Mushrooms are delicious, but there are a few things you ought to know:

1. Always keep them dry. If you notice any dirt on the mushrooms, use a slightly damp paper towel to brush it off. Don’t submerge them in water or rinse them. Mushrooms act like a sponge so water will be absorbed, which causes the final cooked mushrooms to be squeaky instead of flavorful and browned.

2. Cut or tear them to a similar size. This applies to most things when cooking. If you are using a variety of mushrooms, cut — or if they are more fragile — tear the mushrooms so that they are all a similar size.

Don’t crowd mushrooms in the pan. If you pile raw mushrooms up on top of each other in a pan, they will steam. If instead, you spread them out so that they are only just touching one another, they will brown and crisp around the edges. If you have ever made oven-roasted fries or tried to crisp vegetables in the oven, you’ll need to apply the same thinking. An example of this is our oven-roasted squash. We use two sheet pans for roasting, so the squash pieces don’t touch one another. This way they caramelize and brown instead of steam.

Salt mushrooms at the end of cooking. I know this seems odd, but mushrooms are one of the only things I salt towards the end of cooking. Salt brings out moisture, which in the case of mushrooms, prevents them from browning in the pan.

Storage