My number one “ick” is a picky eater. Don’t worry - if you’re a picky eater, we can still be friends, but I could never date someone with a longer list of what they don’t eat than do. I just love food too much.

My husband is a very easy eater. He’ll try anything from grasshoppers in Mexico to frog legs in France and everything in between. Yet, when we started dating, he was very uneasy about mushrooms. “It’s a texture thing,” he’d say, sliding the mushrooms found in my chicken marsala around his plate with a fork. Sure, he’d eat them eventually, but he was definitively not a fan. Matt is also very stubborn, and he got sick of his own pickiness when it came to mushrooms. About a year into dating, he began forcing himself to eat mushrooms until he began to like them. A few years later, he is thoroughly obsessed with funghi of all kinds: shitake, lion’s mane, portobello, cremini…the list goes on.

Fortunately, mushrooms are known to be a superfood packed with antioxidants and vitamins. One article we found purported that eating mushrooms once a week can add years to your life (but don’t quote me on it). Needless to say, I’m happy to indulge his new obsession, and we cook mushrooms several times a week.

Mushrooms are a staple in Northern Italian gastronomic culture, particularly in the fall around Tuscany, Piemonte, and Umbria. My go-to preparation is probably more French than Italian, perhaps a fusion of the two cultures, but it’s easy and delicious (so who cares?). I could have also advertised this dish as decently healthy until my recipe changed after a trip to France this fall. We ate lunch in a classic Parisian food hall and were seated next to a couple from Geneva, Switzerland. The wife was originally from Italy and, naturally, a foodie. She and I began chatting away and at one point swapped cooking methods. I told her I love to cook my mushrooms with cognac and she said mushrooms are divine with - contented sigh - “un po’ di panna” (a bit of cream). I’ve since added cream to my mushrooms and haven’t looked back.

Sautéed Mushrooms with Parsley

Ingredients:

• 10 oz mushrooms, cleaned and sliced (I typically use white or cremini)

• 1/4 cup cognac

• 2 tbsp unsalted butter

• 1/4 tsp kosher salt

• Black pepper

• Nutmeg

• Heavy cream

• 1 tbsp chopped Italian parsley

Directions:

Bring a saute pan to medium-high heat. Once hot, add mushroom slices, seasoning with salt, cracked pepper, and a dash of nutmeg. Cook for about 10 minutes or until naturally-occurring liquid has evaporated. This prevents the mushrooms from becoming rubbery.

Raise the heat to high and add cognac, stirring to release anything stuck to the pan. Cook about 3 minutes or until evaporated.

Lower the heat to medium-low and add butter, stirring when melted. Cook for 10 more minutes.

When mushrooms have softened, adjust seasoning if necessary and add a splash of cream. Stir until absorbed.

Remove to a plate and garnish with parsley.

Serves 2.