Mushroom Mille-Feuille With Tomato Coulis Recipe (2024)

Notes from Halfway In (by Semi-Broke Not Especially Clever Cook). King Trumpets cost $22/lb. I bought 6 portabellos caps instead. Sorry Wealthy but Very Clever Mark Bittman. Mandolin worked pretty well. I got nice slices for the first 1/3 of each cap. Got slivery (slivery, not slippery, not silvery) bits for the second 1/3. Got chunks for the last 1/3 when the mushroom sort of dissolved. Threw them in the loaf pan anyway. 6 caps just filled pan. Mushrooms are roasting now... We shall see...

Any chance that the preparation can be shown in Video esp the 10 pound weights used ? The description suggests a Wallenda style stack of cans.

Is there another kind of mushroom that would work? Are portabello too meaty for this?

$2-4 a pound at major asian grocery stores like 99 Ranch and H mart. If you're paying $24 a pound you're buying them at the right store. They're some of the easiest shrooms to commercially farm.

Check out an Asian grocery store for the mushrooms. I found them for $4/lb labeled as King Oyster.

This is of course the real problem. I don't pay $22/lb for BEEF much less a mushroom...and I've had trumpet mushrooms and they are delicious but there is NO way I'm paying $66 to make a mushroom loaf. I may indeed give this a shot with portobellos though so thank you for the tip. I'd love to know how this all turns out.

This was fabulous! Was beautiful and delicious for our vegetable course. Worth the expense and effort. Don’t skimp on the butter and salt with the mushrooms. Used yellow grape tomatoes give it’s late fall here, 1tbs of sugar, 2.5tbs of Modena white vinegar and salted mildly. Herbs were marjoram and parsley. Plates were literally licked.

Step 2 says to remove the foil; step 3 says to unwrap the pan. What are you unwrapping if you removed the foil?

This was a disappointment. I fully expected that the NYT photo next to a picture of my dish was going to be a hilarious submission to a Pinterest "Nailed It!" page. But it actually ended up looking pretty good. It didn't match the photo, of course, but it all held together nicely. The problem was that after all the effort involved it was just... bland. A neat stack of buttered mushrooms.

Isn't it just easier to use salted butter, and forget about salting your layers of mushrooms? Also, I don't see a calorie count - is there one for this?

I’ve eaten this dish at Dirty French and it’s stunning. My first try at home was so-so. Here are some notes for next time... - More salt per layer (don’t be shy)- A little less butter- Pour out all liquid before chilling/compressing- Buy similar size mushrooms, ideally 4-5” long- Pattern the mushrooms as consistently as possible evenly alternating patterns- Cook the mushrooms for longer (at least an hour- Remove from fridge right before cooking- 1/2 cup olive oils for the coulis

Yeah...I'm going to try a veganized version by subbing Earth Balance for the butter.

Slice in 3/4" pieces, as if you are slicing a loaf of bread. You could certainly try agave nectar. Start with a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar or agave nectar, and go from there.

I made this and it was beautiful.I think the mushroom bit was lots of work for what the result is, but happy I challenged myself.The real takeaway is the yellow tomato sauce! A true Gestalt! Such a simple recipe that has complex flavor.I put it on everything. I made a very nice Benedict style egg with a portobello instead of English muffin.

I’ve eaten this dish at Dirty French and it’s stunning. My first try at home was so-so. Here are some notes for next time... - More salt per layer (don’t be shy)- A little less butter- Pour out all liquid before chilling/compressing- Buy similar size mushrooms, ideally 4-5” long- Pattern the mushrooms as consistently as possible evenly alternating patterns- Cook the mushrooms for longer (at least an hour- Remove from fridge right before cooking- 1/2 cup olive oils for the coulis

Portobellos taste much different and have stronger flavor than this recipe is going for. I’ll follow CCobbs notes and hopefully be licking our plates too, yum.

This was fabulous! Was beautiful and delicious for our vegetable course. Worth the expense and effort. Don’t skimp on the butter and salt with the mushrooms. Used yellow grape tomatoes give it’s late fall here, 1tbs of sugar, 2.5tbs of Modena white vinegar and salted mildly. Herbs were marjoram and parsley. Plates were literally licked.

I tried a single-serving version of this, and found the flavor absolutely transportative. However I had a lot of difficulty achieving the texture as seen above- when I tried to saute the mushrooms, they were too wet to achieve crispy edges, and since I used varying sizes of mushroom and layered them in a criss-cross pattern, they didn't achieve the same look. Like I said, the flavor was incredible- I added a hint of smoked paprika to the butter, and topped it with a sprinkle of sesame seeds.

I made this and it was beautiful.I think the mushroom bit was lots of work for what the result is, but happy I challenged myself.The real takeaway is the yellow tomato sauce! A true Gestalt! Such a simple recipe that has complex flavor.I put it on everything. I made a very nice Benedict style egg with a portobello instead of English muffin.

I'm on step 6. Puzzled by the 3/4-inch measurement. I suppose you mean that I should separate the sliced and mashed pieces - as seen in the photo. Give us a clue about how much sugar... and do you recommend an alternative to refined sugar? Agave nectar maybe? Bittman always invites innovation, and I very much like that. I'm also wondering what to drink with this.

Check out an Asian grocery store for the mushrooms. I found them for $4/lb labeled as King Oyster.

This recipe looks fantastic, but I would have appreciated some illustrations or a video RE creating the mushroom mille-feuille.

I want to try- cause it looks great and am sure even if i butcher it- it will be tasty. but- recipe SO UNCLEAR. parchment only over bottom, or sides/tops as well?
most king shrooms are not 4.5 inches wide. do we Clinton-= double wide the shrooms? do I wrap foil around the whole thing of just the shrroom brick? so badly described. I know the mess will taste good, but we all want it to look like the picture. post a video?

This was a disappointment. I fully expected that the NYT photo next to a picture of my dish was going to be a hilarious submission to a Pinterest "Nailed It!" page. But it actually ended up looking pretty good. It didn't match the photo, of course, but it all held together nicely. The problem was that after all the effort involved it was just... bland. A neat stack of buttered mushrooms.

No one answered the question about which direction to layer the slices. The picture is very confusing. It seems that they go across the short side, this seems like it would make it hard to hold together.

$2-4 a pound at major asian grocery stores like 99 Ranch and H mart. If you're paying $24 a pound you're buying them at the right store. They're some of the easiest shrooms to commercially farm.

One can get king trumpet mushrooms online for $30 for three pounds, and they are even cheaper at Chinese grocery stores.

This recipe was a labor of love, but in the end it was really a showstopper. I wish I could have gotten more layers into the baking dish i used. Well worth the effort.

I made this using portabellos cut as thinly as possible. I couldn't find the king trumpet mushrooms (and I doubt I would have paid $24 a pound for them). And I only made 1/4 of the recipe and yes, it didn't hold together for the slicing.
But --- they were fabulous! This should work with any mushroom, I believe.
Anyone else try the recipe or a variation?