Question
Katherine Collard
Can you talk about how you cook mushrooms for summer recipes. What types of mushrooms do you cook with? Do you grill portabella what marinade do you suggest?
Answer
They're great for grilling. I personally prefer portobello mushrooms. I buy them not in containers. I buy them whole so that I can look at them. If you're picking out your own mushrooms, you can get four or six that are all the same size, making it easier to roast or grill, or however you'd like to have it. And the other thing is that if you are buying portobello mushrooms in that three-pack, the minute that you get home, you want to remove it from that container and store it in a brown paper bag in the back of your refrigerator where you have the most constant temperature. So what can I do with them? Well, they're easy to grill. You take off the stem, save the stem, because it's not tough. You can cut it up and add it to a salad. Sometimes for grilling, I like to remove the gills because again, it makes it easier to grill. As far as a marinade is concerned, whatever you like to do. I like all of the oil-free marinade and dressing recipes that we have. I think that the Dijon mustard one is particularly good because it's very flavorful. But if you have a bottle dressing that you like to use, just make sure that it doesn't have too much sugar in it because you don't want to burn the mushroom. And if you know your grill well, you want to know exactly what part of the grill does it go on, where you have the perfect temperature. When I cook mushrooms, I like to cook them slowly on the grill so that they don't burn because I personally don't enjoy burnt mushrooms. Portobello is good. If you're looking for something that's fun, lion mane are good. They're a little bit more difficult to find. I did include an article from a magazine that I had written for a couple of years ago that's all about mushrooms, because I do live about 30 minutes from the mushroom capital of the world, and there's interesting information about the nutritional value, excuse me, ways to cook them, ways to store them, and different mushrooms to use for different things. But portobellos are always number one on my list. And I will say this. A couple of years ago on Facebook Marketplace, I bought a brand-new grill with wood and charcoal, and it was a beautiful grill. And I used it four times and decided that I didn't need that clutter in my garage, and I gave it away on a free Facebook page that we have here in my community. And what do I do instead? I don't have a panini grill, but I have a waffle iron, and I grill my portobello mushrooms in a waffle iron, and they come out with a beautiful pattern on them, and they taste delicious. And I may have used a simple dressing, or sometimes I like to use balsamic vinegar. And I don't know if any of you are familiar with this, but it happens to be a McDougall family favorite. It's from Costa Rica. You can buy it at H Mart. It's called Lizano. It's a delicious light sauce that grills beautifully, and some people put it on potatoes and other things. But if you wanted to add something new to your list of ready-made sauces, Lizano from Costa Rica works very well. So read the article, and I don't know where you live, but if you live anywhere near Pennsylvania, which would be New Jersey, Southern Jersey, or Delaware, you should go visit the Mushroom Museum at Woodland, and it's located in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, and it will enlighten you and have you appreciate mushrooms so much more. So there's my mushroom discussion.
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