I'm planning on preparing a beef wellington for the holidays and am following a recipe whose duxelle recipe is defined:
- In a food processor, pulse the mushrooms until finely chopped. Then, finely chop thyme.
- Over medium heat, melt butter in skillet. Add mushrooms and combine with butter. Add thyme. Using a garlic crusher, crush garlic and add to mushroom mixture. Continue to combine over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes or until the mushrooms are caramelized.
- Once the mushrooms are caramelized, add a generous splash of Cognac and stir to deglaze the pan. Add heavy cream and cook for several minutes or until all the moisture is gone. You should be left with a paté-like mixture.
Most of the ingredients make sense to me in their contribution to flavor and/or texture but I can't seem to figure out why heavy cream would be added to the duxelle. I thought the mushroom pâté would be thick enough alone, so I can't imagine the heavy cream contributing to the duxelle in that respect.