My partner and I love mushrooms, and I usually cook them in butter and a little fresh ground pepper in a small pan, nothing added. But no matter what I do, there's always so much water left at the bottom of the pot. I have no idea where it comes from, ‘cos I don’t add any water. I have to assume that it comes out of the mushrooms themselves, and forgive me, my typically amateur blokey solution has been to add a corn flour mix. It DOES thicken and make the mushrooms marginally more tasty and attractive (but it still feels like cheating) and the next day, when I take the leftovers out of the fridge, there’s this watery sludge again, at the bottom of the dish! What am I doing wrong? What am I missing? Help! Please! I am really struggling with this. I want to get this right for my princess. All you wise and talented, enlightened and talented and creative cooks and chefs, out there …
whitehead.,
Oct 28, 7:49am
there is a lot of water in mushrooms . suggest you slice them and fry quickly in a hot pan with a half and half mix of oil and butter . the butter gives flavour and the oil lets you get it much hotter . your pan should be really hot so they brown and not sweat
whitehead.,
Oct 28, 7:51am
you only need enough oil and butter to grease the bottom of your pan get it hot and keep it moving till cooked
motorbo,
Oct 28, 8:04am
a cast iron frypan is fabulous - holds the heat well and the a larger area means more air near the food. these two things means you mushrooms cooked on a high heat and don't walk away and forget them. you will get yummy crispy mushrooms. water might come out but keep cooking them and the water will disappear. cornflour and parsley makes a yummy dish too. and with bacon added served on toast nice easy dinner
smallwoods,
Oct 28, 8:09am
Oil will stop the butter burning/turning brown with greater heat than straight butter. I recommend cast iron pans.
trigal1,
Oct 28, 9:10am
What sort of mushrooms are you using Bruce? Size and were they store-bought? (don't think there's any others around atm) Did you wash them first; perhaps washing them upside down and causing water to be absorbed into the gills? If so, it's best to wash them lightly top side up and rinse (or chop off) the ends without getting water in the gills. Or are you leaving them with a lid on, causing them to sweat? I cooked some of the big-ish ones the other day, in a small saucepan with a little rice bran oil and a smidgeon of butter and they were dry. (Onto some leftover savoury mashed spuds which I had heated up in the oven and then a little bit of cheese on top and grilled. Yummo).
Another thought is, after cooking in butter or oil for a little bit, you can add milk and then thicken that with flour (or whatever) to make a sauce and cover your sludge that way.
davidt4,
Oct 28, 9:31am
Mushrooms contain a lot of water but they are very forgiving when cooked. If you want plain buttered mushrooms (delicious) just cook them in butter uncovered in a frying pan over medium/high heat until all of the liquid has evaporated. This can take between five and twenty minutes, depending on the heat, and the time taken makes no difference to the end result.
lythande1,
Oct 28, 5:54pm
That's fine. You made a sauce. However leftovers is the problem. Mushrooms are not ideal for leftovers. make less and make fresh.
jhan,
Oct 28, 7:44pm
Sometimes a squeeze of lemon adds zest. I make a vegetable mousaka and add a layer of breadcrumbed and browned mushroom and it's neat to come across them when eating this dish.
rainrain1,
Oct 28, 7:47pm
This. them eat them on toast with salt and white pepper ohh ohh my
farmess,
Oct 28, 10:38pm
This is the restaurant way. put them in a pan with a little oil, when they start cooking add a good dash of worcester sauce and dollop of cream. Cook hard until liquid has reduced to the consistancy you want, if that takes a while put just a little butter, stir thru and that will help thicken. perfect musrooms every time. Never cover to cook.
rainrain1,
Oct 29, 12:00am
You just spoiled a good thing. less is more
brucerae,
Oct 29, 12:08am
Hey, all you wonderful cooks - thank you so much for all your great tips, hints and ideas. I really appreciate all your input, and I'll be putting them to good use! (at least I'm not pregnant) - 'er indoors - whoops I mean 'er OUTDOORS will be home from work soon, and I have to get dinner ready. Thanks again for all your help!
samanya,
Oct 29, 12:23am
I often cook them in a similar way to what farmess described #11 & I sometimes pop a cap full of whisky in as well . I read that tip years ago & it seems to bring out the flavour & imo it certainly doesn't spoil them.
eljayv,
Oct 29, 12:23am
I recently saw a chef on tv saying that people make a mistake by cooking mushrooms until water comes out but according to him we should keep cooking a little longer and they will reabsorb the water. Must try it myself sometime.
samanya,
Oct 29, 12:24am
You never know, you might like them even more done this way.
lythande1,
Oct 29, 1:29am
haha, they DON'T reabsorb. Keep cooking and the water will evaporate eventually. Next stage after that is called burning.
Some chefs talk bollocks. like "sealing" meat and resting meat to "absorb" juices. it doesn't, it keeps cooking and hence the juice disappears from the usual process.
aglarana,
Oct 29, 1:34am
Don't wash the mushrooms. Just give them a wipe if you have to.
rainrain1,
Oct 29, 5:21am
I do do this sometimes, but only with store bought mushrooms, to eat with a steak. To do freshly picked delicious field mushrooms like that would be criminal, Mind you I'm not a cream in food fan, unless it is sweets
ruby2shoes,
Oct 29, 5:47am
well I have a mushroom and spinach/silverbeet lasagne recipe that is yummy. And I love mushroom/onion/cheese toasted sammies.
samanya,
Oct 29, 5:56am
You have a point, when it's mushroom season I just cook them . straight out of the paddock, don't worry too much about sheep poo etc, just do them plain because the flavour is so much better than store bought (must be the *natural* additives). Those button store ones really do taste better with a dash of mixed herbs & a tiny little glug of whisky& cream IMO.
socram,
Oct 29, 7:16am
I seem to remember one TV chef (GR?) saying that you chuck them in a hot dry pan for a minute or so, before adding butter. As water evaporates at a lower temperature, before fat, then the water will boil off anyway and leave the butter/oil behind. Some (most?) restaurants use clarified butter, but I prefer the taste of real butter - preferably Lurpak.
brucerae,
Oct 29, 10:12am
I can't believe how many useful suggestions and great ideas keep being fed in to this thread - my original question has attracted so many beautiful and valuable responses . Thank you, everyone that contributed .
echoriath,
Oct 29, 11:09am
Yes, put them sliced into hot (preferably cast iron) pan for about a minute with nothing else, stirring a couple of times. This cooks most of the water out of them, and they start with a lot of water. For all that, they are pretty sponge like, and washing them is a bad idea because it will cause them to suck up even more. If brushing them does not get them clean enough to suit, you can always peel the outer layer of the mushroom, starting from in where the stem finished.
I don't bother peeling them, myself.
Slice to desired thickness, place in hot pan, then move to outer periphery of pan. Add butter. Once melted, add garlic/onion. Splash with tamari and wine, maybe a little balsamic vinegar. Move mushrooms back into the middle once the garlic has cooked a bit. Stir well, then simmer until sauce reduces.
A point about butter: Clarified butter is (real) butter that has had the water and milk solids cooked out of it. It has a higher smoke point and is better for cooking on heat. It also has a richer flavour.
echoriath,
Oct 29, 9:15pm
Oh, and a wee splash o' the pure definitely helps the cause.
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