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...
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Sulfur Shelf Mushroom aka Chicken of the Woods |
to something that actually looks like food? More importantly, to something that
tastes good?
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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.
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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.
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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.
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