I didn’t set out to eat that big shiitake mushroom growing in my mushroom patch last night.
But as I pulled off the humidity tent to spritz it with water, the mushroom fell right off. As luck would have it, I was already roasting a turkey breast and making mashed potatoes for dinner, so the instant idea was, yep, mushroom gravy!
More or less, here’s how I make mushroom gravy.
First, you buy a mushroom patch from Gardener’s Supply. You refrigerate the patch for a couple of days and then soak it, totally submerged, for 24 hours. After that, you place the patch under a humidity tent and spritz it with water regularly.
Once you have a great big mushroom, keep watching it and spritzing your patch with water until the mushroom practically jumps off in your hand.
Then you chop up the mushroom with some celery, onion and garlic.
You saute the mushroom, onion, garlic, celery mixture with some butter until everything is nicely browned.
You then add 1/2 cup of chicken or vegetable broth mixed with one tablespoon of cornstarch. Stir this into the gravy until it is thick. Then continue adding the broth a little bit at the time, just mixing it in so that the gray stays nice and thick. Season with salt and pepper. You can also add thyme and marjoram.
Sadly, I do not have a nice photo of the finished gravy because it was already 8:30 at night and everyone was hungry.
(Note to self: If you plan to do a food photo series, get a shot of the finished product.)
I did nibble on the fresh mushrooms prior to cooking and have to say that there is NOTHING like a fresh shiitake mushroom. It was fresh tasting and firm. It didn’t have any of that mushy, musty flavor that you sometimes get with store-bought mushrooms. I am anxiously awaiting more mushrooms. (Hurry up, mushrooms!)
Tomorrow on Bumblebee…
How my brother-in-law can turn a discussion of lawn mowing into a 30-minute rant about the importance of his hair. Here’s Captain, the brother-in-law, with his important hair and Ben, my 16-year-old son, also with his hair–perhaps not as important.
Until then,
Robin
[Because I am in no position to preach to anyone about the environment, this is an open letter to myself on Blog Action Day.]Dear Robin,
You joined Slow Food USA. You have written about your yearning for simplicity. You have taken some baby steps toward environmentally sound practices and more healthful living. But I believe it’s time to stop joining, talking and taking baby steps.
It occurs to me that true change can only occur if you just…slow…down. Stop working seven days a week. Stop rushing around and living without, well, living. Stop being so impatient to get everything done right now. Live mindfully about what you are doing every moment and about the consequences of your choices and actions.
Slowing down will be good for you and for your family. What’s more, it will be good for the environment.
I will give you some examples of some of your personal actions that contribute to the environmental crisis we’re facing:
-You sometimes drive when you can walk. Do you really need to move your SUV from one end of the shopping center to the other as you do your errands? Can’t you walk there and back?
-You still use products such as weed killers and harsh cleaning products because they provide a fast, short-term solution, although they add little drips to the stream of pollution that is killing the earth.
-You drive past local farmers’ produce stands and buy the same produce at the grocery stores that is imported from the other side of the country–or the other side of the world.
-You still buy some ready-made foods rather than baking your own bread, making your own cheese or growing what you need with methods that don’t require chemicals, additives or being shipped from far away.
-You still throw clothes into the dryer rather than air drying them in the sun and fresh air.
-You waste energy by doing such things as leaving the computer on all night long so you won’t have to wait to read your email in the morning.
-You haven’t taken seriously the environmental cry to reduce, reuse and recycle.I could go on, but I don’t want to embarrass you here.
By slowing down, you will walk more gently on the earth. You can make some healthy changes that will mean better, healthier foods, less stress from hurrying around and more time with family and friends. You might also save some money and sleep better because you’ve gotten a bit more exercise (and, uh, saved some money).
Nuff said. Go out and do better now.
Robin
At the risk of boring you with mushroom tales, I really have to show you this.
This was the mushroom patch two days ago.
Here is the mushroom patch today.
Okay, it’s only ONE mushroom. But it is a very BIG mushroom. It’s now about the size of one of those portobello mushrooms that I buy at the grocery store to put onto burger buns for a quick dinner.
Also, I can see that other little tiny baby mushrooms are starting to sprout. Eventually, this whole mushroom patch is supposed to be absolutely covered in these shiitake mushrooms.
RuthieJ emailed to ask more about the patch.
This is my first time intentionally growing mushrooms. Yes, I have unintentionally grown mushrooms in my lawn and flower beds. But I don’t dare eat those!
The block is apparently compressed sawdust that is embedded with the mushroom spores. When it arrived, I put it in the refrigerator for a couple of days. After that, I soaked it in a huge bucket of water for 24 hours. Since the patch floats, I had to be creative about piling on pots and pans to make sure the whole patch was submerged.
Since then, it’s simply been a matter of misting and keeping the humidity tent in place.
I plan to harvest my single mushroom success shortly. Yummm. Fresh, home-grown mushrooms. Not sure how it will make it into my cooking yet, but don’t be surprised if I keep it all to myself–like the first tomato!
Bonus photos. Cute little dogs!!!!
Poor Sophie is a drama queen after a bath and nestles with her dad for warmth. Her tongue doesn’t fit into her mouth properly.
Sarah excels at cuteness at all times.
Okay, that’s it for today. I am happily chewing through my home to-do list after having been submerged in a boatload of work for the past two months. I feel like a new woman!
Robin
