Homegrown Mushroom

Yes, I said mushroom, singular.

I decided I wanted to grow my own shrooms, so I bought a shiitake mushroom log from Lost Creek Mushroom Farm a while back. Everywhere I've read says your first crop may be small, but I honestly wasn't expecting this small. After the overnight soak in ice cold water, here's what happened over the course of a few days.

So what did I do with my mushroom?

It was delicious. I can't wait to grow future larger crops.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

I picked up some gorgeous king oyster mushrooms at Mitsuwa the other day - they sat in my fridge while I pondered what to do with them. I had already breaded and fried, and had also sauteed and sprinkled with smoked salt. Hmm, what to do? I looked outside at the rain, and - bingo - soup.

This recipe is almost exactly like my husband's clam chowder, just substituting mushrooms for clams, and chicken broth for clam juice. Chop the shrooms finely, along with some onion and a little bit of celery. Sauté until the onion is translucent and the mushrooms lose most of their liquid. In the meantime, make a roux, then stir in some heavy cream, then some milk and chicken stock. Dump in the mushroom mixture, bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for a while. (Don't forget to stir!) To serve, dust with paprika, sprinkle with parsley (or both), and don't forget the crusty bread.

Grits & Shrooms

Lately I seem to get hooked on one particular food, and stick with it for a while. Last time, it was seafood - ceviche, soft shell crabs, clams & mussels. This time, it's mushrooms.

This go-around, I bought a package of baby portobellos. Then I saw Michelle's post on Thursday Night Smackdown, and I had to make grits & shrooms. I sliced up the mushrooms, and sauteed them in a mix of butter and olive oil. I didn't have sherry (!) or arrowroot, so I used a half-a-splash of brandy, chicken broth, and thickened with cornstarch.

On to the grits, I heated up chicken broth to boiling, then whisked in some cornmeal. Simmer, stir, simmer, stir, adding a little water as necessary. I had no cream, and no goat cheese, and my milk went bad, so I used cotija cheese and butter.

Scoop some grits into a bowl, and top with saucy shrooms. Doesn't look like much, but it was delicious.

I would've liked to sprinkle on some parsley, but the bag in the fridge that I thought was parsley was, in actuality, cilantro. And I wasn't too sure about cilantro in grits, even if they were laced with Mexican cheese.

Grits and mushrooms - who knew? Definitely a keeper, and open to endless variations.

King Oyster Mushrooms Two Ways

I saw these King Oyster mushrooms at the market the other day. Aren't they astounding?

I couldn't make up my mind what I wanted to do with them - so I didn't. One half, I sauteed in butter and olive oil, and sprinkled with smoked salt.

Holy jeebus, these were tasty.

The other half, I egg washed and breaded, and pan-fried in olive oil. Once again, tasty.

Both preparations, since they were so simple, really let the mushrooms' flavor and texture shine through. Meaty, earthy, etc., you know, all those words used to describe mushrooms. Why not just say mushroomy?

Bottom line - if you find these in your market, buy them.

A Mishmash of Stuff I've Cooked

Yes, this is a copout post. But I've got a bunch of pictures that didn't warrant their own post, plus I cooked some stuff and didn't take pictures. So here goes.

Fried cauliflower. I vaguely remember blanching, oven-drying, and deep-frying. Tasty. But not worth doing again.

Kama, or Yellowtail collar. This is so simple, just salt, broil, done. And it looks like a duck.

Stuffed mushrooms. I've made them before. These had sausage, and I think a smoked oyster.

Panko-Parmesan-Parsley Pork Chops from urbanbundle. These were delicious.

I also did le pied de cochon again, but this time with a shank thrown in for more meat. Tasty.

And I made Noble Pig's kapusta, or sauerkraut with pork neck bones and hamhock. Hearty, wonderful Eastern European peasant food.

Oh, and I made a salad out of the 2 smoked chicken leg quarters I bought. I was going to do something all fancy with cranberries and stuff, but Hubby said "make it like you make your tuna salad". So I did. And it was good. (Celery, peperoncini, hot "sport" peppers, parsley, celery leaves, green onion, sumac, black pepper, sansyo, mayo or yogurt)

Stuffed Mushrooms

I've just recently discovered that I don't hate mushrooms. I grew up in a household where one of our mushroom-loving friends used to bring her own shrooms to get-togethers, because my parents wouldn't deliberately purchase that nasty fungus.

I saw some beautiful baby portobellos at Trader Joe's - they looked more like really large crimini, but whatever. They were pretty. Into the basket they went.

















I minced up some veggies, sauteed, added some bread crumbs and cheese, stuffed, and baked. Yum. So yum that I did it again less than a week later. And again last night. But this time I added in some chopped smoked oysters (do you have any idea how hard it is to find smoked oysters that aren't a product of China?). Next time I might try adding some cooked sausage instead of oysters.

















Delicious.

<recipe>

Stuffed Mushrooms

olive oil or butter
6 large crimini (or 'bello) mushrooms, stems disconnected & chopped fine
1 stalk celery, diced fine
1 carrot, diced fine
1 large clove garlic, diced fine
a handful of fine bread crumbs
a handful of grated parmesan (or Gruyere, or pecorino, etc.)
chopped parsley (or other herb)
2 smoked oysters, chopped fine (yes, only 2, they're really potent) (optional)

Heat the oven to 350. Pre-bake the mushrooms caps (no need to wait for the oven to come to temp) until their liquid starts pooling in the caps.

Saute the veggies in your fat of choice until soft. Let cool slightly, then add the bread crumbs, cheese, parsley, and oysters. Add a little more fat to moisten if you'd like, and season with a little salt (depending on the saltiness of your cheese) and pepper.

Stuff the mushroom caps with the mix, and top with a little more grated cheese. Bake until the caps are as soft as you'd like, or your kitchen smells too delicious to wait any longer.

</recipe>