Clearing in the Haze
I’m taking some very powerful drugs. Thanks to my aging musculature, carrying around Young Master Fussy around Washington D.C. and holding Little Miss Fussy as she threw a fit at my refusal to buy her a marshmallow lollipop I’ve injured my upper back.
Thanks to my doctor, the cocktail du jour is now a combination of muscle relaxants and painkillers
This leaves me with slightly more mobility, bearable levels of discomfort, and a distinct lack of mental clarity. It’s probably better to not blog while impaired. Who knows what I might say? But today was supposed to be an Ask the Profussor, and I was looking forward to it because recently there were a few small misconceptions I wanted to correct.
So given my diminished capacity, I’ll tackle those, and tack on a past post about a simple and delicious technique for cooking mushrooms. After all, as I was raking recently I found a bunch of wild mushrooms growing on my lawn. I know enough not to eat these mushrooms since the ones that are delicious and the ones that can kill you can often look deceptively similar. So unless you are a true mushroom expert, which is unlikely, buy them from a reputable source before executing this fool proof method.
Ok.
Mr. Sunshine: I too prefer provolone on my cheesesteak, especially those with higher quality beef like at Jim’s on South Street. That said, there are a few cheesesteaks that I think work better with the Whiz, like Pat’s on Passyunk Avenue. The difference is that Pat’s is really greasy, and the grease has some magical way of melding with the Whiz to form a beefy cheesy sauce that takes two disgusting things and turns them into something delicious.
llcwine: Of course I had the Italian Pork sandwich at Tony Luke’s Jr’s (broccoli rabe and provolone). The kids had the chicken steak. To be clear, I went to Tony Luke Jr’s on Rittenhouse Square, not the Tony Luke’s by the stadium. We only had a short time in Philly, so I needed to bang out my cappuccino and sandwich needs in one stop. Having had both sandwiches within a 90 day period I fully throw my support to DiNic’s for being the better of the two.
Phairhead: To clarify, the Rubbin’ Butts location I wrote about was the Schenectady outpost of a beloved Cobleskill restaurant. I don’t think I meant to imply they were both in Schenectady county. Rather that from the original location in Cobleskill, it is only a forty minute drive to the new place on upper Union street. I am encouraged by the comments from llcwine and Otis, and am now actually looking forward to trying their Carolina pulled pork.
Everything else I think can wait until next week. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this post about mushrooms. It’s perfect for those who are convinced they can’t cook or who are just starting to get their feet wet in the kitchen.
Mushroom Technique
I’m not into baking, mostly because baking is all about recipes. Sure, I can follow a recipe. My OCD even helps to make me super-precise, which would seem to be a prerequisite for the task.
But recipes work only for that one dish. They are static. Sure, I suppose you could tinker with them. Still, you are just making variations of that same dish.
I prefer to learn techniques. Techniques can be applied broadly and used across dishes. And once you have a handful of techniques down, you can do a lot in the kitchen.
My Italian Goddess of Fussy has a technique for cooking mushrooms that I swear by. And it works for cultivated or wild mushrooms, whole or sliced. I love them on top of a creamy polenta. If you were going to make a mushroom risotto, I’d recommend this approach as well. Even as a simple side dish, these will shine.
Here is roughly how it goes:
1) Heat fat in a wide heavy-bottomed pan large enough to fit the mushrooms. A combination of butter and olive oil is great. You get the good butter flavor plus the higher heat threshold of the oil.
2) Put the mushrooms in the fat over high heat until they absorb all the fat. Keep stirring them around until they start to stick.
3) Generously salt and pepper the fungus, and watch them start to shed their moisture. The scientists out there can help explain why this happens. I knew once upon a time.
4) I then throw a lid on the pan, put the burner on low, and let those babies sweat down. I’ll just let them sit there while I do other things. They will wait, but five minutes is sufficient if you are in a rush.
5) Take off the lid, turn the burner back up to high, and boil off the water, letting the mushrooms suck up flavor. Keep cooking until all the moisture is gone. This is not a sauce—we want that flavor to get back into the mushrooms.
6) Done.
This is a bit different than the book suggests. It really just makes it idiot-proof by taking the garlic out of the beginning of the recipe. You can always toss the mushrooms with a persillade if you are into the garlic thing. Marcella would probably kick me in my knees for tinkering with this process and moving it from Italy to France. But they are both food-obsessed Mediterranean countries. Let’s not split hairs here.
Someone once described these mushrooms as custardy. They end up with a silky texture, and an intense flavor. The hardest part of the recipe is preparing the mushrooms to go in the pan.
I mentioned OCD, so I like to run mine under running water, making a vain attempt at getting all the dirt off. Yes, there are people who will say I am ruining my mushrooms by washing them. But running a damp cloth over the caps and stems just doesn’t do it for me.
Certainly when you cook them as described above, they do not taste ruined.
FUSSYlittleBLOG 
There is no such thing as Tony Luke Jr’s the place you are talking about is called Tony jr’s and is in no way associated with Tony Lukes it is not the same food it has nothing what so ever to do with Tony Lukes you had a pork sandwich from a placed called Tony jr’s you did not have a Tony Lukes roast pork Sandwich
Tony Luke Jr
OMG! He’s right! I have no idea how I got this wrong, except that it seems to be a relatively common misconception. I feel so misled. No wonder it wasn’t better. Next time I’ll have to make a pilgrimage out to the place I thought I had been going.
This will be corrected above shortly.
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Update: I know how I got this wrong. That location did indeed used to be Tony Luke Jr’s, but now it just Tony Jr’s. Maybe I’ll get to the bottom of this, but it seems like the good people of Philadelphia have another Bookbinder’s fiasco on their hands.
Thank you Daniel, unfortunately it is a common misconception I appreciate you spreading the word to help clear that up it is greatly appreciated and for the record I think DiNics makes a great roast pork sandwich I’ve always said whether it’s a cheese steak or a roast pork it doesn’t matter whether it’s Tony Luke’s or DiNics or any of the other great places to eat in Philly. just that you enjoy Philly and the great sandwiches the city has to offer
Tony Luke Jr
Daniel, that explains why you liked DiNic’s better…on your next venture to Philly, head over to Tony Luke’s by the stadium, get a roast pork, with rabe and provolone, and then see if you still prefer DiNic’s.