Mushrooms 3 Ways

Mushrooms are funny. How long did it take for us to figure out which ones were poisonous and which ones were delicacies? Who tests new species? Whenever a recipe calls for cooking mushrooms - wild ones in particular - I'm transported 5 years back to when I got to spend a short weekend in Sweden during midsommar. I was staying with a wonderful family who hosted a huge fete, and one of the great traditions they had was that in preparation for the grand meal, the male head of house would set out into the woods to gather the mushrooms and kill the meat.

It was as much a right of passage as a family tradition, but it rang of authenticity unlike what you find here. Parents never show their stash to their kids, and the mushrooms they found dance the fine line between delicacy and poison - once cooked properly they are divine... but make a mistake, and you've got your whole party in the toilet (or worse).

But that was Sweden. This week was mushroom week for no particular reason except that Jamie has some great recipes I wanted to try, and when cooking for two its easier to get a whole bunch of mushrooms and use them many ways.

The stuffed mushrooms with ricotta were near perfect. The outside tender, the inside filled with a zesty and sweet cheese mix (spiced up with some chili). Not sure what the cause was, but the innards spilled out a little too quickly leaving me to trim off some.

The lightly roasted shrooms with cheese on top were nice, but not necessarily something I'd make again. It's possible I just didn't do it right, or didn't have good enough mushrooms, but they just didn't click.

Tonight, I went for the more adventurous style - mushrooms in a bag with fresh

herbs, prosciutto, and white wine. They were great, although I feel like the mushrooms weren't quite tender enough. Why? Although I only had enough for one go-round, I would guess the mistake lay with my bag-folding technique (Jamie is not very good about giving those kinds of details. In fact, few chefs are in their cookbooks with the exception of the folks at the test kitchen and all their publications).

Conclusion? Mushrooms are a great accent to any meal. Stems chopped up and mixed into a sauce add a perfect earthy flavor. Caps are wonderful for sautéing or stuffing. Good mushrooms, on the other hand, are quite difficult to find. The supermarket variety are so far from the full taste that truly wild mushrooms bring. If you find a good recipe, stick to it. Otherwise, you're often better getting the goods at a restaurant (I usually don't say this). Try the bags, they're fun (and easy)!