Seared Wild Mushrooms (p. 158)

This is the final installment of my Christmas series. We ate very well at Christmas this year. I've blogged about the Spicy Tomato and Blue Cheese Soup, Roasted Leg of Lamb, and Tzatziki Sauce. I also wanted to recommend two other things I made for Christmas: Bacon Scallion Horseradish Mustard I served with the Bluebird Meadows ham and this gratin, both were excellent!

The final dish I made for Christmas from Michael Symon's Live to Cook was the seared wild mushrooms (p. 158). After a not eating mushrooms for the first 28 years of my life, I've fallen in love with them over the last year. I've eaten Symon's rendition at two of his restaurants, Lolita & Bar Symon and I think they are one of the best side dishes he makes.

Mushrooms come in all different shapes, sizes and colors. White button mushrooms are the ones most people think of when they think of mushrooms, but there are many other varieties that are much better in my opinion. My favorite mushrooms come from Killbuck Valley Mushrooms. Located near Wooster, OH, Killbuck sells a wide variety of organic and foraged mushrooms at the Crocker Park & Shaker farmers markets. Their mushrooms are also often found on restaurant menus around the Cleveland area and they even have plated landscape dinners at their farm hosted by Spice of Life. They grow 5 different types of oyster mushrooms, plus shiitake, Lions mane, Trumpet Royale, and Maitake. They also forage for mushrooms and have hidden gems of the forest like morels when they are in season. Unfortunately, due to the hectic Christmas season, I was not able to pick up any Killbuck Valley mushrooms so I had to settle for some from the Westside Market. Fortunately, I found a vendor that had some nice looking ones.

That's a big pile of 'shrooms

Symon combines different types of wild mushrooms with garlic, shallots, and thyme. I doubled the recipe since we had a large crowd for Christmas.

 

Sliced oyster & cremini mushrooms

Symon recommends cooking different types of mushrooms in separate batches because cook at different rates.

 

First batch of oyster mushrooms

According to Symon, there are two mistakes people make when cooking mushrooms. The first mistake is not getting the pan & oil hot enough. This prevents the mushrooms from getting a proper sear, and therefore the flavor does not develop enough. The other mistake people make is overcrowding the pan. This causes the mushrooms to steam rather than sear.

 

First batch of cremini

I worked my way through 2lbs of mushrooms in small batches (in my pan that is too small - that will be remedied soon.

Shallots & garlic

Once all the mushrooms were cooked, I added the shallots & garlic to the same pan and cooked them until they were soft.

 

Mushrooms added to the shallots and garlic

Finally, I added both types of seared mushrooms, mixed everything together, and seasoned to taste.

 

Final plating

Mushrooms are typically a love it or leave it side dish. I think that everyone that tried these mushrooms really enjoyed them, although I know at least a few people didn't even try them. Their loss was my gain the next day when I enjoyed the leftovers!

Check back soon, I'll be blogging about the Flash & Burn Grouper and Fennel, Orange, Lemon, Dill & Watercress salad soon.

Cost
I will provide the approximate cost for each recipe in the book, as well as the source of the products used.

It cost about $9.00 to make Michael Symon's Seared Wild Mushrooms. 

Oyster & Cremini Mushrooms - $8 (Westside Market)
Miscellaneous (Olive oil, salt, thyme, shallots, garlic, & butter) - $1


Nutritional information
I am not a nutrition expert but I will provide some information about the key ingredient of each dish.

Mushrooms contain about 80 to 90 percent water, and are very low in calories. They have very little sodium and fat, and 8 to 10 percent of the dry weight is fiber. Mushrooms are an excellent source of potassium, a mineral that helps lower elevated blood pressure and reduces the risk of stroke. They are a rich source of riboflavin, niacin, and selenium. Selenium is an antioxidant that works with vitamin E to protect cells from the damaging effects of free radicals. Male health professionals who consumed twice the recommended daily intake of selenium cut their risk of prostate cancer by 65 percent.

Shiitake mushrooms have been used for centuries by the Chinese and Japanese to treat colds and flu. Lentinan, a beta-glucan isolated from the fruiting body of shiitake mushrooms, appears to stimulate the immune system, help fight infection, and demonstrates anti-tumor activity.

Mushrooms have also been shown to boost heart health, lower the risk of cancer, promote immune function, ward off viruses, bacteria, and fungi, reduce inflammation, combat allergies, help balance blood sugar levels, and support the body's detoxification mechanisms.