What the hell am I doing eating wild mushrooms? 

Well, since we put in the garden, we’ve composted it using ‘mushroom compost’ – it’s only $3 a bag from the markets – it’s the spent growing medium that’s used to grow mushrooms in. Once the mushroom production slows down they get rid of it and sell it to gardeners as a great soil conditioner. It’s moist and rich – great for the garden.

But, a great side-effect of this type of compost is that there are a number of mushroom spores still in the mix – waiting for that perfect environment to develop. They pop up literally overnight and are ready very quickly. When they first came up in the garden, I thought they were cool, but never contemplated eating them. THAT IS CRAZY TALK.

But, Darren was very interested and started to do some investigating. Amazingly, we have a mushroom  book that shows you the “POISON! DON’T EAT ME” mushrooms and the “I’m ok – you can eat me” ones. For every safe mushroom in the world there is a poisonous mushroom that looks almost identical to it.

WE STUDIED EVERY MUSHROOM IN THAT BOOK. TWICE.  There are a few mushrooms that look very similar to the edible field mushrooms and we checked and tested each one (the smell, the look, the colour change when squeezed etc). Each mushroom that has appeared in our garden we have done the same tests and referred back to that book.

I would happily like to announce we are still alive. Hurrah!

BUT I DO NOT recommend doing this without the proper guides.

But, if you do - you will be rewarded highly by the great, intense mushroomy flavour. Because mushrooms are basically a sponge, they take on so much more flavour when grown in a garden than when grown commercially. And surprisingly, when we had one pop up at the base of our rosemary – it had a hint of rosemary flavour!

An open letter to commercial mushroom growers: Start adding herbs and flavours to your growing medium – see what it does to the mushrooms!

They only grow for a very short time, and you’re never guarenteed them: They’re Lucky Mushrooms.

Ingredients

Penne pasta, cooked til al dente

Grape Tomatoes, cut in half

Zucchini, chopped

Carrot, sliced very thinly with a bean peeler

Spinach leaves, chopped

ANYTHING else you have in your fridge

A Porterhouse steak, cooked to your liking, rested then sliced thinly

Garlic

Handfuls of fresh Mediterranian herbs (Basil, Oregano, Parsley, Marjoram etc), chopped

Salt and Pepper

A slurp of balsamic

Method

1. Chop all those vegies

2. After you cook the steak, in the same pan, fry off the zucchini until brown, then chuck it in with the warm pasta, then the tomatoes, then the mushrooms.

3.Put everything else in with the pasta in a large pot and heat for a few minutes until warmed through and the spinach is wilted.

I didn’t have any pate for the wellington, so I thought this mix would work instead - it sure did! It was so flavoursome and smooth.

Ingredients – Makes 2

1 large portobello mushroom, finely diced
1/2 brown onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic
a sprig of Thyme
handful almonds
salt and pepper

2 sheets of Puff Pastry

2 quite small beef rump steaks (less than 100g each)  – preferably organic

Method

1. Add a little butter or oil to a pan and add the onions and garlic. Cook on a medium-low heat until caramelised and brown. Add the mushrooms and cook until they sweat and most moisture evaporates.
2. In a food processor, or with stick blender, buzz the almonds until they become almond meal. Buzz it for a minute longer until it starts to get sticky (the oils are starting to be released)
3. Add the sticky almond meal to the pan, with about a 1 tbsp of water, salt and pepper, stir until it turns into a smooth paste then turn off the heat. Set it aside to cool.

4. Brush the steaks with a little oil and season.
5. In a very hot pan sear every side of the steaks, quite quickly – you don’t want to start cooking it. Just sealing the edges.  Take off the heat to rest.
6. Take the puff pastry sheet, cut out squares from each corner (like in that fuzzy out of focus photo down there)

7. smear the puff pastry with the mushroom mixture, top it with a steak then fold the edges of the pastry to seal.
8. Brush the whole top with egg wash.

9. Bake in the oven  at 180 degrees until the pastry is puffed and golden.

COMPETITION REMINDER!! We have a mixed case of 24 bottles of Apple and Pear Cider to give away from Punt Road Wines. To enter, all you have to do is write a comment on ANY post on iatebrisbane and add your suburb name in the comment. Open to Brisbane (and surrounds) entrants only (could you imagine the international shipping fees on a case of cider?!). Check out the details and the tricky little fine print here.

So why do we use cutlery anyway?  It started off with the knife of course, slicing off chunks of food, stabbing them with the pointy end and shoving it in your gob. Then came the spoon – for all those not quite pick-up-able, not quite slurpable foods (Porridgefor instance). Then along came the fork. Once this happened, tableware became all rather fancy and then ‘the rules’ kicked in. I was speaking with a group of bloggers recently and Ms Strayed From The Table mentioned her partner does not enjoy going to upmarket restaurants because he simply doesn’t know what to do. I can understand this as some restaurants can be quite daunting. Yes, it is gratifying to experience lavish food and the traditions and rituals that surround it, but sometimes its just as pleasurable to enjoy simple food, eaten simply.

Ingredients

Ridiculous amounts of veges – cut up fairly small. Try: Eggplant, zucchini, capsicum, potato, sweet potato, beetroot, turnip, parsnip, carrot, mushrooms, swede, red onion, etc

Cloves of Garlic – as much as you want

Dukkah  - I use the Splendid Blends one from the Jan Power’s Markets in Brisbane. (3352 6855), or make your own with Sesame seeds, coriander seeds, hazelnuts, chick peas, cumin seeds, mint and salt and roast it all up.

Lamb backstrap or any red meat, Free-range preferably - Or leave this out completely

Cherry Tomatoes

Chopped Nuts (I used Chestnuts, but use whatever you have handy)

Fresh Rosemary sprig (Catherine was lovely and gave some to me from her garden. I’ve kept 4 sprigs of it in a glass of water on my window sill. They’ve started to grow roots – I’ll plant them in the garden in a month or so.)

Fresh Turkish bread or Lavash/Pita Bread. I bought mine from The Hills Bakery, 170 Patricks Road in Ferny Hills (0733515277) - They’ve got new owners, and truly this is a hidden gem of the bakery world. Worth a trip out to ‘The Hills’ to try their Fresh Rosemary Turkish Bread – just delicious. And if you want to have a good chat with a true foodie, definitely spark up a conversation with the owner.

 Method

1. Turn the oven onto 200 degrees Celcius. Put all the veges into a large oven dish with the whole cloves of garlic and rosemary. Sprinkle the dukkah on everything. Cover the tray with a lid or aluminium foil.  Chuck it in the oven. Wait until all veges are tender and a little brown (usually over an hour)

2. Brush the meat with a little oil on one side and press dukkah into the flesh. Sear the meat on all sides then shove it in with the veges, along with the cherry tomatoes and nuts. Cook Uncovered for about 10minutes.

3.Take the meat out and rest it for about 5 minutes, then slice thinly.

4.While waiting for the meat to rest make a yoghurt dressing with natural greek yoghurt, lemon juice (and zest if you’re using fresh lemons… I’m slack and use the bottled stuff if I don’t have fresh lemons) a bit of mint from the garden, a pinch of dukkah, salt and pepper.

5.Toast the bread for a short while and then put the dish of veges, bread and yoghurt on the table. Squeeze the soft gooey garlic from it’s papery skin and use it like butter.  Assemble messy, open sandwiches with the ingredients with your bare hands, get TRIBAL and shove it in your gob.

Uh-mazing!

COMPETITION REMINDER!! We have a mixed case of 24 bottles of Apple and Pear Cider to give away from Punt Road Wines. To enter, all you have to do is write a comment on ANY post on iatebrisbane. Open to Brisbane (and surrounds) entrants only (could you imagine the international shipping fees on a case of cider?!). Check out the details and the tricky little fine print here.

I try to like it, I really do. It just sounds so sexy when Italians say the word, with the soft dentalised T, the kitchen getting hot and steamy while stirring those translucent pearls of rice over the stove, the super fresh ingredients just picked up from the market . Yep - it should work. But it doesn’t.  I’ve had risotto at restaurants, and made it at home, and I just can’t see what all the fuss is about.

So, in a vain attempt to try to win myself over and join the cool and sexy risotto-lovers, I made it again yesterday. I followed instructions, I did a nice simple combination of flavours – Chicken, mushroom, pea and asparagus. I even made my own stock (after forgetting to buy it at the shops!)  But still no win. The flavours were there… but the texture is just not my bag. Also, if I ever try it again, I won’t be using large field mushrooms - they turned the brew into a fetching shade of “Tracksuit Grey”.

RISOTTO FAIL.

But Behold! Arancini to the rescue! These nifty little balls of deliciousness saved the day… well… the left overs the next day at least! Arancini Balls (or, as I have coined them Gruel Cubes, but we’ll get to that later) are another ‘very in’ thing at the moment, they originate from Sicily. Essentially, they’re crumbed balls of leftover Risotto. So, maybe that 2 kilograms of risotto I have frozen in the fridge won’t go to waste!

Ingredients

A serve of leftover Risotto – I’m not even going to bother giving you my recipe… please find one that works for you.

Plain Flour

1 egg, lightly whisked

Breadcrumbs

finely grated parmesan cheese

Olive Oil spray

Olive Oil

Method

1. take some risotto in your hand and shape it into a ball
2. roll in flour
3. roll in egg
4. roll in breadcrumbs mixed with parmesan cheese
5. repeat for next ball
6. spray with olive oil (this just makes sure all sides are covered in oil)
7. add a bit of oil to a heated pan and fry balls on all sides until golden. (they kinda turned into cube shapes while cooking this way, hense the nick name – Gruel Cubes. Arancini Balls sounds a lot more fancy)
8. or deep fry
9. or bake in the oven

I purchased a selection of mushrooms from the Kelvin Grove Markets on Saturday morning, 4 varieties in a little pack. The woodear Fungus is really quite crunchy and strong flavoured, the shitake mushrooms have an earthiness to them. Oyster Mushrooms are a little sweeter, and Enoki mushrooms are fun and stringy. Put all into the one dish, it’s a flavour and texture sensation!

I served this soup with little Mushroom and Wombok Potsticker Dumplings. You can either have them to the side as an entree, or plop them in the soup.

Ingredients

Broth
2 cups Chicken Stock
2 cups Water
Pepper
Small amount of chili
1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
2tsp Golden Syrup
1/2tsp Fish Sauce
1tbsp Malt Vinegar

Method

Simmer all ingredients together while you prepare the other ingredients

Soup ingredients

1 large Chicken Thigh
extra chicken stock and water, chili and ginger for poaching the chicken

3 Asparagus Spears, Cut in half lengthways
1 or 2 leaves of Wombok cabbage ribs, cut in 5cm strips
Handful Snow peas, julienned
1 Woodear fungus, cut into strips
1 clump Enoki Mushroom, stump removed, broken into smaller clumps
3 Shitake Mushroom, sliced thinly
5 Oyster mushroom, ripped in two
2 Bok Choy plants, Steamed (pop a steaming basket over the broth while it bubbles)
1 Green Shallot, Finely sliced

Method

1. Bring the chicken stock and flavours to a slow boil,  cut in the Chicken Thigh into strips and drop into the simmering poaching liquid. Simmer until just cooked through. (check by taking a piece out and cutting it. No pink in the middle)

2. Arrange the vegetables, mushrooms and chicken in a bowl and pour over the broth.