Cooking Lesson #247: Wonderful, Marvelous ‘Shrooms

… from the California Kitchen

credit: Sébastien Marchand (Unsplash)

How you doin’? Last week Joan came into my office and told me that she wanted to see more side dish recipes that are less calorie-laden—she said, no cheese, little butter and lay off the potatoes and pasta. I thought for a while and told her to get a steamer. You don’t need recipes for steaming. I guess that wasn’t good enough as she stuck to her guns.
 
So, after I picked myself off the floor, I went into our restaurant archives… the new side recipes you are going to see are from any one of my restaurants or even back to my days at the Cordon Bleu. Today's recipe comes from my Customs House restaurants.
 
Eating mushrooms, dates back to ancient times. Edible mushroom species have been found in 13,000-year-old archaeological sites in Chile. Ötzi, the mummy of a man who lived in Europe between 3400 and 3100 BC, was found with two types of mushrooms. Back then picking mushrooms was like playing Russian Roulette today. You see, not all mushrooms are edible. The world's most poisonous mushroom, Amanita phalloides, commonly known as the Death Cap Mushroom, is responsible for 90% of the world's mushroom-related fatalities. So, don’t go picking those pesky little mushrooms growing in your back yard… you never know.
 
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
 
Ingredients
1 pound white mushrooms, 1/4-inch sliced
1 ounce unsalted butter
1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons dry sherry
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground coarse black pepper
Parsley, chopped (for garnish)
 
Directions

1. Using a clean dish towel or mushroom brush wipe any visible soil off the mushrooms.
2. Cut the stems from mushrooms.
3. Heat the butter in a sauté pan.
4. Sauté the mushrooms and garlic until just tender.
5. Add the sherry and continue to sauté gently.  DO NOT OVERCOOK.
6. Add the salt and pepper and reduce the liquid by half.
7. Remove from heat, garnish with parsley and serve.

ChefSecret:  You can make this same recipe with brown, portobella or wild mushrooms. These sautéed ‘Shrooms are great in omelets, on burgers and atop grilled steaks.

Covid-19 Quip of the Day: “One can get a bit paranoid during these COVID-19 times. I was recently asked what I did last weekend? I squinted and replied, Nothing… what did you hear?”
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