Favorite Mushrooms

[Liza]

Hey Maria,

What's this I hear about the morel season this year...?

[Bux]

I've used them the way I used shitakes -- they're good grilled. Also, all mushrooms keep best in a paper bag or open basket in the fridge. This way, rather than get slimy, they dry as they age, sometimes actually improving the flavor -- porcini for instance are terrific dried, as are black trumpets.

I understand this quite well. It's one of the reasons shopping at Gourmet Garage drives me nuts. They keep their mushrooms in the same display as the parsley, herbs and lettuce as if they all need to be kept hydrated. I've dried mushrooms when I've found I've bought more than I need. We always keep brown paper bags around to hold mushrooms when we buy them. I usually cut down large bags so the mushrooms are in one layer in a wide bag that's only an inch or two high and open on top.

[Jason Perlow]

Porcinis rule. Fresh Porcinis. In pasta with tons of garlic and olive oil.

Criminis are a close second.

[cabrales]

Criminis are a close second.

I wonder why criminis appear to be included in NYC restaurant menus relatively infrequently. (I do not know how seasonal they are, etc.)  

[Blue Heron]

A couple other wonderful mushrooms I remembered I love are the Matsutake and the Hedgehog mushrooms.  I discovered the matsutake at the fall mushroom show in Seattle.  Freshly picked, it has an intoxicating perfumy earthy aroma that really made me want to keep sniffing it, ha.  During the show we sampled many varities of cooked wild mushrooms, and that one was truly a favorite.  Unfortunately, they are very rare & hard to find.  We also learned about the hedgehog mushroom at the show, and have subsequently found them while foraging for mushrooms in the late fall.  They are delicious sauteed in butter.  Does anyone else love either of these two?

[Jinmyo]

Oh yessss.

Matsutake are huge, sometimes 6 feet. They are grown extensively in British Columbia but mainly exported to Japan. Very nice dried as well. Often called "pine mushrooms".

Hedge hogs are wonderful. I had some a friend brought from the U.S. a few weeks ago. My local shop says that they'll be available in about a month.

[Liza]

And matsutake are highly prized in Iron Chef land.

Cabrales, I'm surprised by the scarcity of cremini references on NYC menus, as they're readily available at most major suppliers - especially priced-to-move at Manhattan Fruit and Vegetable in Chelsea Market (for me the best source of fresh mushrooms) and most corner markets. Right now, morels are ruling the menus, which is fine with me.

I've also been entranced by the subtlety of enoki and delicacy of oyster mushrooms.

[Jinmyo]

I've been using oyster mushrooms quite a bit lately after passing them by as just around too much.

As for cremini, no cachet. They, like portobello, are just the same old white button mushrooms in a different guise. But I like them. I look for cremini about the size before they can be called portobelleni (heh). Tight caps, no gills. Very important to slice them quite thickly because whatever they might lack in depth of flavour, they have great texture. Almost, as Jason might have meant in his post, a similiar texture to porcini.

Hard to sell cremini as fancy or "wild" mushrooms though.

[Liza]

Tough crowd! I've always been sold on creminis as wild, but will try to resist the urge now. But I must come to portobello's because when marinated with garlic and oil, and grilled, they do yield a meaty, luxurious flavour, and an almost soft texture. Then again, I'm of the "fire=good" religion.

[Jinmyo]

I like portobello's grilled or sauteed, sliced thinly on the bias, with a shoyu wasabi dipping sauce.

D@mn things discolour most everything if you don't skin and gill the buggers.

They're nice grilled and sliced into a tortilla with chevre and spinach too.

But I haven't really been interested in them other than occasionally for about 5 years or so.

Fire is good. Seared is good. Blackened is good.

[Liza]

Thank you, Jinmyo, for making reminding me of their coloration possibilities. D., B Edulis and I were just reminiscing about our first meeting, and I reminded B Edulis that it occured over mushrooms. Tomorrow, B Edulis goes morel hunting and I can only hope that we've been good-enough room-mates to merit the over-flow.

[Jinmyo]

Oh, Liza and B, happy morels. Very many happy morels.

Have you stuffed them? Great with blue cheeses. Or a farce of duck or even pork.

Or just sauteed in butter with scrambled eggs and stacks of toast...

[Liza]

Oh yes, scrambled with eggs is one of my favorites. And now I will go forth and purchase Cabrales (the cheese, not the poster) and Crozier Blue to stuff. I just love them with their spring-time neighbor, asparagus, and as they are being sold aplenty nowadays, might concoct a Boulud-ish tart in praise of all of them.

[Jinmyo]

Pie. Go in peace.

[Liza]

Indeed.

Weather permitting, I shall go in peas.

[Jinmyo]

Pea sprouts soon in Asian markets here. Heh. Great blanched with sauteed or grilled masutake and a bit of chile sauce.

Give peas a chance.

[Blue Heron]

I have a couple of packages of sliced dried boletes from Switzerland.  I was planning to soak them, sautee in butter and spoon over steaks, for lack of knowledge of what to do with them.  Any recommendations on how best utilize these treats?

[Jinmyo]

Aren't boletes=ceps=porcini?

[Sandra Levine]

Yes.

[B Edulis]

Porcini = Cepes = Boletus. Boletus Edulis (my nom de eGullet)  is also known as the King Bolete.

BTW, Cremini, Portobello and Button mushrooms are all Agaricus and were the first mushrooms cultivated in the west. Button mushrooms in Europe were called champigion de Paris, and were celebrated for their clear whiteness and delicious flavor. Agaricus grow all over here in the NY area, most are edible, but a few are toxic (none are deadly).

So if you want to be a mushroom snob, include buttons, but exclude, in my opinion, those pink oysters sometimes seen in stores, for one. The proof is in the flavor and texture!

I'm now heading out to the apple orchards in search of morels (morchella esculenta). If I am successful I will be sure to tease you with pictures of my bounty!

[Blue Heron]

Porcini = Cepes = Boletus. Boletus Edulis (my nom de eGullet)  is also known as the King Bolete.

Thanks for clearing that up.  So, in other words, B Edulis is also the King Porcini      Good luck with the morels today...I'm envious.

[Jim Dixon]

Last I night had some wild oyster mushrooms...dry sauteed for about 10 minutes, then added some olive oil and shallots and cooked another minute or so. Added to a simple omelette with just a bit of Parmigiano...mmmm.

My friend HC is responsible for most our wild mushroom experiences. He has a cabin near Mt Adams (east of Portland about an hour, but on the north or Washington side of the Columbia) and is much better than I am about studying and remembering the botanical details. Last weekend while driving back to town he stopped at a roadside park where he had seen a promising downed log earlier, and he said the mushrooms literally covered one whole side of it.

These kinds of friends are very good to have.

Jim

[Liza]

Indeed, Jim! Hoping Maria posts photos of her bounty - both black and blonde morels of capacious size.

[cabrales]

Cabrales, I'm surprised by the scarcity of cremini references on NYC menus, as they're readily available at most major suppliers - . . . .  Right now, morels are ruling the menus, which is fine with me.

Liza -- Morels are ruling the day in France too. Friday lunch -- Included in a Bresse chicken dish, with ecrevisse and morel sauce at Ducasse's Plaza Athenee. Chunks of morels were mixed with strips of white and dark meat Bresse chicken; this was adorned with an ecrevisse with head and "whiskers" on. This was only one part of a Bresse chicken dish to be later described. That evening -- Another restaurant served morels to me -- like other ingredients there, morels seemed more beautifully prepared. The next day, had lunch at Auberge de L'Ill, where I had veal in morel sauce (so-so) as my main course.  Detailed write-ups to follow on France board.  

I have never sampled blonde morels. How different do they taste from black morels?

[stefanyb]

Boletus Edulis (my nom de eGullet)  

Pardon my French but it should be "nom d'eGullet".  Now that sounds better and pretty cute, I might add.