As a chef, restaurateur and daughter of a professional cook, I can tell you that I wash everything. I wash everything I bring home from the market. And I am not alone in that practice. Alton Brown of the Food Network experimented with mushrooms by letting them soak in water to see if they actually absorbed water and the result was negligible.
From a restauranteurs point of view, we would never have the time to wipe down each mushroom individually, and who would even take the time at home to wipe each one down with a paper towel? When I teach my culinary students about mushrooms, I tell them to live dangerously and go ahead and disprove the myth and wash them!
Now, with a little bit of insiders knowledge out of the way, onto a fantastic recipe!
Caramelized Onions, Cabrales Blue Cheese and Wild Mushroom Flatbread
Ingredients
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon EVOO + 3 TB EVOO
1 pound assorted wild mushrooms (portobello, shiitake, chanterelle, porcini)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 Spanish onions, sliced thinly (or scallions, using the white and green)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 frozen, fresh or canned pizza dough
1/2 cup fresh mozzarella
1 cup crumbled Cabralesblue cheese (or substitute with one of your own favorite blue cheeses)
Directions
Heat butter and olive oil in a medium sauté pan. Add onions and sugar and cook slowly until soft and caramelized. Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over high heat. Add the mushrooms and sauté until golden brown and cooked down. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Preheat grill.
Flatten the dough, brush liberally with olive oil and throw on the grill.
Grill on one side until golden brown, turn over spread with the mozzarella, onions and mushrooms and blue cheese.
