Mushrooms are grown in a combination of soil and manure.
Mushrooms, unless otherwise specified, are sold unwashed.
Good mushrooms, purchased in bulk, are never washed prior to being offered for sale.
Traditional wisdom dictates that you never wash a mushroom - it will take on too much moisture, and will be soggy. The most common techniques are to wipe them with damp paper towel, or brush them with a dry vegetable brush.
Sucks to that - if you've got a salad spinner, and some hearty mushrooms, do this right before you cook them and thank me by sending along your recipe.
Put your mushrooms in plastic colander or (better yet) silicone sieve. Toss gently under ample cold running water.
Spin them in the salad spinner, with the dividers removed (if possible) until you don't see water hitting the sides of the outer bowl. Prepare immediately.
I've done this, and managed to brown the mushrooms immediately afterward, so I'm pretty confident that they're not taking on excess water in the process.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Recipe - Mushroom Soup with dumplings
This uses the chicken stock and rendered chicken fat found here as its base, and only gets better from there.
Ingredients:
For the soup
1 gallon chicken stock
1.5 pounds crimini mushrooms
2 medium onions
2 large carrots
1 Tbsp. dried Rosemary
1 Tbsp. dried Thyme
3 oz. rendered chicken fat
1 Tbsp. butter
For the noodles
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
Half-cup cornmeal
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 Tbsp. water
Pinch of salt
Preparation:
In a large stock pot, get the stock heating.
Put the rosemary and thyme in a cheesecloth bag (or, better yet, a disposable tea bag), leash it, and put it in the pot.
In a large skillet, begin heating the chicken fat and butter over medium heat.
Wash, then halve or quarter the criminis (depending on size), and brown them in small batches in the fat. Once browned, add to the soup. Do not salt the mushrooms!
Dice the onions very small - caramelize in the fat and add to the soup.
Slice the carrots, and add to the soup.
Bring the soup to a low boil and begin on the dumplings.
Hopefully you have a stand mixer. If not, this part is going to be unpleasant.
Add the flour, cornmeal, and salt to the mixer bowl, and whisk to combine.
Make a depression in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the eggs. Fold briefly with a spatula.
Using the dough-hook, begin kneading the dough. Add water slowly until it forms a ball that pulls all of the dry ingredients from the bowl. Continue to knead for an additional minute.
Roll the dough out approximately 1/16" thick, and cut into square dumplings. Let stand for a few minutes.
While the dough is resting, bring the soup to a rolling boil, and remove the spice bag.
Add dumplings to soup - boil for about five minutes.
Serve.
You're going to need:
A stand mixer.
A large stockpot.
A large skillet.
Serves:
6-8 as a soup course.
2-4 as a main course.
Ingredients:
For the soup
1 gallon chicken stock
1.5 pounds crimini mushrooms
2 medium onions
2 large carrots
1 Tbsp. dried Rosemary
1 Tbsp. dried Thyme
3 oz. rendered chicken fat
1 Tbsp. butter
For the noodles
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
Half-cup cornmeal
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 Tbsp. water
Pinch of salt
Preparation:
In a large stock pot, get the stock heating.
Put the rosemary and thyme in a cheesecloth bag (or, better yet, a disposable tea bag), leash it, and put it in the pot.
In a large skillet, begin heating the chicken fat and butter over medium heat.
Wash, then halve or quarter the criminis (depending on size), and brown them in small batches in the fat. Once browned, add to the soup. Do not salt the mushrooms!
Dice the onions very small - caramelize in the fat and add to the soup.
Slice the carrots, and add to the soup.
Bring the soup to a low boil and begin on the dumplings.
Hopefully you have a stand mixer. If not, this part is going to be unpleasant.
Add the flour, cornmeal, and salt to the mixer bowl, and whisk to combine.
Make a depression in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the eggs. Fold briefly with a spatula.
Using the dough-hook, begin kneading the dough. Add water slowly until it forms a ball that pulls all of the dry ingredients from the bowl. Continue to knead for an additional minute.
Roll the dough out approximately 1/16" thick, and cut into square dumplings. Let stand for a few minutes.
While the dough is resting, bring the soup to a rolling boil, and remove the spice bag.
Add dumplings to soup - boil for about five minutes.
Serve.
You're going to need:
A stand mixer.
A large stockpot.
A large skillet.
Serves:
6-8 as a soup course.
2-4 as a main course.
Stock, of the chicken variety
You're not going to like this recipe. It's much easier to open a can (bad) or use those clay-like cube things wrapped in foil (I'd rather eat the foil, thankyouverymuch). However, as stock is the primary ingredient in almost every soup, a main ingredient in countless other dishes, and extends sauces admirably, do yourself a favor, waste less food, and make a big pot of stock.
Ingredients:
Chicken Bones - approximately two pounds.
Chicken Parts - feet, gizzards, beaks, necks, who cares? Anything in this category is a bonus.
Chicken Skin - approximately half a pound
Four large onions
Salt
Preparation:
In a large stock pot, get about three gallons of water heating.
While the water is heating, rinse (but don't peel) the onions.
Halve the onions.
Drop halved onions in the pot.
Separate the chicken bones, making sure to break the spine in several places.
(Optional) Brown the chicken bones in a large skillet. Only really recommended if the chicken parts are raw.
Drop the bones and skin into the pot.
Once the water is boiling, add salt to taste (about a tablespoon should get you there) and stir.
Reduce heat to a low boil, and leave on the heat for about three hours. Add water to the pot if needed.
Taste the stock, and continue cooking until it is the desired strength. Stronger is better. Note that you will need to part a fairly thick fat layer on top to get to the stock beneath.
Once it's ready, pour through a sieve (faster) or cheesecloth (much slower) into a large container. Cool as rapidly as possible.
Once cooled, there will be a solid fat layer on top of the stock. Remove and reserve.
Use immediately or freeze for longer storage.
You're going to need:
A large stock pot (16-20 quart, minimum)
A sieve.
A large storage container.
Freezer-safe storage containers.
Serves:
Makes about two gallons of stock.
Ingredients:
Chicken Bones - approximately two pounds.
Chicken Parts - feet, gizzards, beaks, necks, who cares? Anything in this category is a bonus.
Chicken Skin - approximately half a pound
Four large onions
Salt
Preparation:
In a large stock pot, get about three gallons of water heating.
While the water is heating, rinse (but don't peel) the onions.
Halve the onions.
Drop halved onions in the pot.
Separate the chicken bones, making sure to break the spine in several places.
(Optional) Brown the chicken bones in a large skillet. Only really recommended if the chicken parts are raw.
Drop the bones and skin into the pot.
Once the water is boiling, add salt to taste (about a tablespoon should get you there) and stir.
Reduce heat to a low boil, and leave on the heat for about three hours. Add water to the pot if needed.
Taste the stock, and continue cooking until it is the desired strength. Stronger is better. Note that you will need to part a fairly thick fat layer on top to get to the stock beneath.
Once it's ready, pour through a sieve (faster) or cheesecloth (much slower) into a large container. Cool as rapidly as possible.
Once cooled, there will be a solid fat layer on top of the stock. Remove and reserve.
Use immediately or freeze for longer storage.
You're going to need:
A large stock pot (16-20 quart, minimum)
A sieve.
A large storage container.
Freezer-safe storage containers.
Serves:
Makes about two gallons of stock.
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