So I am making a caramelized pearl onion and mushroom sauce. I like to use a teaspoon of dried porcini powder for a nice rich mushroom taste. I also use a few big handfuls of fresh crimini mushrooms for nice meaty mushroom texture.

The criminis I picked up were filthy.

I use no water when cleaning mushrooms because they are like little sponges. They soak up all the water and lose their nice texture and do not saute well anymore.

So, to get them clean I use a little brush and carefully brush all the dirt off. It’s that simple.

They make little mushroom shaped brushes for this. I recomend using a pastry brush. To avoid overflow in my gadget drawer, I try not to buy things I don’t need. It looks like a 1″ wide paint brush. It’s great for many other tasks around the kitchen too.