Sulfur Shelf Doner, a Family Meal

So we've been mushroom hunting.  We have found a lot of mushrooms, tried them (no ill effects), and preserved them.  Now what?  How do you go from picking something out of the woods that looks like this...

Sulfur Shelf Mushroom aka Chicken of the Woods

to something that actually looks like food?  More importantly, to something that tastes good?  

Sauteing mushrooms with carrot, onion and garlic

Here's how I prepared this evening's meal using a portion of the above sulfur shelf mushroom. To a large cast iron skillet I added olive oil, chopped red onion and chopped carrot.  It cooked until the onions were translucent at which point I added the previously sauteed and frozen mushrooms (Joe did that the other day).  Once the mushrooms were warm I added chopped fresh brussel sprouts, about 1 tablespoon of curry powder and a little salt.

Frying flatbread

 While the mushroom mixture sizzled on one side of the stove-top, flatbread was cooking on the other.  For the flatbread, I added 1 cup of flour, 1/2 tablespoon yeast, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 2 cups of flour to the food processor (with dough attachment).  I added more flour slowly until the correct dough consistency was reached (the dough should be stretchy and not sticky; it will form a ball in the food processor).  I pinched off a golf ball-sized piece of dough and placed it on a cast iron tortilla skillet.  If you are lucky enough to have one of these beauties it is a wonderful way to make flatbread.  Any frying pan will work though.  I used a mini rolling pin to flatten the dough but a spatula could be used to press it flat.  Press it thin and cook one at a time.  I flipped the bread to cook evenly and kept the finished ones warm in the oven set to 200 degrees F.  It's kind of like a huge pancake.   

Flatbread sandwich made with wild-foraged mushroom

The kids, Joe and I topped our flatbread with the mushroom filling and rolled it like a doner or taco.  It took us a few bites to realize we were missing a sauce.  So we spooned some homemade plain yogurt over the mushrooms.  Perfect.

A continual mealtime activity for the kids is to name each part of the meal and tell where it came from.  Tonight was no exception.

Dinner was amazing.  It's a good feeling to cook something new that everyone likes.  It's a great feeling when that meal involves something we all worked for, foraged for in the woods.  Dinner was more than a good meal; it was the enjoyment of our labor, a reminiscence of a beautiful autumn day spent hiking in the woods together.  More evening should be shared this way.