps once and judge them by tenderness, not by dark grill marks.
Advance Preparation
- •The maître d'hôtel butter can be mixed up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated in a covered container. Let it soften until pliable before serving.
- •The mushrooms may be stemmed and peeled up to 2 hours ahead. Cover them and refrigerate, then season and brush with oil only when the broiler is ready.
- •Grill the mushrooms immediately before serving. Reheating makes the caps surrender more liquid and lose their supple texture.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 150g)
Calories
210 calories
Total Fat
20 g
Saturated Fat
10 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
9 g
Cholesterol
40 mg
Sodium
590 mg
Total Carbohydrates
6 g
Dietary Fiber
2 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
5 g
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