Saturday, October 17, 2015

A Load of Shitakes


John came into the kitchen Thursday with a bucket full of shitake mushrooms. A log that had been inoculated about five years ago and had done Nothing in all this time had suddenly produced this amazing flush. They were half covered in wet leaves and dirt so had to be washed a bit -- not a terrific thing to do to a mushroom but, in this case, necessary -- and spread out to dry.


I decided to prepare them for freezing by sauteing slices in butter with a bit of chopped garlic and a sprinkling of salt.


It took seven different batches to saute all the 'shrooms and the smell was heavenly!


We were having London Broil for supper so I saved the last pan full of mushrooms to go with that.


The rest were vacuumed sealed to enliven some winter meals.



Cream of mushroom soup, mushroom and barley soup, mushroom stroganoff, mushroom pizza . . . suggestions, anyone?

8 comments:

Thérèse said...

Pasta and cream with Shitakes. Enjoy.

Martin said...

I see what you mean about the quantity. Mushroom left in the freezer?

Anvilcloud said...

Yum.

Vicki Lane said...

Oh, Martin. Sooner or later amanita more room.

Merisi said...

What a pleasant surprise, what bounty! :-)

I remember when you wrote about inoculating the tree trunks.

NCmountainwoman said...

Salt and pepper two 10-oz rib eyes and brown in 2 TBSP oil (med-high) 3 minutes per side. Transfer steaks to plate and cover with foil.

Add 1 TBSP butter to pan and saute 6-8 oz sliced shiitake mushrooms and one thinly sliced shallot for about 2 minutes.

Add 3/4 cup Merlot and 1 TBSP chopped fresh thyme. Scrape to de-glaze pan and boil until wine reduced by half.
Remove from heat and whisk in 2 TBSP butter, 1 TBSP at a time. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste and pour over steaks.

I recommend using a good Merlot so you can drink it along with the steaks.

Vicki Lane said...

That sounds excellent, NCMtnWoman!

Ms. A said...

I'm not a mushroom person, but the rest of my family sure is!