One of the food waste issues I regularly face is bags of mushrooms forgotten in the back of the fridge. To avoid that, now I sauté them as soon as I bring them home and store them in fridge (or even) freezer for when I need to top a pizza, liven up an omelet, stir into a sauce or save me from the 4 p.m. hangries. As mushrooms have all kinds of textures, I add stronger-textured ones to the pan first and delicate ones last. I implore you, resist the urge to fiddle with the ’shrooms until they’ve had ample time to caramelize on one side. Sit on your hands, if you have to – you’ll be happy you did.

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 pound shiitakes, sliced
1/4 pound trumpet mushrooms, sliced
1/4 pound long-stem, brown-capped mushrooms like piopino or nameko, stems separated from caps, and trimmed
1/4 pound oyster mushrooms, stems separated from caps
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
Kosher salt
Black pepper

In a large sauté pan over medium high heat, melt 1 tablespoon butter into 1 tablespoon oil. When the butter foams, add the shiitake mushrooms, stir to coat and push to one side of the pan. Place the trumpet mushrooms in single layer into the pan on the other side. Let these mushrooms cook undisturbed until they are nicely browned on one side, about 4 minutes. Push them to one side of the pan.
Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon butter to the open side of the pan. When the butter foams, add the long-stemmed, brown-capped mushrooms to the pan and stir to coat. Push them to a corner and place the oyster mushrooms in single layer onto the empty space in the pan. Let these mushrooms cook undisturbed until they are nicely browned on one side, about 2 minutes. Stir all of the mushrooms together, sprinkle with thyme. Cook 1 minute more. Season with salt and pepper. Cool to room temperature before storing in the refrigerator for 5 days or the freezer for up to a month.

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