All Things Mushroom

[liuzhou]

 

There doesn't seem to be a dedicated mushroom topic, surely a grave oversight. I did start one a while back about mushrooms in China, but that is a niche interest.

 

So how about a mushroom emporium of favourite recipes, favourite mushrooms, favourite mushroom cookery bookeries, mushroom tales, mushroom tips and trivia?

 

I'll start with this link to a selection of Ottelenghi's mushroom recipes.

 

And a link to my favourite mushroom cookbook. Jane Grigson's Mushroom Feast.

Edited October 21, 2017 by liuzhou (log)

[Anna N]

Damn.  You just cost me $10. The Grigson book is available as a Kindle edition and I love, love, love mushrooms. I am never happy if there are not mushrooms in my refrigerator. 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. But these are not normally available in a middle of the road grocery store. Certainly more varieties are found in the Asian groceries and in the very high-end groceries. 

 

 One of my fondest memories is of field mushrooms collected by an uncle and cooked by my grandmother in milk. I remember nothing else about it but that black juice which I was allowed to sop up with hunks of torn bread.  When portobellos first showed up in the grocery store I thought I had gone to heaven but they are not the same at all.  They resemble the field mushrooms in size only.  I am really looking forward to this topic and will eat up every word of it. 

[rotuts]

good idea

 

I too have the Grigson book

 

Ill have to dust it off.

 

there was a woodsy place very near me where I sued to walk my dog (s )

 

in the fall  there were many mushrooms here and there

 

even what were clearly brown ' button ' mushrooms through out a shady grassy area

 

but Im not trained so did not pick

 

that's one of the many things I wish I were trained to do.

 

several families would defend on the area in the fall and clean the place out.

 

looked pretty tasty to me.

Edited October 21, 2017 by rotuts (log)

[rotuts]

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 

[kayb]

When I was a kid and the only mushrooms available in rural West Tennessee were the sliced ones in a can, I'd badger Mama into buying a can and I'd sit down and eat the whole thing. The first time I bought and sauteed in wine my own white mushrooms from the grocery, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Then I discovered portobellos; mushroom deliciousness x two or three. 

 

I love any kind of mushroom. Buy them often at Aldi and saute them for a side dish, to put over a steak, or to top pizza. I will be eternally grateful to @HungryChris for the marinated mushrooms recipe; when my quart jar gets low, more mushrooms go on the grocery list and go right back in the same brine with a bit of topping-off. I am never without them, and eat them with a sandwich or cheese and crackers for lunch.

 

Confession: I have never yet had a morel. That's on my bucket list. That, and to learn how to identify the "good kind" vs. the "bad kind" in the wild, and forage my own.

 

[Alex]

34 minutes ago, kayb said:

Confession: I have never yet had a morel. That's on my bucket list. That, and to learn how to identify the "good kind" vs. the "bad kind" in the wild, and forage my own.

 

Given that I've lived in Michigan for most of my adult (or at least pretending to be an adult) life, I am extraordinarily fond of morels. For me, simple is better -- cooked gently in some butter, with salt, pepper, perhaps a tiny pinch of thyme, and finished with some reduced cream and bit of chives. It's terrific alongside (or on top of) any substantial protein, including salmon (especially king). The one more complicated recipe that I love is a classic springtime gratin of morels, fiddleheads, and asparagus. (Pete Peterson was the driving force behind the departed and dearly missed Tapawingo, in Ellsworth, Michigan, and the current Alliance, in Traverse City.)

Edited October 21, 2017 by Alex (log)

[IowaDee]

I live in the heart of morel country.  My in-laws owned 160 acres next to us and had some prime hunting ground there. One spring hubby and I hit the jack pot but had no way to haul our bounty home.  It was still cold enough that he was wearing long underwear.  He took them off and tied them shut at the ankles.  We then filled them up with our haul and headed home.  We have had many giggles over that.  A few years later the in-laws sold the farm and moved into town.  The new owners love morels and closed their place to hunting.  Other than that they are wonderful neighbors but damn!

My FIL an an expression for when he thought someone was BSing him.  He said they treated him like a mushroom.  Kept him in the dark and feed him bull shit.

[rotuts]

has anyone  ' home cultivated '  mushrooms

 

in freshly harvested trees ?

 

you can buy ' plugs ' that fit the holes you drill out

 

you add the mushroom-plugs  and then seal.

 

you keep the stack of wood so it gets air , but shade and you keep it moist

 

then :

 

mushrooms !

 

goggling get me this :

 

mushroom plugs

 

http://www.fungi.com/plug-spawn/articles/plug-spawn.html

 

https://mushroommountain.com/t/plug-spawn

 

 

[rotuts]

from the second site :

 

 

I have easy access to fresh logs

 

the logs need to be fresh  so that indigenous fungi are not already Enjoying that Log.

[kayb]

Some farmers from whom I bought a lot of chicken and pork when I lived in southwestern Arkansas also grew mushrooms. They held a seminar every year where people prepped, took home and grew their own mushroom logs. Always thought I ought to do that, and never did.

 

[KennethT]

I can't find it now, but somewhere on my Hydroponic forums I visit, someone advertised an indoor mushroom growing system - supposedly some restaurants in NYC are using them to grow their own mushrooms that they can harvest as needed.

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, rotuts said:

but Im not trained so did not pick

 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.”

[rotuts]

Yep

 

mushroom logs are one of the Soooo Fine 

 

gardening things I didn't get my Dairy-Air  off to do

 

but maybe next year ?

 

not for everybody

 

but Soooo  Fine I think.

[ElsieD]

38 minutes ago, KennethT said:

I can't find it now, but somewhere on my Hydroponic forums I visit, someone advertised an indoor mushroom growing system - supposedly some restaurants in NYC are using them to grow their own mushrooms that they can harvest as needed.

 

My SIL bought one of these indoor mushroom grow logs and was disappointed in the yield.  

[KennethT]

The thing I saw wasn't just a grow log - it was a whole system that looked like a 6 foot high bookshelf - it had a controller than controlled the whole environment - lights, humidity, temperature, etc...

[rotuts]

I think the logs need to be outside

 

as its cooler etc

 

for indoor

 

i can think of 'Srooms

 

but they are not for dinner 

 

just saying

 

 

[Anna N]

8 minutes ago, rotuts said:

 

When I was a kid and the only mushrooms available in rural West Tennessee were the sliced ones in a can, I'd badger Mama into buying a can and I'd sit down and eat the whole thing. The first time I bought and sauteed in wine my own white mushrooms from the grocery, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Then I discovered portobellos; mushroom deliciousness x two or three. 

 

I used to be able to get mushrooms in cans only and I quite enjoyed them.  I still keep a can or two around but now I’ve come to consider them as a different vegetable altogether. Similar to mushrooms but I’m not fooled into believing they are the same. 

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, kayb said:

I will be eternally grateful to @HungryChris for the marinated mushrooms recipe; when my quart jar gets low, more mushrooms go on the grocery list and go right back in the same brine with a bit of topping-off.

Here.

[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 !