SC - Mushrooms!

[Philip W. Troy]

Lasairina at aol.com wrote:
> =

> Philip Troy writes:
> =

> >       I suspect le Menagier is talking about some other mushroom than=
 our
> >  standard champignon; the need for peeling and parboiling suggests so=
me
> >  level of toxicity. We don=92t usually have to worry about that unles=
s we
> >  hunt up our own mushrooms.
> >
> =

> Damn!  Sorry about the first posting mess-up....I meant to say....
> =

> Actually, the parboiling is necessary for even the common mushroom we u=
se
> today.  If this step is left out, the mushroom juice will cause your do=
ugh to
> be extremely soggy.  But parboiling them for a few minutes will take mo=
st of
> the extra juice out.
> =

> Lassar Fhina

Yes, and much of the flavor too. I agree that the common cultivated
mushroom is a juicy beast, but I've had a fair amount of success with
sauteeing them before using. This has the advantage of concentrating the
juice in the pan and improving the flavor of the mushrooms. Sometimes
this can take a while. One trick I sometimes use when I'm in a hurry is
to take the sliced mushrooms, bundle them up in a clean kitchen towel,
and squeeze them until most of the juice drains out. You need a bit of
hand strength for this. I do this right over the saute pan. The juice
cooks down quite quickly, almost to a glaze, and then you add the
mushrooms. They cook in about 1/4 of the time.

Adamantius