In cooking, as in life, there is a correct way of doing something. If that approach, method or technique is followed, the results will be everything you dream of. If you go rogue, you may or may not get what you expect.
When it comes to food and cooking, I will minimize your risk of failure by sharing the proper way to cook. This is what KitchenCUE is all about. For example, there is "a way" to sauté mushrooms so that you get full rich flavor and not a gray, flavorless mass scarcely resembling what could have been.
Here are a few tips that will put you on the righteous path to lusciously caramelized mushrooms. Once you "get" the technique, go rogue, with different spices, herbs and pairings you like.
- Cut each variety of mushroom the same size to allow for even cooking.
- Heat a sauté pan over medium heat and melt enough butter to completely cover the bottom of the pan. (Other fats can be used as well, such as bacon fat or olive oil.)
- Add enough mushrooms to cover the bottom of the pan. Don't pile them up.
- Sprinkle with a pinch of salt.
- Now, step back! Resist the urge to stir and futz! Have some conversation and a glass of wine. The mushrooms will begin to leach out their water (as you can see in the pan) and then begin to caramelize. Once that happens, stir away!
- Do not succumb to their quiet plea for more fat; they are little sponges and will soak up as much fat as you give them. You will then have greasy mushrooms and nobody likes that!
- Continue stirring until the mushrooms are nicely caramelized.
- Remove this batch from the pan and start the process again.