Of course there are hundreds of ways to cook a mushroom. There are hundreds of varieties of mushrooms so that only makes sense. There is however one really wrong way to cook a mushroom that I see all too often. Let’s fix that.
The water content of mushrooms varies but is usually at least 80% and can be as much as 95%. While you might think that would be fine, especially in things like soup, it really hampers attempts to get the most flavour out of them. A concentration of mushroom taste is the goal even if you plan to blend them into more liquid later. If you’re going to use them ‘dry’ in omelettes or on top of pizzas for example, intensity is just that much more important. For the record, this method works for nearly all species from common white button to hen-of-the-woods to the precious pine mushrooms I used to be able to gather in the forest-fire ravaged west of Canada.
Where people go off the fungi rails most often is in the pan. Cooking them over low temperature, jiggling them about so much they rarely feel the heat, or dousing them in butter, oil, and anything else that will create steam all lead to insipid mushrooms. They never really get the chance to focus their depth of flavour into something interesting with any or all of those hindrances. You need high concentrated heat which you can get in the pan if you just get out of the way.
Texture can also be a problem. Many of the objections mushroom haters have come in this department and if I was only served pale, steamed mushrooms I might agree with them. Two ways to tackle this problem and you already know the first. Driving off that moisture when you cook them properly will improve their texture greatly. The other trick is simple knife skills, or perhaps a lack of them. I never just slice my mushrooms in thin uniform pieces. How boring is that? I chop them higgly-piggily all over the cutting board like a drunken monkey. Haphazard pieces make for more interesting texture in the end.
There’s also the old myth that you shouldn’t wash your mushrooms in water and merely brush them free of dirt. Complete bunk that is. If your food is dirty, you wash it. Plain and simple. What you don’t want to do with mushrooms is wash them and then store them. A wet mushroom will decay rapidly but five minutes between sink and pan won’t hurt a thing. There have also been experiments that show damp, moist mushrooms don’t absorb as much oil in the cooking initially which is a good thing. I like to put mine in a huge volume of water and then “shake ’em like a Polaroid picture.” The agitation will make short work of cleaning out the nooks and crannies that hold dirt and if you’ve seen the remnants of mushroom farming, you’d want rid of that in a hurry. I’m really not fond of mushroom compost despite it being the new ‘hip’ thing in gardening. Remind me to tell you why someday.
I almost always cook my mushrooms separately before using them later in a dish. I put a mere tablespoon of butter or oil on medium high heat in a nonstick pan and then add only as many mushrooms as will fit in the pan comfortably. While others think the crowded pan theory is also a myth, my tests always seemed to have better luck not overloading. That might be a deficiency in my pan or my stove but in the end, I go with what works best in my own kitchen. Test to make your own standard here.
Add a small amount of salt and pepper at the beginning, toss to coat, and then DO NOT TOUCH THE PAN until you can really smell the mushrooms, about seven minutes. At that point much of their internal moisture has been driven off. They will be a golden brown colour on one side and approximately half their original volume. Toss again briefly and finish the other side to a similar colour. Depending on where they’re headed in your recipe box, a tiny squeeze of lemon juice, a fast dusting with Parmesan, or a splash of good sherry really shows how mushrooms can satisfy. It all sounds simple because it is but your taste buds will thank you for getting the technique down and mushrooming properly.
ps. This became an over-involved sidebar from the Speed Pizza post if you want to see what motivated the discussion I’m having with myself over here.
