Mushrooms - Food Advice
Last night, I finally got around to making portabella mushroom burgers. To clarify, I consider it a burger made entirely of portabella mushrooms. I wondered why it took me so long to get this tasty meal on my plate. I discovered a lot while making this one dish. I had to start with thinking about all of the mushrooms I'd eaten and cooked in this life.
Courtesy of Campbell's Soup
The first thing I realized is that my mushroom life is pretty bland. I think we all can relate to the canned variety that is the cream of mushroom. Oh, Campbell's how you shaped so many holiday dishes. I in no way want to knock the soup, but it is more of an additive than a stand-alone main course. Yes, I know that they use a particular mushroom/mushrooms in their soups, but with all of the excess ingredients, the mushroom is somewhat lost in translation.
Moving on to the ever faithful white button mushroom. Yes, this is my go to fungi to impart some flavor into a meal. I cover my pizzas in them and put them sauteed atop my beefy burgers. These mushrooms are really the all around hero of mushroom dishes. You really can't go wrong with the basics, and this one is as basic as it gets. Any person who is afraid of how mushrooms will alter a dish need only to default to this one or its cousin the Cremini (literally just a brown strain of the white button). The button mushroom is great alone sauteed with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder for an amazing topper for salads, and added flavor to soups and sauces.
Well, now that you know that if needed you can go with the basic mushroom, let's move on to advanced school (my version of advanced school that is).
If you love Ramen or many other Asian dishes you will probably have experienced that wonders that are Enokitake and Shiitake mushrooms. Enokitake is a long and thin mushroom popular in soups. I like to think them as a seasoning. I only use them to add flavor to the end of a dish. They don't hold up very well when cooked too long, so just use them like you would crackers in soup or bacon bits on a salad. I know it isn't a stretch from calling them basic as well, but they're better. Take my word for it.
Oh shiitake, oh shiitake, how do I describe your complex flavor? This mushroom is good for you and has amazing taste. If you want to make a mushroom soup this is the one to put in your base liquid. I think of it as the fancy mushroom. I am not all that fancy as you can tell, but when this mushroom enters my kitchen I know to handle it with care. In my one and only attempt to make risotto, this was the mushroom I used to great effect. It leaves a dish with a subtle earthy hint that other mushrooms fail to provide. You can use it in many ways but if I told you every way you'd never learn. Lastly, the shiitake is the way to go when you are trying to infuse flavor over a long period of time.
Now for the big daddy of mushrooms. The portabella is by far the most meat like of mushrooms. It is used mostly to beef up something that would otherwise be too veggie like. Vegans swear by the texture, and sometimes meat eaters can't tell the difference. I tossed them in a pan with olive oil, soy sauce, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and oregano. Once they were a bit soft I put them under the broiler to crisp up. I placed them on toasted bread with swiss and had a nice dinner. I think that by going easy on the salt you can really fool your self into thinking it is a meaty burger. So what is my advice for all mushrooms aside from the tips above?
1. Treat all your mushrooms gently. These are fragile fungi, don't be rough!
2. Less water is best. Mushrooms already have a lot of water inside and as they cook it will come out into your dish.
3. Brush the tops of big mushrooms to get rid of debris and remove the stems of larger ones like the portabella.
4. Go easy on the seasonings. Mushrooms absorb it all and the flavors will be really intensified. So, don't go crazy on the salt.
5. Try to incorporate more mushrooms into your dishes. Your alfredo sauce will thank you for going with a nice cremini to add flavor.
6. I know it may go without saying, but never eat or use wild mushrooms! Unless you are mushroom-ologist! I made that up. The study of fungi is called mycology. Now you know!
For more information check out Mushroom Appreciation.
Happy Mushing.... oh that sounds horrible. LOL.
Cook.Discuss.Reflect
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