Mana Mushrooms

My goodness, yes! Please put the mushrooms in a brown paper bag, on a lower shelf (not the crisper) in your refrigerator. Fresh mushrooms should keep for about a week, stored in this way. The condenser keeps the environment dry and mushrooms are mostly water, so you may want to add a moist paper towel to the bag in the event that you don't use them in the first day or two of getting them.

This post was prompted by one of the most frequently asked questions I get at the farmers market where I work with a cultivator two days each week: http://www.rivervalleykitchens.com
Look for more about them in the links section.

Another popular question is, "How should I wash them?" Although there are many ways to prepare myriad varieties of mushrooms, my general principle is not to buy mushrooms I would need to wash. They should be clean to begin with. Granted, agaric mushrooms are grown on substrate which is part composted manure, but then again, I tend to steer away from agarics, save portabellas, which I prepare on the grill, where they see extended periods of high heat (~4 minutes on each side at 400+F) which ought to kill any lingering bacteria.
You can go at your mushrooms with a brush, if you wish -- sometimes I use a pastry brush since I don't have a mushroom brush, here. If you really can't help yourself, but you muster enough self-restraint to not wash them (which will make them slimy when cooked), dampen a towel and rub each one fastidiously... Not really, but if you're doing that, you'll probably be meticulous, now, won't you?

Just a quick one for now :)
CPF&A