sauteed mushrooms

[NMDemDist2]

what's your favorite? how do you do them?

since we're allergic to alcohol white wine is out of the question, i use a little Worchestershire sauce and olive oil but would love some new ideas....

[Shakespeare]

1. We recently tried this:

'Cause we were out of wine to cook with (and didn't feel like opening a new bottle). Along with the olive oil, butter and garlic, I added a healthy dash of white balsamic vinegar (pretty easy to find these days, and Trader Joe's carries it at a great price). It gave it that wine-y character, with an added tang that we both loved.

[mcscajun]

2. My favorite is sherried mushrooms, but since those are 'out' for you...

...have you tried the White Worcestershire sauce? It's great with sauteed mushrooms for lighter dishes (non-beef).

[Tab]

3. I do them this way

Clean them (I wipe them so they don't absorb water, but I know there's controversy over how to clean these things)

I will usually quarter them (using little baby bellas), or at least get them about 1/4" in size...

You will need butter, tarragon (chopped) and thyme leaves.

Melt the butter, add the mushrooms, tarragon, and thyme.

When they look and smell perfect, take 'em away


On edit: This is with fresh tarragon and thyme (you can find both in little packages in the produce section of your supermarket). I have never done this with dried herbs, and I'm not sure I'd want to.

[The empressof all]

4. Here's how I do my quick mushies

We like them on the large size so for the small crimini (our favorites) I slice them in half and brown them in butter. I add salt and pepper and resist stirring too much because I aim for a good brown color. When they are almost done if the pan is on the dry side I add a little more butter and some Wondra (The stuff in the blue canister). I slowly add broth. This will give you a nice mushroom with sauce.

I do add wine, vermouth or balsamic vineger sometimes as well but it's not necessary.

[Warpy]

5. I'm allergic to alcohol

in that it gives me vicious migraines, so I sympathise. I generally add wine at the beginning of a cooking process rather than the end, just to make sure all the nasty alcohol boils off. Even adding just a splash at the end of cooking generally doesn't provide enough alcohol in four servings or so to trigger the migraines.

However, with alcoholics it's a completely different matter. If I'm cooking for a recovering alcoholic, I use Worcestershire, lemon juice, lime juice, Marmite, and a dozen other flavorings to give a kick and/or layering of flavor that I usually rely on wine to give. The same goes for cooking for Muslim friends, who don't want even boiled-off alcohol ever coming in contact with their food.

There's always a way to add flavor and interest to favorite dishes. Wine just provides one of the easiest ways.

[NMDemDist2]

6. I"m allergic to alcohol

it gives me 6 day runs and an empty wallet

it gives me a hole in my gut I can't live with

it gives me a road to Jail, Institution or Death

yeah I'm in recovery now :bounce:

[Wordie]

7. My mother used to make *wonderful* sauteed mushrooms...

They were browned beautifully. Mine always seem to turn out a bit insipid in comparison. They don't brown up the way hers did. I've asked her the secret but she claims no special knowledge. I'd love to figure out what to do to get mine to come out as good as hers did. Any ideas? More butter? Less butter? Hotter pan? Thinner slices? Different kind of mushrooms? I've tried different approaches, but I still don't have the answer.

I remember that she used to shop at an Italian deli near our house, so could it have been some special type of mushrooms? They looked just the same, as I recall. I don't wash mine, I only wipe them, as I understand that's part of the problem I was having (too much moisture), and they have gotten better, but they still don't compare to Mom's. So, I'd love some ideas, too. And I'm a purist; I don't need additions such as wine or Worchestershire (although I wonder now, as I write this, if that was the trick...Worchestershire).

[yewberry]

11. There is a trick to sauteed mushrooms.

Regardless of what medium you're cooking with, you have to get them to release their liquid.

If I'm just making sauteed shrooms (ie, not flavoring them or deglazing the pan) I just use olive oil. Clean your mushrooms and slice or quarter, whatever is called for. Heat pan and a bit of olive oil to just below medium; add mushrooms. (They will absorb all the oil immediately--don't worry about that.) Once the shrooms are hot, salt them (not much--a couple of shakes will do. You're just breaking the cell walls and letting out the liquid contained in them.) Toss the pan a few times and as if by magic, there will be lots of liquid in the pan.

As that liquid starts to cook off, turn the heat up to just above medium. The liquid cooks off pretty fast and you'll have to turn them as soon as the liquid is just about gone. You're essentially deglazing the mushrooms with their own liquid. They won't need to be in the pan long once it's dry.

They'll brown beautifully and it doesn't take much to get the hang of this method.

Good luck!

[NMDemDist2]

12. that makes sense! thanks n/t

[Wordie]

13. Thanks for that, tofunut!

That doesn't sound too hard. I'm going to try that ASAP!

So, another C&B thread is bookmarked. LOL...there are so many now!

[MelissaB]

20. I just deglazed for the first time using your recipe.

:smoke:

Those shrooms were yummy! Thanks so much for the recipe. I keep trying different things with mushrooms and this is my favorite so far.

BTW, this Alabama girl is so thankful for DU. Not only do I learn political "stuff", I get great recipes.

[catnhatnh]

8. Sorry,and apologies...

to alcoholphobes...but if there is a place on earth alcohol belongs it is IN marsala wine and cooked with MUSHROOMS...

[NMDemDist2]

9. ahhhh

I LOVE marsala!

but no longer indulge :cry:

[catnhatnh]

10. C'mon....

It's the cream, ain't it?

[Wordie]

14. Doesn't the alcohol cook off when it's used in cooking?

Especially with a technique such as the one tofunut outlined upthread, it would seem to me there wouldn't be any left. I'll sure defer to your knowledge on the matter, though, AZDemDist6, if you say it's a problem for you.

[NMDemDist2]

16. it supposedly does, but then I have a bottle of wine sitting around

taking up space in the fridge

nah............

[Warpy]

19. The flavor is what does it

Alcohol never cooks off 100%. There is always just a little bit to give a hint of alcohol flavor to the food.

Just that hint is enough to set someone in recovery off if it happens at one of those weaker moments.

It's like a reformed smoker being around somebody who lights up the brand he used to smoke at the exact time one of those cravings hits.

A powerful drug craving can become an irresistible one if the drug is present.

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

15. I like mushrooms all ways, at all times.

Sometimes I find a batch at the market that are on sale cheap in the discount bin. I snatch them up & make druxelles. I stuff them under chicken skin or use them in soup or fill crepes, or a thousand & one other uses. They freeze perfectly too.

[Wordie]

17. You can *freeze* mushrooms???

I never knew that!!! All these years I've cooking with mushrooms, and I never knew that! Thanks, wakemeupwhenitsover! What a great idea!

:bounce:

How is it done?

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

18. oops, druxelles freeze perfectly.

I don't know about mushrooms. I would think not since they're a lot of water. But druxelles are dry.

[stellanoir]

21. I marinate diced portabello shrooms

for a bare minimum of 20 minutes in balsamic vinegar and then saute them really slowly at a really low heat. I always have some in the fridge and I add them to almost anything. . .pasta, salads, etc. I also use them with sauteed onions and garlic in more exotic meats like ostrich and bison.