I did that anyway, because it seems to be widely recommended.
Nowhere anywhere does anybody say, “Mushrooms float.”
2 Likes
Proffers Pitchers
I think that it’s the patting dry before freezing which is the most important thing
I too have an Ikea saucy pan, & itizz a thing of beauty, I must say
Mine hasn’t got the steamer/strainer insert though
Carinthia.xx
2 Likes
I admit that it seems a little strange to have been getting them wetter than they are anyway.
Anyhow: slammers!
2 Likes
Happy Sigh
Thank-you
Blanching,& then plunging into iced water then stops the cooking/preserving process, so that they are ‘held’, azzitwere, in a perfect state
I suppose they are blanched for a minute or less
Looks around for Useders & Proffers an Slammer
Carinthia.xx
2 Likes
I am more concerned about the taste than the appearance, since they are destined for gravies and soups. At least they are done; getting the water out of them is quite a business!
2 Likes
They should taste fine - blanching shouldn’t affect that, it’s usually to stop enzyme activity turning vegetables that awful shade of Greige…
Carinthia.xx
3 Likes
Wheeeeee tiddly tseep.
(draws cards)
(giggles manically)
(mutters something about Robo Rally)
This hotel doesn’t really understand real ale, but at least it knows it. For us they get in bottles of the reasonably Good (if mass-market) Stuff.
4 Likes
Why in the name of all that is nameless would you expect the buggers to sink? Sorry, have not read to end of correspondence on this subject, but really. Do they strike you as something that would plummet to the bottom? I would venture that, on the whole, they don’t.
4 Likes
Floating mushrooms, anna floating Birdie
Sighs & Pours
Carinthia.xx
3 Likes
Pies and sores? Not a good combination, but then I seem to be channelling the good Doctor. ‘You have deliberately tasted two worms’, etc.
NIght night, my poppets
4 Likes
Well you wouldn’t want 'em to drown, would you? S’cruel innit?
3 Likes
Putting them in a square of muslin - a bit bigger than gent’s hanky - pegging the four corners together and hanging over sink, bowl or bucket works. Just for a couple of minutes.
3 Likes
Ah, you’re all so last century. Sous vide them in batches and freeze. Easy peasy. Flavour and looks 
3 Likes
A couple of minutes blanching, then a couple of minutes in cold water (about the same time, really) seems to work.
Don’t turn it into a chore by being too fussy about timings. As long they’ve had a couple of mins in boiling water and then a couple in cold/chilled water. That seems to work for me.it’s basically just removing the heat they had from the boiling water.
3 Likes
Afternoon All,
**
Yardarm.
**
3 Likes
I wouldn’t, Gus; I just wouldn’t expect getting them actually to be in the boiling water to be quite so difficult. Holding them under with a wooden spoon wasn’t quite how it seemed that it would have to go.
Thanks for the tip, Useders: next time. Also thanks for the yardarm: I needed one. Nice drop of Ruby Leffe for a pre-lunch snifter, I reckon.
And if there were room for a sous vide in my kitchen, and if I thought I would ever use it except for storing mushrooms…
2 Likes
Low-budget film club: Sink the Mushroom!
A bit late to be useful, but one of those collapsible steamer inserts bunged in on top of the water and the things to be boiled and then topped up a bit further is a good way of keeping things submerged. Although I discovered this ruse when sterilising floaty things rather than boiling mushrooms.
Also possibly too late to be useful this time round, but mushrooms stewed slowly in a little milk are absolutely The Dog’s. They don’t look amazing, but are delicious.
3 Likes
I will bear that in mind for the next time I foolishly buy vast numbers of mushrooms because they are Really Really Cheap, Gus. Thank you. I should think what is sometimes called The Liquor must be absolutely delicious, if perhaps a funny shade of brown.
The stroganoff seems to be getting beef added because I have some which needs to be used (and cutting thin slices is easy when the meat is just out of the freezer) but is very delicious with mushrooms only, if you like that sort of dish?
3 Likes
Oh, I do… Have always loved mushrooms. I seem to remember that when I was a very small Gus mushrooms were quite expensive to buy, relatively speaking, and generally considered a bit of a treat, whereas now they are exceedingly cheap.
3 Likes
Here is the recipe, which has caused the Carnivorous Bird to cheep happily about it:
Recipe for Mushroom Stroganoff
Serves two
Ingredients
2 tsp olive oil
1 onion , finely chopped
1 tbsp paprika (smoked is ideal)
2 garlic clove, crushed (or 3)
300g mixed mushroom, chopped (or rather more if you want)
150ml vegetable stock
1 tbsp vegetarian alternative to Worcestershire sauce (or red wine)
3 tbsp half-fat soured cream (or creme fraiche, or Greek yoghurt, or just double cream)
small bunch parsley, roughly chopped (optional)
250g pouch cooked wild rice
Method
Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan and soften the onion for about 5 mins.
Add the garlic and paprika, then cook for 1 min more. Add mushrooms
and cook on a high heat, stirring often, for about 5 mins.
Pour in the stock and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to the boil, bubble for 5 mins until the sauce thickens, then turn off the heat and stir through the soured cream and most of the parsley. Make sure the pan is not on the heat or the sauce may split.
Heat rice following pack instructions, then stir through the remaining parsley and serve with the stroganoff.
(Or cook some rice! Or pasta of any sort, or noodles.)
You can add a little kale or other green leafy veg with it if you need to feel Healthy.
4 Likes