September is Mushroom Month!

Today is many things – On the food calendar it’s National Cherry Popover Day.

For 365foods, it’s the first day of the last month of this little project. That’s right – we’re starting the final countdown.

And, most deliciously, it’s Mushroom Month.

Mushrooms are one of those foods that I only learned to love as an adult, and I feel like I am making up for lost time. The standard brown mushrooms in the grocery store aren’t too compelling (though I still like them fried up with a nice steak). But I’m increasingly interested in some of the rarer mushrooms that make their way into my local grocery store. I want to introduce you to two of them.

First: Lobster mushrooms. Have you seen these? They are bright red, like lobster, and kind of twisted and mottled. Strictly speaking, the red bits are not mushrooms but rather a parasitic ascomycete that grows on mushrooms, turning them the reddish orange colour. At maturity the parasite thoroughly covers its host, rendering it unidentifiable. Lobster mushrooms have a seafood-like flavor and a firm, dense texture. You often see them in recipes for chowders or risotto. Here they are in my local supermarket, and there are more photos here:

Frankly I find lobster mushrooms a little intimidating, as they *look* like something that was colonized – red and twisty and kind of scabby. But they taste delicious.

I’ve also been buying chanterelles, which are small orange or yellow mushrooms which are meaty and funnel-shaped. Chanterelles have a fruity smell, reminiscent of apricots and a mildly peppery taste. Delicious.

I thought I would put the lobster, chanterelle and brown mushrooms through a taste test with this Jamie Oliver recipe for baked mushroom caps – essentially top mushroom lids with fresh herbs, then cheese, then breadcrumbs and parsley. Bake and serve warm on salad or little wee toasts. I basically followed the recipe, but substituted manchengo for the cheese (which I would grate, rather than slice as indicated).

The result was a bit of mixed bag. I overcooked them a little which dried out all the ingredients a little – the chanterelle’s, being the least meaty mushrooms definitely suffered. The chanterelle’s flavour was very good – spicy even–but the mushrooms needed a little juice to lend to the bread. The lobster mushroom fared better, but was also dry, and frankly kind of bland. Weathering the storm was the modest brown mushroom caps – they had a nice juicy bite and carried the flavours well. If I could find bigger chanterelles, I think that would really be the ticket to bring this dish alive.

~Deanna

National Eat Outside Day

Well, as we gear up for my Grandmother’s 90th Birthday Pig Roast this long weekend, I thought I would share with you another “eat outside” experience we already had this summer. I am taking “national eat outside day” to also mean “Cook Outside Day” and as everyone knows everything tastes better when cooked with fire and then consumed quickly (outside) while it is still hot and steaming. I’m not sure why everything tastes better outside. Anyone have any answers? Maybe one is just ravenous after a day of hiking or canoeing, or perhaps our senses are heightened when in the great outdoors. Whatever it is, I have eaten pine needles that tasted divine when accidentally sprinkled over supper and I have enjoyed a can of Spam and melba toast scarfed back on a survival excursion that tasted like an Easter ham! Strange, but true.

This family vacation we visited my parents cabin at Shuswap Lake where their neighbour and good friend has a home made outdoor oven. I was very excited to fire that baby up! My hubby and I have plans to put in an outdoor oven on our patio “sometime” and we already have a perfect spot that doesn’t need to be renovated or built up to make it “fire proof” – we just need to remove an enormous six foot tall waterfall. So, needless to say, we had a good time with my parents baking up some goodies. That oven got very hot. Too bad we didn’t have some pizza ready while we waited for the temperature to come down to the 300-400F range to bake bread. Oh well . . . next summer!

In other news we introduced our friend’s kids to their first eating outside experience – S’mores! They loved them. It was so much fun and the mama bear and her two cubs decided to stay away so we could enjoy ourselves.

Enjoy the photos of our baked goods and I’ll try get around to posting pics of the Pig Roast this weekend.

via Saskatchewan,
J

Removing the fire and coals after the entire oven is hot.

Brought the risen bread over on the ATV.

Three years old is not old enough to play with fire!

This won’t hurt a bit, my pretties.

[Ed: Onion buns? ]

It’s hard to wait for them to cool….

We might have baked to keep us through the next few days, but the best part is trying something straight out of the oven!

Quite possibly the best cinnamon buns ever . . .

National Toasted Marshmallow Day

So, have you ever heard of a smooter? Maybe you remember some comments about smooters from my National S’mores Day post.

Let’s face it. There’s only so much you can do with a toasted marshmallow. Everyone has an opinion on how a marshmallow should be perfectly toasted (Della: cremated; me, perfectly browned – see again aforementioned S’mores Day).

We used to make these disgusting, delicious campfire desserts called “banana boats”:

1. slice a layer of banana peel “almost” off and peel back
2. slice vertically into the banana, creating a pocket
3. squish a bunch of chocolate and marshmallows into the banana
4. put the peel back in place
5. wrap in tinfoil (tightly) and bake in the coals until mooshy.

Best enjoyed in the dark, when you can enjoy the taste without having to look at the guts-like inside. (It reminds me a bit of the Empire Strikes Back, when Han finds Luke frozen in the snow on Hoth, then slices open the belly of a Tauntaun and stuffs him into its guts. Look: they even have a “Tauntaun with open belly rescue feature” toy. And even more grossly fascinating: a Tauntaun cake with Luke sticking out of its guts…I think I just lost my appetite)

But I digress. As usual.

The best, very best use of marshmallows I have ever enjoyed is a smooter. I’m not even sure which friend of mine came up with the idea; I only know it wasn’t me. I’m assuming my friend also came up with the name, an amalgam of marshmallow and shooter.

Here’s the recipe:

1. Carefully toast a marshmallow so that the outside is nicely browned and the inside is a liquid glob (this is no place for cremation, Della).
2. Pull the outside layer off of the marshmallow, creating a “cup” (you can cremate the remainder if you want, Della).
3. Fill said cup with alcohol.
4. Smash smooter into your mouth as quickly as possible (it will begin to dissolve immediately).
5. Plan to wear some of it.
6. Repeat.

Pour very carefully (keep your headlamp on)

Now, doesn’t that sound fun?

It is fun.

With just a few simple ingredients, you too can have fun, smooter-y deliciousness.

~ Eva

P.S. I would be cautious about eating smooters where there are bears around. See above #5 (plan to wear some of it). Trust me, you’ll smell delicious to them, too.

P.P.S. You’ll notice the pictures are of the process, not the enjoyment. You’ll just have to imagine it. No one looks attractive eating a smooter.

Concentrate!