Mushrooms, beef, long cooking and bitterness
I tried two long-cooking beef dishes starring mushrooms, an ossobuco of veal and beef breast. The directions went by basically cooking the ossobuco (after cutting the junctions) or the beef breast cubes in vegetable stock, not submerged, for some hours until tender.
Then I was supposed to add mushrooms and cook for another while. Champignon in the case of ossobuco and girolle in the case of the beef breast stew.
They did hold their shape after at least an hour more, but the resulting dish was in both cases bitter. How can this be related to the mushrooms?
I can't identify other possible causes for this. Both dishes included also a splash of wine, but in both cases, it had not turned into vinegar. The stew did contain a bit of rosemary but dry (and the ossobuco was way bitter anyway).
The cooking vessel was a steel pan for the ossobuco and a cast iron pot for the stew.
Best Answer
Ooooh! I would not recommend using cast iron for slow cooking or long cooking of any kind. Especially if any sort of acidity is introduced. That bitter taste? That straight up might be the taste of the pan corroding. Cast iron is great for fast frying meats, sauteing vegetables, but it is not recommended that you make anything that has much liquid, and definitely avoid acidic foods. This is why it is always important to wash and dry your cast iron as soon as you are finished cooking in it - to avoid rusting and peeling.
Additionally.... I would try sauteeing your fresh mushrooms first in a bit of butter, over high heat. you want to sear them. Then add them to your soup :) the full umami (salty) flavor should come out nicely!
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Why does my beef stew taste bitter?
It's the tomato paste. Many brands of tomato paste can have a bitter, almost metallic flavor if it isn't fried off first. I don't use it in crock pot recipes for that very reason unless I saute it in some oil for a minute before adding it. You can add some sugar but that doesn't counteract the bitterness.How do you take the bitterness out of mushroom soup?
Fats and sweetness can help smooth the bitter corners of a dish, just like they make coffee taste less bitter. So add a spoonful of sugar, cream or butter to tame that bitterness.How do you stop bitterness when cooking?
Sweetness: From sugar, honey, fruits or otherwise, sweetness will counteract bitter and sour flavours. It can also be used to cut down the heat of a particularly spicy meal. Saltiness: Salt plays two very important roles in flavouring a dish. Firstly, it balances against bitterness.How do you fix bitter beef stock?
Combine small amounts of an oil or fat such as olive oil or butter into your soup. These help cover up bitter flavors by coating the tongue, and they add a comforting and flavorful taste to your soup. If the previous use of salt or sugar has fixed your soup, you do not need to add fat.The Biggest Mistakes Everyone Makes When Cooking Mushrooms
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