Drizzle some olive oil on oyster mushrooms and lightly grill. Slice and use as a pizza topping. We make a lot of pizza on our outdoor grill, and these are a great topping.
Yes, also buy these but don’t see them often in my usual shops.
-Al
Oh and a fantastic one, lobster mushroom, which isn’t really a mushroom anymore because it has been infected by a parasitic fungus.
But it has this amazing saffron like color and flavor. Super good. Sometimes you see them alongside regular mushrooms at farmers markets.
Morels are my outright favorite, but can be tricky to cook. Cut off hard bottoms of stem, and then cut open to make sure there are no little worms and also to remove silt. If possible avoid wetting, use only a brush. Cut into length-wise strips, approximately 4 per mushroom. Sautee in an ample mixture of oil and butter in skillet. Eventually they should throw off their moisture and after this cooks down, they are done. At this last stage, it can be good to add in some very finely diced shallots, which will cook quickly; if you do them first, the morels will absorb their flavor, which you don’t want. Serve on toasts or on pasta, cream can be added in at the end as well for a sauce. Chanterelles are also good prepared this way; fresh porcini can be wonderful, but very delicate flavor, unlike the dried ones.
matsutake, porcini, morel, black trumpet, yellowfeet, hedgehogs, chanterelles, coral mushrooms are all first rate.
Yellowfeet should be simply dry sauteed in butter. Morels and chanterelles work well with cream. Fresh porcini caps roasted with olive oil and S+P are fantastic. Matsutake are great in soup as Jay mentions, but also are amazing simply sauteed in butter. I usually do black trumpets in a sauce with stock + red wine or vinegar. Hedgehogs and corals are also very good simply sauteed.
I went morel foraging a couple of days ago, nothing. It rained all day yesterday and cool today then warm tomorrow. If they are going to pop up it will be soon.
Juan brought these back from China. Anyone have suggestions on how to prepare them?
Thanks Lee! I had no idea you could saute them.
Soak in boiling water for 20-30 minutes. Rinse and trim off the tough part of each “ear” where it attaches to the tree. I like adding them, shredded, to stir fries. They remain crunchy after rehydrating them. I know there are recipes out there for salads, etc, but they don’t have a lot of flavor on their own, and I prefer using them for textural contrast with other ingredients
The face melter Dark Star teases sprinkled throughout the second night were great fun, weren’t they? That one and RFK were the highlights of the tour for me.
6/17/91 remains one of the best shows I saw live for the sheer number of times we freaked and were like, “wait, what the hell is going here?” By 90s standards, it’s unparalleled for it’s quirkiness.
Only-ever- Eyes show opener. Dark Star teases in the first set. Raucous Saint w/out Sailor, achy China Doll into an untethered PITB reprise…
Ah, those were the days.
Sorry for the thread drift.
Just ordered for Easter from Earthy Delights;
MFM301 Fresh Western Dark Morel Mushrooms - per lb 1
MFM306 Fresh Midwest Blonde Morel Mushrooms - per lb 1
CHS108 Sottocenere Truffle Cheese - per lb 1
From where, if you don’t mind? We get some at out farmer’s market. When I had the grocery store we sold quite a bit in the Spring. But they are hard to find.
JD
Fresh Oregon “natural” morels are here!
These are the morel mushrooms that many morel lovers know best. Dark “natural” morels have a deeper, more intense morel flavor than blonde morels and are preferred by many morel lovers. It’s that unmistakable untamed morel taste that makes it the most sought after wild mushroom in the world.
I picked up some king oysters this morning. I’ve never had them before. What are some ideas for preparation?
They are the toughest to cook. Slice 1/4” thick cross hatch each side do a 3-4 minute braise in stock, dry, then some type of soy glaze and grill them.
Porcini and morels, but I love all mushrooms.
I ended up slicing them up into medallions. I put them in the stock I used to make mushroom and bacon risotto. Then I seared them in some butter and olive oil. They were ok. I didn’t super love the texture. Maybe I needed to let them cook in the broth longer?
I saute and use them in pan sauces. They aren’t strongly flavored, more umami and textural contrast. They are easy to cultivate and keep well (for mushrooms).
-Al
The best - porcini, morel, chanterelle. But love em all and we use oyster myshrooms most frequently. Broiled, they come out with an amazing semi-crisp texture and are Unami bombs.
Black trumpets, aka black chanterelles, are also pretty good. They can be a bitch to clean, though.
-Al