Mushrooms Deserve Special Attention!
Were you aware that September is National Mushroom Month? The U.S. Mushroom Council lobbied for this day and in 1990 President George H.W. Bush declared they could have their own month!
While a marketing move on the part of the Council, for sure, I’m so glad this amazing food has such laudatory status, nonetheless. Mushrooms deserve some special attention. Special attention because these little powerhouses are phenomenal health protectors and are wonderfully delicious!
For instance, when it comes to protecting health, they:
Pretty impressive, yes? And then there’s their taste. Mushrooms have an earthy, slightly woodsy, meaty flavor and are one of the foods that contain umami, the fifth primary taste. What is this? Chefs describe umami as a savory, brothy taste that spreads across the tongue and lingers in your mouth.
Any old way you describe their taste, it’s delicious. (Well, to mushroom-lovers, anyway). From the portobello burger, to the stuffed mushroom cap, to diced mushrooms floating in a hearty soup, they work flavor magic.
Take the stuffed mushroom cap for instance. Chop some jalepeno pepper, mix this with a little cream cheese and stuff your caps. Bake for 10 minutes or so at 350 degrees and you have an almost addictive appetizer. Or make tiny lasagna bites by stuffing the caps with a mixture of ricotta cheese, chopped fresh spinach, some minced garlic, and shredded mozzarella cheese (again, bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or so).
And a standard snack during our Thanksgiving day feast is a stuffed mushroom made from cooked Italian sausage and cream cheese. Scrumptious! The list of stuffing options could go on, but really, this is just limited to your imagination.
But we ought to back up a little: Once you bring your mushrooms home, should you wash them? All my research points to NO. The cooks at America’s Test Kitchen say this is because rinsing mushrooms will cause discoloration, and you want your meal to look as good as it tastes. They recommend cleaning mushrooms that will be served raw, by brushing them with a dry toothbrush. Good to know.
And once they’re home, how do you store them? As mentioned above, obviously not washed. But from there, according to the professional researchers at www.foodnetwork.com, you should take them out of their container. They say they’ll stay fresher longer if you simply wrap them in paper towels placed in open plastic bags (paper bags are even better) and keep them in the fridge.
I’ll close my mushroom tribute with one of the very best mushroom soup recipes I’ve ever tasted. It’s lower in fat and surprisingly creamy and is the brainchild of chef Gordon Ramsey.
3 tablespoons flour
4 cups cold water
4 teaspoons BETTER THAN BOUILLON CHICKEN (or 2 chicken bouillon cubes)
5 ounces shiitake mushrooms sliced
8 ounces baby bella mushrooms sliced
1 stalk celery cut into 3 or 4 lengths
Directions:
Add Recipe to Cook'n
While a marketing move on the part of the Council, for sure, I’m so glad this amazing food has such laudatory status, nonetheless. Mushrooms deserve some special attention. Special attention because these little powerhouses are phenomenal health protectors and are wonderfully delicious!
For instance, when it comes to protecting health, they:
- are low in calories
- are high in fiber
- are a good source of protein
- a good source of Vitamin D
- lower Blood Pressure
- are rich sources of potassium
- boost Immune System
- are anti-inflammatory and help stimulate microphages in the immune system (enhancing its ability to defeat foreign bodies and making you less susceptible to serious illnesses)
- can effectively impact weight loss when combines with exercise and other lifestyle changes
- are high in antioxidants
- are a great source of selenium, copper, thiamin, magnesium, phosphorous
Pretty impressive, yes? And then there’s their taste. Mushrooms have an earthy, slightly woodsy, meaty flavor and are one of the foods that contain umami, the fifth primary taste. What is this? Chefs describe umami as a savory, brothy taste that spreads across the tongue and lingers in your mouth.
Any old way you describe their taste, it’s delicious. (Well, to mushroom-lovers, anyway). From the portobello burger, to the stuffed mushroom cap, to diced mushrooms floating in a hearty soup, they work flavor magic.
Take the stuffed mushroom cap for instance. Chop some jalepeno pepper, mix this with a little cream cheese and stuff your caps. Bake for 10 minutes or so at 350 degrees and you have an almost addictive appetizer. Or make tiny lasagna bites by stuffing the caps with a mixture of ricotta cheese, chopped fresh spinach, some minced garlic, and shredded mozzarella cheese (again, bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or so).
And a standard snack during our Thanksgiving day feast is a stuffed mushroom made from cooked Italian sausage and cream cheese. Scrumptious! The list of stuffing options could go on, but really, this is just limited to your imagination.
But we ought to back up a little: Once you bring your mushrooms home, should you wash them? All my research points to NO. The cooks at America’s Test Kitchen say this is because rinsing mushrooms will cause discoloration, and you want your meal to look as good as it tastes. They recommend cleaning mushrooms that will be served raw, by brushing them with a dry toothbrush. Good to know.
And once they’re home, how do you store them? As mentioned above, obviously not washed. But from there, according to the professional researchers at www.foodnetwork.com, you should take them out of their container. They say they’ll stay fresher longer if you simply wrap them in paper towels placed in open plastic bags (paper bags are even better) and keep them in the fridge.
I’ll close my mushroom tribute with one of the very best mushroom soup recipes I’ve ever tasted. It’s lower in fat and surprisingly creamy and is the brainchild of chef Gordon Ramsey.
Lower Fat Creamy Mushroom Soup
Yield: 5 1/4 cups
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons flour
4 cups cold water
4 teaspoons BETTER THAN BOUILLON CHICKEN (or 2 chicken bouillon cubes)
5 ounces shiitake mushrooms sliced
8 ounces baby bella mushrooms sliced
1 stalk celery cut into 3 or 4 lengths
Directions:
Place cold water and flour in a blender and blend until smooth; pour into a medium pot and set heat to medium.
Add celery, mushrooms, and chicken bouillon and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer until vegetables are soft, about 20 minutes. Remove celery and a cup of soup to the blender; blend well, then return mixture to the pot. Stir thoroughly and serve.
ALICE’S NOTE: I often don’t have the shiitake mushrooms mentioned, but I do usually have white mushrooms. The substitution is always fine. I think the point with this recipe is to use plenty of mushrooms. I always use more than the 13 ounces of mushrooms called for. And, I’ve even used older, less fresh mushrooms that I’d frozen. It all works.
Add celery, mushrooms, and chicken bouillon and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer until vegetables are soft, about 20 minutes. Remove celery and a cup of soup to the blender; blend well, then return mixture to the pot. Stir thoroughly and serve.
ALICE’S NOTE: I often don’t have the shiitake mushrooms mentioned, but I do usually have white mushrooms. The substitution is always fine. I think the point with this recipe is to use plenty of mushrooms. I always use more than the 13 ounces of mushrooms called for. And, I’ve even used older, less fresh mushrooms that I’d frozen. It all works.
Recipe formatted with the Cook'n Recipe Software from DVO Enterprises.
Alice Osborne
DVO Newsletter Contributor since 2006
Email the author! alice@dvo.com
Sources:
- www.mushroomcouncil.com
- www.thespruceeats.com
- www.foodnetwork.com
- www.downshiftology.com
- www.kitchentricks.com
