PREPARING PORTOBELLOS

Wipe the caps clean with a damp cloth. Turn over and gently remove the stem.

With a small spoon, carefully scrape out the gills. You can leave them in, but they dye any juices coming out of the mushrooms black.

Lightly score the curved side of the cap in a cross-hatch pattern if using whole, and you’re done.

These mushrooms will exude a lot of water when cooked and shrink considerably.

Because of this, I count on 1/2 lb (226 g) or 2 medium mushrooms per person if serving as a main course.

All of the recipes here used mushrooms that were 4 pieces to the pound.