Mushrooms! I’m doing a little happy dance in my head just thinking about them. When I was a kid I begged for mushroom soup. When I was in college I made mushroom quesadillas. These days I think I could easily go through a pound of sautéed mushrooms in one sitting. They’re great with steak, still good in a quesadilla, terrific over polenta, or just on their own. Here’s the trick with cooking most mushrooms, dry sauté them first. A mycologist friend of mine taught me this trick years ago, with the chanterelles and porcini we had foraged. Sauté the mushrooms first, just on their own, with no added liquid or fat, in a hot pan. The mushrooms will release their water, which will then boil away, concentrating the mushroom flavor. Then you add the fat, and whatever seasonings you want.

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