OK, first of all, I love mushrooms. I put them in pretty much everything I make. I never met a mushroom I didn’t like.
But I probably have a mistaken idea that they have to be washed, not because they have dirt on them, but because they have feces on them. I don’t mind a little dirt in my cooked food, but feces-- no thanks. So here is what I usually do:
Wash the mushrooms like crazy.
Chop as desired.
Clean the vessel I used to wash them in, the knife I used to cut them, and the board I cut them on.
Cook the mushrooms separately (gotta keep them feces isolated)
Strain and wash again. Clean the strainer (again).
Add to the dish.
But I think I’m losing a lot of “mushroom juice” and, hence, mushroom flavor. Someone talk me down from the ledge here.
Oh, and one other thing. I’ve been using Portobellos lately. Yum. Does anyone else scrape the brown gills off the bottom? I saw this on a cooking show, and I’ve been doing it. Doesn’t really take very long when a spoon is used on fresh 'shrooms.
To elaborate: manure might be used as part of the substrate that they grow on, but it’s been thoroughly pasteurized and is essentially just dirt.
I’ve never done more than a quick rinse of mushrooms to get the dirt off. All that extra cleaning and such that you’re doing isn’t any more necessary for mushrooms than it would be for any other vegetable. Just wash the dirt off, cook 'em and eat 'em.
This.
Plus all that water tends to make them soggy and they make the things they’re on soggy. Pizza is a good example, I put them on pizza but I make sure after a quick rinse I dry them as much as possible or I get a soggy crust, and nobody wants that.
They’re like little sponges.
Yeah, just wash them once. I pat them dry with paper towels before I cook them too as shrooms suck up moisture like sponges. You also really don’t need to scrape the gills off.
Rinse and cook. That’s all it needs. Well, slicing or chopping if needed, but that’s it. Of course you have to add some salt and pepper. But that’s all. Except for garlic and onion, then you’re done. Although you really ought to hit them with a shot of white wine when they’re nearly cooked, but nothing else. Nothing but some worstershire if the shrooms are going in a savory dish. That’s really it. You don’t have to add any oregano or thyme, but that will make them taste better.
Also remember that some mushrooms have a pronounced flavor and some don’t. Button mushrooms are essentially flavorless…portabellas only slightly less so, so whatever you are cooking them with they will assume the flavor of that.
Porcinis, morels, etc have a pretty yummy and identifiable “woodsy” flavor that you definitely want to shine through so if you cook with those, don’t overwhelm them with anything strongly-flavored.
For me, the best bet for most mushrooms is simply to carmelize them with butter and set them aside and add them to whatever I am making later. Plus you can snack on them while you cook other stuff! Chef’s privilege!
And as far as dirt goes, it’s pretty clean dirt. Mr. Mace, maybe the info here on commercial compost preparation for mushrooms will ease your mind a bit.
While we’re on the subject, I was taught to slice off and discard the bottommost portion of the stem during mushroom prep, where it was cut during harvesting. I am the only one who does this, right? It always seems kind of pointless and wasteful, but I have yet been unable to stop myself from doing it. Please tell me I can stop.
No, no you aren’t teh only one who does it. I cut off a small slice of the bottoms of the stems of button mushrooms when I’m using them. It tends to be dry and hard.
There’s a lot of old school French misconceptions about cooking mushrooms. First of all, washing mushrooms won’t make them soggy. Second of all, if you’re sautéing mushrooms, you actually want them soggy.
If you sauté mushrooms the conventional way; throwing them dry into a hot greased pan, the mushrooms soak up a ton of fat, don’t brown evenly and take forever to cook. Instead, cover & allow them to steam in their own juices first, until they become firm and dense, then take off the lid, add whatever fat you are using and allow the liquid to evaporate off. This will lead to evenly browned, deeply flavorful mushrooms.
That depends on the species of fungus. Shop-bought standard white closed-cup mushrooms won’t get very soggy from rinsing, but some others like oyster mushrooms, chanterelles and parasols will.
Hell, I’ve never even washed my mushrooms unless there were obvious bits of dirt on them, and then it’s either a quick rinse, or just a flick of my finger across the mushroom to get it off. And I cook with mushrooms on average once a week.
Yes – but mushrooms have a lovely way of morphing whatever flavors they absorb into an even higher state of deliciousness. This is why it’s important (for some dishes) to cook the mushrooms with everything else, and not separately! It’s especially important for stews and marinated dishes.
I think you have a misconception about the misconception. The standard party line is that most of the flavor of a mushroom is on the surface and it’s water soluble, so you don’t want to wash the good flavor off. I asked my son about this, as he went to culinary school and worked as a chef for 10 years, and he assured me that it’s true. However, I have never noticed a difference in the taste due to washing (and I am a serious mushroom freak, having never met a mushroom I didn’t love). Also, however, I seem to be incapable of cooking them very well. Thank goodness I have my wife and sometimes my son to do that. I’m not gifted in the culinary arts. I’m lucky to live with people who are!
