How To Slice Mushrooms

You might think this will be a post about knife skills. And it does start that way. But what it really is, is a post about cheating. I’m a big believer in cheating in the kitchen.

Directions

I’ve actually got two ways to cheat on mushrooms. First, my grocery store has pre-washed miniature portabellas. (They’ve also got washed and sliced, but then I couldn’t show this tip.) They’re only 20 cents more for 10 ounces than the unwashed version.

Most store-bought mushrooms — which is all I can find around here — were cut several days before you buy them. The cut end of the stem will have dried out. Trim the end a little and get rid of the dry bit.

With the stem up, slice the mushroom in half.

Lay the mushroom cut side down with the stem pointed away from you. Hold it with your fingers tucked in, and guide the knife with your knuckles as you slice it.

With lots of practice, you can get really fast at this. It’s impressive as hell. TV chefs love doing this stuff.

Me, I like to cheat.

I’ll bet you I can do these twice as fast as anybody with a knife. And they’ll all be exactly the same width.

And that’s it.

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Coming up: What did I use these in? It used to be hugely popular. It’s what you would make to impress dinner guests in the 60s. And it doesn’t have to be nearly as hard as some people want to make it.

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Want more like this? For more recipes like this, that you can hold right in your hands, and write on, take notes, tear pages out if you want (Gosh, you're tough on books, aren't you?) you might be interested in How To Cook Like Your Grandmother, 2nd edition, Illustrated. Or to learn your way around the kitchen, check out Starting From Scratch: The Owner's Manual for Your Kitchen.