Cooking with Mushrooms

Cooking with mushrooms can be a daunting task if you're not used to it, but it can be one of the most rewarding experiences you've had in the kitchen. There are two sections to this page; Fresh Mushroom Prep & Dried Mushroom Prep.

 

Fresh Mushroom Prep

Each species has a different texture & flavor and there are different ways to prepare them. Lion's Mane, Chicken of the Woods, Hen of the Woods, porcini, white coral fungus, chanterelles, matsutake, morels and a wide variety of oyster species (Pleurotus sp.) are the most common in Oregon. By and large, they can be seasoned and pan fried just like meat.

Most mushrooms can be fried in butter and garlic and enjoyed simply as they are. I recommend trying this method (as well as performing an allergy test) before adding them to an entire meal.

Porcini, chanterelles, and chicken of the woods can be very robust and powerful. As such, I feel they're best dried and ground to a powder, and used in soups, sauces or gravy.

You should boil any wild harvested mushroom for 10 minutes before ingesting. This kills any remaining bugs, eggs, larvae and bacteria. Members of the Pleurotus genus ingest nematodes (yes: carnivorus shrooms) and other small organisms, so you will eventually encounter some. Typically, mushrooms with a bad bacterial infection will smell funny or feel slimy, but it's always better to play it safe and/or assess your own risk tolerance. 

You an accomplish this by filling a COOL pan with water and a dash of oil - just enough to cover your mushrooms. Bring the water to a boil and fry it off. The remaining oil that remains will prevent the mushroom tissue from burning.

 

Basic Dried Mushroom Prep

- Add enough water to a shallow pan to cover your dried mushrooms.

- Add enough oil so that when the water is sucked into the mushrooms and/or evaporates, the rehydrated mushrooms won't burn.

- You can add diced onion, garlic, or a little butter at this stage. It will look like soup. That's fine. You're trying to blend the flavors and force the flavored water into the mushrooms, speeding up the process with heat.

- You can also add canned table mushrooms to stretch your gourmet mushrooms a little further (but be aware of the salt content).

- Turn up the heat on the stove and bring it slowly to a boil. You'll see your mushrooms start to get larger and more spongey. This is also called "reconstituting" your dried mushrooms. Some may expand greatly, others may expand very little.

- Once they become meaty again, fry off the remaining water, leaving the oil behind. You can add more olive oil or butter if they start to stick.

- At this stage, you can add raw meat and cook all of the ingredients together. Or, fry off the water and add the garlic, onions, and reconstituted mushrooms to pasta sauce. Sometimes, I'll reconstitute my mushrooms then add sliced ham and make scrambled eggs.

 

Some mushrooms like Chicken of the Woods have a lot of chitin and can be tough to chew. Mushrooms like oysters and lion's mane tend to be a little chewy or "fishy" and make a great meat replacement for vegan dishes. Slices of king oysters have a taste and texture like scallops. Lion's mane can taste nutty or like sweet shrimp or crab. 

I like to add water, oil, garlic, and onions as a base. From there, add thyme, powdered rosemary, mustard powder, onion salt, marjoram, paprika, celery salt, and garlic powder. Dashes of white pepper and ginger are good for dishes that will end up having chicken in them.

Worcester sauce is really good to add for red meat dishes. Black pepper tends to be better (for me) when using porcini or chanterelles with sausage or meat sauces.

 

Or: add water, sesame oil, teriyaki sauce, Worcester sauce, and soy sauce to chives, onion, and dried mushrooms and make ramen in the same pan.

 

Or: Throw a bunch of carrots, celery, onion, lentils/beans/noodles in a stew pot with a whole chicken, some water and a few handfuls of your favorite dried mushrooms and boil away.

 

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