| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| Treacodactyl |
Preserving mushrooms articleI'm not finding that many at the moment but when we do we should find Cab's latest article very useful. So, if you have a glut of shrooms that you're not sure what to do with then take a look here: http://www.downsizer.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=156 |
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| cab |
Just to give you an idea...
I normally store dried mushrooms in big Douwe Eberts coffe jars. Because they're not bought, they're not ridiculously airy, they're rather wll pressed down into the jars. We have in stock at the moment: 2 jars of mixed agaricus, mostly the Prince and horse mushrooms 1 jar of shaggy parasols 1 and a half jars (ish) of fairy ring champignon 1 jar (ish) of mixed boletus half a jar of giant puffball 1 and a half jars of oyster mushrooms 1 jar of 'mixed' 2 jars (ish) of blewits Best part of 1 jar of St. Georges mushrooms. In the freezer are three or so portions of duxelle (agaricus and clouded agaric, which is most often considered poisonous these days...) and three or four kilos of chicken of the woods (frozen whole and intact). We have a jar of pickled chicken of the woods (which I've gone off) and another jar of pickled St. Georges mushrooms. At present, nothign brined or salted. Why do we have so many, you may ask? Well, dried mushrooms are a great perk, they're wonderful added to a gravy or most kinds of stews. They make a wonderful Christmas gift too. Frozen chicken of the woods is ideal when you have to feed a vegetarian, and picked shrooms make a good addition to any antipasto or suchlike. You pretty soon get to know how to use different wild mushrooms in combination; what's the 'base note' mushroomy flavour, the intense mushroomy flavour you want, and how you can modify that with different 'top notes', what gives it an almondy or aromatic flavour, what adds an extra mushroomy punch, what'll make the mix meatier, etc. So you can blend them for greatest effect with fresh mushrooms to get the effect you want; knowing how to do that means that when you come home with a basket full of mushrooms that are only okay, not really exciting, you can still make some great mushroom dishes with them. |
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| dougal |
As a terribly basic point about drying - it really does help to slice them *thin*.
The thicker slices take *much* longer to dry... And, umm, yes, you do get a bit of a mushroom smell from the drying process. Although I like the smell, its not universally popular in the airing cupboard, which is one eason why I adopted an open metal rack, covered with a paper towel, and suspended against the side of a central heating radiator. |
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| cab |
Now that is a good idea. If I ever have central heating I might try it. |
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| Res |
I noticed in the pile of disgarded shed contents (not my own shed) that there were some wire baskets, but I couldn't think of any uses for them last night as I rushed about trying to see which tomatos and chiles were ripe in the dwindling light. I will have to rake them out tomorrow when I go back over the plot 
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