Don't Crowd the Mushrooms

I recently watched the film Julie and Julia for the first time. When I finally decided to watch the film, I expected a good story and was pleasantly surprised to pick up a few cooking tips as well.

During one of the early scenes in the character Julie's experiment to "cook her way through Julia Child's cookbook", she comments that she had been cooking mushroom incorrectly her entire life. "Don't crowd the mushrooms," she read from Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

The camera shot changes to one above the pan in which she is spreading out sliced mushrooms soon to be browned to perfection.

Like Julie, I am also guilty of crowding mushrooms. I always thought the most important part of cooking mushrooms was making sure to put in the appropriate amount of liquid. Too little they would burn, too much they would become mushy (also keeping in mind the fact that they release water as they cook down).

Yesterday morning, I returned home from my run with a craving for a good breakfast sandwich. Scanning through the contents of my fridge, I decided on scrambled egg whites with mushrooms and a little shredded cheese on a toasted bagel thin. Delicious!

My first task was to brown the mushrooms. I decided to give Julie and Julia's tip a try and spread the sliced pieces out. Wouldn't you know, it worked! They were very possibly the best mushrooms I have ever cooked. Furthermore, it made for a positively mouthwatering breakfast sandwich.

Friends, there are two morals to this story. One, watching films for pleasure can turn out to be educational; and two, don't crowd the mushrooms.

If you have yet to see this foodie dream masterpiece of a film. Watch the trailer here.