Mushrooms

[Katie Meadow]

Hot topic! I used to be a member of the SF Mycological Society. So fun bringing home a basket of wild mushrooms. Lots of chanterelles close by in the east bay hills. The black ones were extra special. Morels less easy to come by. My enthusiasm waned somewhat when I become super sensitive to poison oak, which seems to grow everywhere Chanterelles do. Gets you out into the woods in lousy weather, that's for sure. Lately I have been enamored of Shitakes. Recently I made Vivian Howard's Crispy Rice w/Leeks and Shitakes.

 

I typically use cremini's for the following:

David Lebovitz's recipe for Farro with Mushrooms and Bacon. Save leftovers for breakfast and top it with an egg (I know you people are legion!) Mushrooms and eggs always seems like a good idea. As a kid I loved mushroom omelettes.

 

Mushroom and barley--- soup or casseroles. I grew up a few blocks from the renown Williams BBQ on the upper west side of NY (sadly, it is no more) and they made the most outstanding mushroom barley casserole; I'm guessing it had chicken broth and chicken fat it. It was my family's first line of defense for take-out, along with their roasted chickens. I've tried for many years to duplicate that casserole. Always good, but never quite the same. Maybe something about the way they cooked their barley or the kind of barley they used.

 

And unexpectedly addictive: Rick Bayless' Mushroom and Corn Quesadillas, which I think I adapted liberally, but you get the idea. Fresh sweet corn is a must, though, and it's even better with home-made corn tortillas. Out-of-the-park knockout if you saute the corn and the mushrooms in duck fat. This seems like a slam-dunk when you think about that yummy fungus that grows on corn. Not even gonna try to spell it just now, but I can hear that wonderful word in my head.

 

@IowaDee that long underwear story is the stuff of legend. He must have been pretty chilly for a few minutes.

[kayb]

8 hours ago, Katie Meadow said:

Hot topic! I used to be a member of the SF Mycological Society. So fun bringing home a basket of wild mushrooms. Lots of chanterelles close by in the east bay hills. The black ones were extra special. Morels less easy to come by. My enthusiasm waned somewhat when I become super sensitive to poison oak, which seems to grow everywhere Chanterelles do. Gets you out into the woods in lousy weather, that's for sure. Lately I have been enamored of Shitakes. Recently I made Vivian Howard's Crispy Rice w/Leeks and Shitakes.

 

I typically use cremini's for the following:

David Lebovitz's recipe for Farro with Mushrooms and Bacon. Save leftovers for breakfast and top it with an egg (I know you people are legion!) Mushrooms and eggs always seems like a good idea. As a kid I loved mushroom omelettes.

 

Mushroom and barley--- soup or casseroles. I grew up a few blocks from the renown Williams BBQ on the upper west side of NY (sadly, it is no more) and they made the most outstanding mushroom barley casserole; I'm guessing it had chicken broth and chicken fat it. It was my family's first line of defense for take-out, along with their roasted chickens. I've tried for many years to duplicate that casserole. Always good, but never quite the same. Maybe something about the way they cooked their barley or the kind of barley they used.

 

And unexpectedly addictive: Rick Bayless' Mushroom and Corn Quesadillas, which I think I adapted liberally, but you get the idea. Fresh sweet corn is a must, though, and it's even better with home-made corn tortillas. Out-of-the-park knockout if you saute the corn and the mushrooms in duck fat. This seems like a slam-dunk when you think about that yummy fungus that grows on corn. Not even gonna try to spell it just now, but I can hear that wonderful word in my head.

 

@IowaDee that long underwear story is the stuff of legend. He must have been pretty chilly for a few minutes.

 

Going to look for the Lebovitz recipe. Sounds like a damn fine idea.

 

As someone who lived in the greater Memphis area for more than half my adult life, I have to chuckle at a "renowned" barbecue restaurant in New York, particularly one that serves a mushroom and barley casserole. Come visit. I'll take you to Payne's or Interstate or Cozy Corner.

 

I, too, loved the long underwear story. When I was a kid, Mama and I used to take off and go swimming, and one day she found a patch of wild scuppernongs (white muscadines). Didn't have a bucket. Was wearing capri pants over her bathing suit (in the early 60s). Stripped them off, knots in the legs, picked them full. Drove home in her bathing suit, and had to change a flat tire along the way.

 

The story is here, at a storytelling hour at a local bar I used to frequent. (I would note I've lost about 70 pounds since then.)

[gfweb]

11 hours ago, rotuts said:

for me , a collection of fresh mushrooms of many types from a good and reliable market

 

cleaned , roughly chopped , sautéed for a bit until reduced in size

 

a decent splash of dry  red or white wine , reduced

 

then heavy cream  , so it wouldn't split , simmered briefly

 

then as a topping for fresh linguine.

 

same wine of course as a Person Beverage.

 

crusty good-crumb bread.

 

Heaven 

 

you forgot thyme and garlic

[MetsFan5]

I'm not a particularly good home cook at all. That said, I love mushrooms. If I'm not eating them from a purchased marinated jar, I dry fry them them until almost all the water is extracted then pour a bit or more of sherry or Marsala wine, let that reduce and add as much butter as I want. simple and great alone or on a baked potato or a steak. Or in scrambled eggs. Or a hash! 

[liuzhou]

17 hours ago, Anna N said:

However, having said that, they are usually creminis and/or portobellos.  We are seeing more varieties of mushrooms now including Shimeji,  shiitake, king mushrooms and occasionally a few other varieties.

 

Funnily enough, my situation is the opposite. I never see creminis or portbellos.

 

This morning I was in the supermarket and they had:

 

 

L-R:  enoki, shimeji, & jade gill mushrooms. Jade gill mushrooms are a variant on shimeji. Ignore the invading greenery!

 

 

White button mushrooms, tea tree mushrooms and king oysters.

 

 

Shiitake and oyster mushrooms.

 

That is a normal selection for most supermarkets. It doesn't include the several dried varieties. Even my local corner shop has at least two or three. The rarest are the white button mushrooms. Here they are very seasonal.

[Anna N]

3 hours ago, liuzhou said:

That is a normal selection for most supermarkets. It doesn't include the several dried varieties. Even my local corner shop has at least two or three. The rarest are the white button mushrooms. Here they are very seasonal.

 I confess that I did perhaps short change some of the middle of the road grocery stores.  Fresh oyster mushrooms are usually available and occasionally I variety pack but it usually contains a little more than oysters, shiitakes  and creminis.  Dried mushrooms in tiny expensive packages are generally available. Costco will occasionally carry fresh chanterelles and they are a wonderful treat. 

 

I used to make the occasional trip up to Peterborough which is north of here and there was often a “mushroom man” at the farmers’ market where you could get quite an assortment of foraged mushrooms. 

 

Jane Grigson’s book on mushrooms is quite enchanting. 

[TicTac]

Love, love....LOVE; mushrooms.

 

Though I must say, I am oddly snobby when it comes to mushrooms.  I do not like buttons nor portabellos, but give me a shitake or an oyster (a porcini or a chantrelle and my wife might begin to grow jealous at my fondness for you!) and you will make a friend in me!

 

I forage for Elm Oyster Mushrooms - a gorgeous fleshy Oyster variety that grows solely on Manitoba Maple trees (making for easy identification).

 

Years ago I met an older Italian gent who parked in front of my house and we got to chatting, long story short he invited me on a hike (literally in the ravine behind my house) and we emerged with 8-10 lbs of mushrooms.

 

Mushrooms are in the category of 'they are best eaten fresh'.  Tons more I see, but none I pick as I lack the knowledge to confidently do so.  Perhaps in time.

 

In terms of prep - I was taught long ago by an amazing chef that mushrooms need to be toasted to bring out their nutty flavour.  So no matter what, firs things first with any shroom - Caramelization !

 

 

 

[curls]

@Anna N thank you for the recipe link! I keep seeing @HungryChris's posts with marinated mushrooms and I want to try them too. I like raw and cooked versions but I don't think I have ever had marinated mushrooms.

 

[Katie Meadow]

15 hours ago, kayb said:

As someone who lived in the greater Memphis area for more than half my adult life, I have to chuckle at a "renowned" barbecue restaurant in New York, particularly one that serves a mushroom and barley casserole. Come visit. I'll take you to Payne's or Interstate or Cozy Corner.

To clarify: It was always called Williams BBQ, but it was no more Southern than Zabars, a few blocks down on Broadway.They never had any pretensions, nor did any of us upper west-side New Yorkers ever confuse what they made with traditional BBQ meats. It was a one-of-a-kind Jewish/Eastern European roast chicken / rotisserie take-out hole in the wall. It was a very long time ago. No spare-ribs, no Texas brisket, no smoke, no hot sauce. But renowned? Yep. 

[rotuts]

@gfweb  

 

interesting points.

 

I can't recall if there was any garlic nor if any thyme involved.

 

I do recall  there was a very hight end chain where I lived when I was back visiting my father where I grew up :

 

Andrinico's

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andronico's

 

it seems to be having Hard Times.

 

but this was 1990 - 2007

 

they had the best fresh produce and a very large collection of fresh mushrooms.

 

' pick your own ' from the bins

 

and no Vibe a la WF'd

 

its dangerous to think one might go back in time and do certain things that one never got to :

 

for me :

 

Espalier trees   ( there was a lace on long island that had them for N.E. with 4 branches each side

 

but for me , being a member of Long Standing at the

 

https://nysaes.cals.cornell.edu

 

it was about Pears  , FR. pears

 

the kind that were small and only fruited every other year ....

 

and having a Mushroom  log system outside.

 

a big one .

 

now I fiddle and faddle  and pouch Return

 

this is not a complaint 

 

 

[kayb]

1 hour ago, Katie Meadow said:

To clarify: It was always called Williams BBQ, but it was no more Southern than Zabars, a few blocks down on Broadway.They never had any pretensions, nor did any of us upper west-side New Yorkers ever confuse what they made with traditional BBQ meats. It was a one-of-a-kind Jewish/Eastern European roast chicken / rotisserie take-out hole in the wall. It was a very long time ago. No spare-ribs, no Texas brisket, no smoke, no hot sauce. But renowned? Yep. 

Actually, mushroom and barley casserole sounds pretty doggoned good.

 

[MelissaH]

On 10/21/2017 at 12:24 PM, Anna N said:

 Like you, I am risk averse especially as far as unknown mushrooms are concerned.  I have a vague recollection, perhaps even a false memory, of neighbours in Derby, England who succumbed to unwisely chosen mushrooms. 

 

“There are old mushroom hunters and bold mushroom hunters, but no old, bold mushroom hunters.”

Every mushroom is edible once.

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

We've been foraging for mushrooms in Colorado for years; long ago we decided that we didn't need to know every mushroom in the forest, just the ones we want to eat. Those are boletus edulis (porcini), chanterelles, oyster, and one or 2 other minor species. However when we went out to restock our supply 2 summers ago we found that drought and insect infestations had destroyed the entire habitat. Miles and miles of dead coniferous trees meant that there was too much sun and not enough water. I'm still working through our stash of porcini (they are best dried and reconstituted, IMO) and frozen chanterelles. I have no idea if the habitat will recover in our lifetimes. Sad, but "así es la vida." I've been led to believe that morels grow best on ground that has burned in the past, so there might be at least something good coming out of the horrible fires in California this summer.

 

As far as I'm concerned, chanterelles and bacon were made for each other. Jane Grigson has a wonderful recipe for chanterelles, bacon and potatoes, and my husband especially loves risotto with bacon and chanterelles.

 

We don't have a story to compare with the long underwear, but some years ago we did come upon a massive quantity of perfect boletus edulis at the entrance to the Wheeler Geologic Area in SW Colorado near Creede. In those days (I don't know if it's still true) you had a 7-mile hike in to the entrance and then another 7 miles out again because the jeep road was often impassable. We always carried old 5-pound onion sacks in our packs in case we came upon mushrooms, so we harvested a lot--and I mean a LOT--of mushrooms that we  had to haul 7 miles to the car. We put as much in our packs as possible and then carried the remainder in onion bags. (This is what's known as "mushroom greed.")

 

Unfortunately the sky looked ominous so we started back before we could really do justice to the quantity of mushrooms available. As the sky got darker and darker we started walking faster and faster across the huge open meadow between the Wheeler and the car, to the point that we were jogging at the end. We made it without further incident, and later found that we'd harvested over 30 pounds. It's rare to come upon an area with that many prime mushrooms that have just flushed a day or 2 before and weren't full of worms, probably caused by cattle grazing. No cattle in the Wheeler, however.

 

This story makes me want to get out in the forest. We have some good ones that show up in the mercado, and we've harvested some agaricus species here that are much better than the button mushrooms you buy in the grocery store, but no porcini or chanterelles yet. Maybe we can train our new puppy?

 

Nancy in Pátzcuaro

 

[andiesenji]

I'm pretty sure I have all of Jan Grigson's books.  Someone gave me her book on French pork back in the late '60s and a few years later I saw the Mushroom book at Brentanos and bought it.  I came across it not long ago and the receipt was still in it - used as a bookmark.

 

I love sautéd chanterelles with caramelized pancetta and the tiny cipollini onions.  

 

I used to order a white truffle about this time of the year and a black truffle in March.  Sadly they are priced out of my range now that I am no longer working.

[dcarch]

I have found many interesting fungi in my garden. Here are some:

The last picture is a puff ball, size of a basket ball.

dcarch

 

Edited October 23, 2017 by dcarch (log)

[liuzhou]

2 hours ago, andiesenji said:

I'm pretty sure I have all of Jan Grigson's books. 

 

Yes I have all her books, too, but the Mushroom Feast is my favourite.

[jmacnaughtan]

Excellent topic.

 

One of the most useful tips I've received for sautéeing mushrooms (girolles in particular) is to blanch them for 10 seconds before throwing them into a very hot pan with no fat.  Wait for all the liquid to flash off, then add the fat.

 

It works well, and means that they neither go flabby, greasy or flooded with water.

[Alex]

54 minutes ago, jmacnaughtan said:

Excellent topic.

 

One of the most useful tips I've received for sautéeing mushrooms (girolles in particular) is to blanch them for 10 seconds before throwing them into a very hot pan with no fat.  Wait for all the liquid to flash off, then add the fat.

 

It works well, and means that they neither go flabby, greasy or flooded with water.

 

Excellent tip. Here's a variation: Crowded Wet Mushrooms

[donk79]

21 hours ago, MelissaH said:

Every mushroom is edible once.

Isn't there a last meal thread around here somewhere?

 

[TicTac]

5 hours ago, jmacnaughtan said:

Excellent topic.

 

One of the most useful tips I've received for sautéeing mushrooms (girolles in particular) is to blanch them for 10 seconds before throwing them into a very hot pan with no fat.  Wait for all the liquid to flash off, then add the fat.

 

It works well, and means that they neither go flabby, greasy or flooded with water.

 

I am not sure I quite grasp the point of this.  If you do not use too much oil, nor overcrowd the pan - what is this going to achieve better than say a high heat searing of one's mushrooms?  Mine are never greasy, flabby or watery....

[Anna N]

11 minutes ago, TicTac said:

 

I am not sure I quite grasp the point of this.  If you do not use too much oil, nor overcrowd the pan - what is this going to achieve better than say a high heat searing of one's mushrooms?  Mine are never greasy, flabby or watery....

 I think there are a lot of variables at play here and that what works for one person and one type (and age) of mushroom may not work so well for another. I shall be very limited in what mushrooms are available to me but I have it in my heart that I will give all these methods a shot and decide what works best for me and the mushrooms that I have on hand. 

[jmacnaughtan]

1 hour ago, TicTac said:

 

I am not sure I quite grasp the point of this.  If you do not use too much oil, nor overcrowd the pan - what is this going to achieve better than say a high heat searing of one's mushrooms?  Mine are never greasy, flabby or watery....

 

@Anna N has a point - the age may make a difference, as does personal taste.  However, I find this works particularly well with girolles.  Sautéeing them normally, even when they're bone dry, releases a tonne of liquid that then just stews them  and leaves them limp.  I get much better results with almost all mushrooms (except ceps and eryngii) by toasting or blanching them before adding fat.  Even with button mushrooms, it makes a positive difference

 

But we're missing the point here - everyone talks about adding oil, when what you really need is butter.

[TicTac]

Toasting before adding fat is fine (I agree, butter is better).  However; if you do not crowd the pan, you do not need to blanch them first.

 

You will, if said pan is hot enough, negate and expelled moisture.

[BeeZee]

I made some stuffed veg with a filling that was probably half mushroom; baked at 400 the mixture got nice and brown and the mushrooms had a terrific chewy texture (the filling had been sauteed until the liquid cooked out). Best of all was the few little bits that fell out onto the bottom of the pan and got really baked, sort of like mushroom jerky. I may try to recreate that with a sheet pan/parchment.

[andiesenji]

On 10/22/2017 at 11:32 AM, rotuts said:

@gfweb  

 

 

its dangerous to think one might go back in time and do certain things that one never got to :

 

for me :

 

Espalier trees   ( there was a lace on long island that had them for N.E. with 4 branches each side

 

but for me , being a member of Long Standing at the

 

https://nysaes.cals.cornell.edu

 

it was about Pears  , FR. pears

 

the kind that were small and only fruited every other year ....

 

and having a Mushroom  log system outside.

 

a big one .

 

now I fiddle and faddle  and pouch Return

 

this is not a complaint 

 

 

 

I visited Cornell back in late 1956 when I was in baking school at Dunwoodie in Minneapolis.  We went by rail, the Great Northern from St.Paul to Chicago and the Erie railroad to Corning because one of our instructors had wangled us a free stay at a resort-like country inn, along with free transport to and from Cornell which was about a half hour drive away.  They were studying bread baking in depth and experimenting with various strains of yeast, optimum temperatures, etc.  

I nearly went back some twenty years later when I attended a conference for glass artists at Corning.  The place where we had stayed in '56 was now a big Raddison hotel. We stayed at the even larger Hilton because the conference group got really great discounts.  

 

I experimented with espaliered fruit trees when I lived down in the Valley and had just under 2 acres.  Apples, 3 varieties as I recall, Pears, I think I had 4 varieties - including the little seckel and forelle pears grafted onto the same rootstock, which produced heavily the 3rd year, Comice and Anjous, red and green. And there was another, name I can't recall.  

I also did apricots, peaches and  we tried some citrus but they did not do well.

The BEST espalier was  two plums, grafted on a 10-year-old rootstock Damson, the two scions were Satsuma and Victoria and both bore amazing amounts of fruit the 4th year.  These were all planted against two concrete block walls, one facing south and one facing west.  

 

I also grew mushrooms for a couple of years.  A couple of my friends, as a joke, gifted me with 4 of the mushroom "kits"  for different types of mushrooms.  One was oyster mushrooms, two were Shiitake and one was Portobellos.  I put them in a spare bathroom that I didn't use.  Blackout curtains.  Kept it humid during the really dry seasons.  

 

Edited October 23, 2017 by andiesenji (log)