White Prince Mushrooms

Mushrooms are wonderful in so many dishes. Eat them raw in salads, marinate them in a vinaigrette; use as a sandwich filling; wrap in foil and bake as an accompaniment to roasts; grill or barbecue with a drizzel of olive oil or a dob of butter. However, their versatility doesn't end there. Consider a few of their following uses in cooking.

RAW - Use whole for dipping, or whole or sliced in salads, sandwich fillings for a snack.
MARINATED - Use whole, halved, quartered or sliced mushrooms in your favourate prepared dressing or try a mixture of three parts olive oil, one part lemon juice, one part white wine vinegar, salt freshly ground pepper, crushed garlic, mustard and chopped fresh herbs.
BARBECUED - Cook whole flat or cup mushrooms by dotting with butter, sprinkling with salt and pepper and placing stalk-side up on the barbecue for about 8 minutes.
SAUTEED - Cook whole, halved, quartered or sliced mushrooms by tossing quickly in butter or olive oil in a hot frying pan for 2 to 3 munutes. Season as desired. Serve as a meal accompaniment or add to recipe as required. A touch of cream makes a delicious sauce.
GRILLED - Cook whole flat or cup mushrooms by dotting with butter or brushing with olive oil and cooking for 5 to 6 minutes. Season to taste and top with chopped chilli, crushed garlic or chopped shallots or herbs. Serve as a meal accompaniment.
BAKED - Cook whole mushrooms in a moderate oven (180C) dotted with butter or brushed with olive oil for 10 to 15 minutes. Season to taste and top with crushed garlic, chopped shallots or herbs as desired. Serve as meal accompaniment. Mushrooms may be baked in foil parcels. Simply place whole, halved, quartered or sliced mushrooms in the centre of a square of foil with a dot of butter, chopped herbs, onion and a dash of white wine or lemon juice. Bring edges of foil over mushrooms to form a parcel. Crimp to seal. Bake in a moderate oven (180C) for 15 to 20 minutes or until tender. Other ingredients like cherry tomatoes, bacon, shallots, capiscum and herbs may also be added.
STIR-FRIED - Place whole, halved or quartered button mushrooms in a heated wok with a little oil. Stir-fry any meat or chicken strips first. Set aside. Stir-fry vegetables and last of all mushrooms. Return meat and vegetables to wok with a dash of soy sauce, sherry and sesame oil.
MICROWAVE - Place 125g whole button mushrooms on a plate, drizzled with olive oil or dotted with butter. Top with chopped shallots, herbs, crushed garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Microwave, covered, on HIGH (100%) for 2 to 3 minutes. Mushrooms may be added to many microwave dishes as desired.
DEEP-FRIED - Cook whole button mushrooms by dipping in a light batter or by coating in flour, egg and breadcrumbs; deep-fry a few at a time until golden. Drain on absorbent paper. Serve with sauce of choice.
STEAMED - Prepare whole button mushrooms by blanching in hot water with lemon juice for 30 seconds. Drain. Steam over boiling water for 3 to 5 minutes. Serve as a meal accompaniment.
STUFFED - Prepare whole mushroom cups by removing stalk and chopping stalks finely. Combine with filling of choice which may include shredded cheese, chopped ham, shallots and seasionings. Pile mixture into mushoom cups. Eat as is or grill or bake until cheese has melted.
STUFFINGS - Use finely chopped raw or sauteed mushrooms to add flavour to rice or breadcrumb struffings for poultry, pork, beef, veal or lamb.
SOUPS - Saute sliced mushrooms with other ingredients in a little butter for a few minutes. Cook in a stock until ingredients are tender and finish with a little cream. For a smooth soup, use a food processor to puree the mixture. Return to pan and finish with a little milk or cream.
CASSEROLES - Add whole, halved, quartered or sliced mushrooms to casseroles whether the sauce is light and creamy or dark and rich to enhance the flavour. If sauteeing first, add towards the end of cooking.
PATES AND DIPS - Finely chopped or sauteed and pureed mushrooms enhance the flavour of many pates and dips.
SAUCES - Suteed sliced mushrooms add extra flavour to sauces and gravies of all types.
TOPPING AND GARNISHES - Use whole, halved, quartered or sliced mushrooms as a garnish for soups, salads, sauces and casseroles. Or use sliced and sauteed for toppings. Sprinkle with a little parmesan, tasty cheese for herbs, depending on the dish.

TIPS:

DUXELLES is the French term for a mixture of finely chopped mushrooms and onion or shallots which is cooked in butter until it reaches a puree-like texture. Finely chopped parsley, lemon juice and pepper are also added. The mixtrue is often used for stuffings or is used to add flavour to gratins or vegetable mixtrues. Duxelles may also be frozen and added to casseroles if liked.

To prepare Duxelles - Melt 60g butter in a large frying pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Saute 2 chopped onions until tender. Add 500g finely chopped mushrooms. Cook for 5 minutes or until dry but not brown. Stir in 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 2 tablespoons chopped parsley and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Freeze in ice-cube trays. When mixture is frozen, transfer to freezer bags for storage. Duxelles keep well frozen for up to 2 months.