So, I was just washing the closed cup mushrooms....

[Klaw]

... when I thought about how I don't like the stalks and can't bring myself to use them.

I always pop them out and just use the cups. I'm not very adventurous with mushrooms anyway.

Am I a freak?

And discuss....

[expatinengland]

do not wash and do not peel

they are sterile

the stems are fine...cook them, and I bet you won't be able to tell the difference in taste then

[Klaw]

Great idea Hassled! DD (3.1) just LOVES to hinder help

I bought some more (quite big) mushrooms today as I didn't think I had enough to put in with the chicken casserole, but I did, so the new ones will possibly be baked tomorrow as dp has dumped a roasting chicken in the freezer. So thanks for that tip too EffiePerine

[Hassled]

As an aside, I can tell you that chopping mushrooms is a great job for small children with a blunt (playdough-esque) knife - keeps them occupied for hours. Cooking the mushrooms afterwards obviously optional.

[EffiePerine]

try baking them whole with a little olive oil and thyme

mmmm

[Klaw]

you want to wait for Royal Mail to get around to delivering? They'd have shrivelled up!

No, in my healthy and holistic frame of mind I'm trying not to waste, hence outing myself on MN as a freakish mushroom murderer. Will eat the stalks,

will eat the stalks

will cook the stalks

will eat whole mushroom

might even grow some...

thanks everyone for your thoughts and support

[TheMuppetMuggle]

nope don't rinse just peel although don't use the stalks, my P or father eats them if he's round,

[Smithagain]

Am sure "healthy and holistic" people ought to eat the whole thing But then I think I actually prefer the stalk. Maybe you should send me them

[EffiePerine]

(ps if you google 'mushroom growing kits' you get some very interesting links)

[EffiePerine]

they are really easy to grow, but you have to like mushrooms because you will get a lot

[OverMyDeadBody]

desperatehousewife I saw someone do that with broccoli once!.

[OverMyDeadBody]

There is an Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) which is the level of pesticides deemed to be safe to consume every single day of one's life, and this is arrived at after extensive research and studies. The actual dose is calculated from information gathered from the most sensitive endpoint in the most sensitive species. The elvel of safety found in these tests is usually then reduced a hundredfold to give the ADI in food.

Of course, just because this is the regulation, doesn't mean it is necessarily strictly adhered to by farmers, but then the same could be said for organic food.

[desperatehousewifetoo]

Dh of a friend of mine removes all the stalks from mushrooms in the supermarket before he buys them. Says there is no point paying for something he wont be eating

[BigBadMousey]

Grow your own! Tis fun and probably quite cost effective these days.

[Klaw]

You sure, OMDB?

You see, I'm trying to be as healthy and holistic as I can when it comes to what we put in and on our bodies, now that I'm an old fart getting older and wiser....

It will be great not to have to wash the mushies!

[OverMyDeadBody]

Klaw the MRL for pesticides is something like one hundredth of the amount that would cause any harm to humans, so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

[oggsfrog]

Noooo don't rinse either. Just brush of any bits with your fingers or a brush (dry)

[Klaw]

oh feck, a quick google found this. So if I've not to wash mushrooms I'll have to buy organic. I try to buy as much orgnic as I can but in this day and age of rising costs I have to look after the purse strings too....

oh what's a girl to do?!!!

[Klaw]

at so many posts already!!

well, the first step to recovery is to admit...

right, will try to leave the stalks and to just rinse rather than wash.

I s'pose I wash and take off any skin that comes away cos I'm so wary of pesticides. Do they not use pesticides in mushroom farming?

[wheresthehamster]

Ooooooooh! I love the stalks!

Favourite late night snack - fried mushrooms on toast. I eat all the caps first and leave the stalks to savour with the soggy toast. Heaven!

[OverMyDeadBody]

I knew it!

Lol at mushroom murderer

[itati]

I chop off a bit of the end of the stalk and leave whole.

[RubberDuck]

Ah ha ... according to this:

"Never peel cultivated mushrooms or remove their stalks. The whole mushroom is edible and the skin contains nutrients and flavour. The mushroom is a single structure which is damaged if the stalk is pulled out. If you like stuffed mushrooms, trim the stalk back slightly, then mould the stuffing around the stalk, using it as a firm support."

So there you go, don't peel, don't remove the stalk. YOU'RE DAMAGING THE POOR LITTLE THINGS YOU MUSHROOM MURDERER!

[itati]

Don't wash mushrooms!
Makes them yukky. Get this

[RubberDuck]

(oh, and always use the stalks)

[RubberDuck]

Heh, I was always taught in home ec NOT to peel them as you lose the goodness in the skin, or something. I remember one girl being humiliated for peeling her shrooms and remember her sobbing "b.b.but that's what my m.m.mother always does".

So which is right?