Mushroom Dirt Recipes

SPRING SALAD WITH MUSHROOM ''DIRT''

Steps:

• For the salad: Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Prepare an ice-water bath and set aside. Add fava beans to boiling water and cook until crisp-tender; drain and transfer to ice-water bath to cool. Drain and transfer to a large bowl. Repeat process with fiddleheads and carrots. Repeat process with snap peas; when snap peas have cooled, trim ends and slice open. Transfer fiddleheads, carrots, and snap peas to bowl with fava beans. Add radishes and golden beets; set aside.
• Prepare an ice-water bath. Place morels in a large bowl and add enough cold water to cover; stir and remove morels from water; repeat process, changing water, until water runs clean. Transfer morels to a medium nonreactive bowl. Place sherry-wine vinegar, 1/2 cup water, 1 teaspoon salt, pickling spice, and sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Strain vinegar mixture over morels and set bowl in ice-water bath to cool. Remove from ice-water bath and cover until ready to use.
• Prepare an ice-water bath. In a medium saucepan, toast coriander, bay leaves, and pepper over low heat. Add wine and cook until reduced by half. Add vegetable stock, olive oil, lemon juice, thyme, and asparagus; place a parchment paper round over asparagus to keep submerged. Bring to a simmer and cook until asparagus is tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and place saucepan directly in ice-water bath; let asparagus cool in liquid. When asparagus has cooled, cut each into 4 equal pieces; return asparagus pieces to cooking liquid and set aside.
• Make the zucchini marmalade: Place squash, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan over low heat; cook, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
• Make the elderflower vinaigrette: In a small bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, and elderflower cordial; season with salt and set aside.
• To serve: Place a spoonful of mushroom "dirt" down the center of each of 4 rectangular serving plates. Add morels and asparagus to bowl with vegetables; drizzle with elderflower vinaigrette and toss to combine. Divide vegetable mixture evenly among plates; garnish each with a fennel chip. Garnish each plate with a dollop of marmalade; add herbs, flowers, and lettuces and serve.

NO-FAIL METHOD FOR HOW TO COOK MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Using a damp paper towel, brush all dirt from mushrooms. Cut away and discard any hard stems. Chop into 1/4-inch slices or, if there are larger mushrooms like portobello, cut into 1/4-inch cubes.
• Heat olive oil in a large, wide skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms and spread into one layer. Cook, without moving, until browned on one side, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir then cook another 3 to 5 minutes or until mostly golden brown on all sides. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.
• At the same time as seasoning with the salt and pepper, stir in butter, garlic, thyme and lemon zest. Cook until the garlic is fragrant and the butter absorbs into mushrooms, about 2 minutes. Take the skillet off of the heat and stir in lemon juice.

MUSHROOM ''DIRT''

Steps:

• Place mushroom pieces on the tray of a dehydrator with enough room to allow for generous airflow between pieces. Dehydrate, according to manufacturer's directions, at 135 degrees for 12 hours, occasionally rotating trays from top to bottom.
• Transfer dehydrated mushrooms to a spice grinder and grind to a fine powder.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a nonstick baking mat; set aside.
• Place ground mushrooms, both flours, cocoa powder, sugar, salt, and porcini powder in the jar of a blender; blend until a powder is formed, about 2 minutes. Sift mushroom mixture into a medium bowl; set aside.
• In a medium saucepan, melt butter with walnut oil over medium heat; whisk to combine. Whisk butter mixture into mushroom mixture; spread on prepared baking sheet and transfer to oven. Bake for 5 minutes; rotate baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes more. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

DIRTY RICE WITH MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• In a large Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium. Add onion, celery and bell pepper, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 minutes. Add mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are tender and their liquid is absorbed, 5 minutes. Stir in garlic until fragrant, 1 minute.
• Add rice, Cajun seasoning, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper and the remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Stir until well blended, then add broth, scraping bottom of pot to remove any browned bits. Bring to a boil over high heat.
• Cover and reduce heat to low. Cook until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Scatter black-eyed peas on top in an even layer, cover and cook 3 minutes longer. Turn off heat.
• Add scallions to the pot, and fluff rice with a fork. Divide among bowls and garnish with more scallions. Serve with hot sauce.

MEMPHIS DRY-RUB MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Make the rub: In a large bowl, combine all rub ingredients and mix well. Reserve 1/4 cup rub for the mushrooms and put the rest in an airtight container for another use, such as chicken, salmon or cauliflower.
• Prepare the mushrooms: Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Using a slightly damp kitchen towel, wipe the mushrooms to remove any dirt. (Don't rinse the mushrooms or submerge them in water.) Carefully cut or tear the mushrooms into 6 large pieces about the size of a hand.
• Place the mushrooms on a large sheet pan and drizzle them with the oil and Worcestershire sauce. Gently massage the reserved 1/4 cup dry rub into the nooks and crannies of the mushrooms.
• Roast the mushrooms on the top rack until deeply browned and crisp at the edges, about 40 minutes.