elaine l
Head Chef
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2006
- Messages
- 2,098
Is it possible to freeze fresh mushrooms? I realize they will lose something but I bought a large amount for a recipe that I have decided to put on hold.
Sparrowgrass,sparrowgrass said:The other way to deal with mushrooms is to dry them.
Just lay them out on a paper towel on the counter, and in a few days, they will be dry. If they are particularly large, slice them up. Don't wash them first.
I store mine in the freezer, but if they are thoroughly, crispy dry, you could put them in a mason jar and store them in the cupboard.
When you get ready to use them, soak in warm water. Drying makes plain old button mushrooms chewier, more "meaty" and seems to intensify the flavor.
When I soak dry mushrooms (which I do frequently for Asian dishes - all those dried shitakes & wood ears), if I plan on saving the soaking the liquid, I drain the mushrooms thru a kitchen strainer lined with a plain old paper coffee filter. Although it does take a while to drain, it works great - absolutely no grit, etc., gets thru into the strained broth.
In fact, I use paper coffee filters often for filtering impurities out of broth/stock.