Seared Mushrooms and a Mushroom Melt

To make the Seared Mushrooms:

Place a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium high heat. When the pan is hot, add the oil and heat through until shimmery. Add the mushrooms (you can divide into batches to avoid overcrowding the pan if necessary) and a pinch of salt and use a spoon to distribute the mushrooms evenly in the pan. After you do that, don’t stir the mushrooms for at least 1 minute (unless they start to smell or sound like they’re cooking too quickly.) The goal is to develop a nicely browned surface on the mushrooms.

If you have to cook the mushrooms in batches, just move the previously cooked batch to the perimeter of the pan and add a little more oil before putting in the next batch of mushrooms with a pinch of salt.

When the mushrooms are flecked with brown, toss in the onion and garlic and stir and cook just until fragrant (about 1 minute or less). Then add the white wine or stock to the hot pan and scrape up any brown bits that are stuck to the pan. Add the butter and cook, stirring, just until melted. Remove from the heat and taste for salt. Then add pepper and any additional salt to taste and stir in the green onion slices.

Eat hot or store leftover mushrooms in individual portion sizes in the freezer for up to a month.

To make the Mushroom Melt:

Toss the seared mushrooms and grated cheese together in a small bowl. Set aside.

Melt half of the butter in a heavy-bottomed skillet or griddle over medium heat. Place one piece of the bread on top of the melted butter, pile the mushroom cheese mixture on the bread, then place the remaining piece of bread on top. Let the sandwich cook and toast until the bottom piece of bread is golden brown. Lift the sandwich with a spatula and toss the remaining butter into the pan. Put your hand on top of the sandwich and carefully flip it over before lowering it back into the pan (taking care not to burn your fingers!)

Toast for 1 minute. Then add a splash of water to the pan and cover the pan for another minute to melt the cheese completely. Remove the lid and continue toasting the sandwich until the bottom is a deep golden brown. Transfer the finished sandwich to a cutting board to slice before plating and eating.

Adapted from Kevin at Closet Cooking.