Archive for the ‘Conferences’ Category

‘Shrooms Shine in Sunny San Diego

The Mushroom Council recently travelled to sunny San Diego to meet and mingle with nearly 10,000 of the best and brightest nutrition and health professionals at the American Dietetic Association’s Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo (FNCE).

We hosted a booth on the expo floor where attendees could stop by, learn about the health benefits of mushrooms, chat about nutrition and sample our healthy Mushroom Tacos with Salsa Verde. These weren’t your ordinary tacos, though… We put our own spin on a traditional all-beef taco filling by using a blend of 75 percent mushrooms (a mix of buttons and creminis) and 25 percent beef.

And how did it taste? Incredible! By chopping up mushrooms extra fine, mimicking the texture and consistency of ground beef, the blend was seamless and delicious. Plus, the resulting dish has less calories, fat and sodium than the original all-beef filling.

Food is just one component of FNCE. Keeping with the nutrition tradition, we also dropped in on educational sessions covering all aspects of health and nutrition. Here are some highlights from the experts on key learnings and trends/tips:

  • What’s new in healthy foods, ABC15 –Michelle Dudash, RD, highlights some food trends from the conference including our scrumptious Mushroom Tacos (we hope these become a trend!)

We had a great time seeing familiar FNCE fun-guys and making new friends.  Thanks to everyone who visited our booth. Can’t wait to catch up with you all again in Philadelphia for FNCE 2012!

Triple Mushroom Strata from Hey What’s for Dinner Mom

The team had the pleasure of sitting in on Mushroom Channel contributor Laura Sampson’s panel at BlogHer last week,   Our Food Future: Kids, Cooking, and Health. I can’t tell you how proud we were to have her voice included as a strong POV on insisting families have access to whole foods while encouraging persistence for parents frustrated by picky eaters. We’re all in this together.

I happen to think a Strata is a perfect summertime food, assemble in the cool of the evening, refrigerate and then bake in the morning before it gets hot. A perfect solution to summer heat woes and the hot kitchen. If you enjoy breakfast parties this is the ultimate in easy entertaining, make ahead then relax before your guests arrive. Three different mushrooms give this super delicious dish a deep and earthy flavor everyone will enjoy.

Triple Mushroom and Cheese Strata*

*needs to refrigerate over night

  • 2 TBSP butter
  • 2 portabella mushrooms-cleaned
  • 1/2 pound of shitake mushrooms-cleaned
  • 1/2 pound white button mushrooms-cleaned
  • loaf of french bread
  • soft butter amount will vary as to your particular buttering style I went light
  • 1 cup shredded sharp cheese
  • 6 eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups milk or half n half
  1. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat
  2. Remove the stems from all the mushrooms and slice into strips
  3. When the butter is melted reduce heat to medium low, add the portabella mushrooms and cook for a few minutes
  4. Add the rest of the mushrooms and slowly cook until they are soft and their liquid has been cooked out, around 10 minutes
  5. Trim all the crust off the loaf of bread
  6. cut in slices and butter each slice before cubing
  7. Place a layer of cubes in a 3 quart oven-safe pan
  8. Cover with 1/2 the cheese
  9. Sprinkle on half the cooked mushrooms
  10. Repeat layers
  11. Mix the eggs and milk together
  12. Pour over other ingredients
  13. Cover and refrigerate over night
  14. Bake for 35-45 minutes in a 350 degree oven

Welcome Summer! Stuffed Mushrooms from Stetted

This celebratory post-Memorial Day recipe comes to us from Contributor Megan Myers of Stetted. Part of the Mushroom Channel team is on Megan’s home turf this week attending the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) conference in Austin, Texas so we’ve had the luxury of already being personally assured in person that these stuffed mushrooms are addictive.  No surprise there!

We’ve made it through winter, and it’s time to grill!

Too often vegetarians get neglected when it comes to summer cookouts, relegated to the cold salad table. But cooking for multiple palates and dietary needs is sometimes hard when factoring in our already busy lives.

These stuffed mushrooms come together in a snap and can stand in for a main dish, side, or even a pre-party nibble. I like to top them with panko, Japanese bread crumbs, to add crunch, but they are just as delicious without for a gluten-free meal.


Stuffed Mushrooms

  • 1 pound button or baby portabella mushrooms
  • 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 1 small avocado
  • 1/8 cup chopped jalapeno
  • Lemon juice
  • Panko bread crumbs

If grilling, prepare wooden skewers by soaking in a dish of water as you assemble the mushrooms. This will prevent the wood from scorching on the fire.

Gently dust any dirt off your mushrooms with a clean cloth or a mushroom brush. Remove stem by slightly twisting. Discard stems or save for another recipe.

Halve avocado, remove pit, and mash in a bowl. Add cream cheese, jalapeno, and a dash of lemon juice, and stir until well blended. Pour panko into a bowl or rimmed plate.

Fill mushroom tops with the avocado mixture and level off. Dip each mushroom in the panko and continue with the rest of the mushrooms.

Once all are assembled, carefully slide the mushrooms onto the skewers. If baking in the oven, arrange in a casserole dish.

Grill for 10-15 minutes or bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

Serving Up Mushrooms with the Culinary Institute of America

If you are a long time reader of the Channel, you know that we’ve had run ins with the CIA before…and before you start wondering what kind of delicious espionage we managed to get ourselves involved with, that’d be the Culinary Institute of America. This past fall we attended two events with the CIA that featured an gorgeous mushroom dishes with an ironically international array of tastes.

First, we stopped by the new Latin Flavors conference to celebrate the grand opening of the CIA’s San Antonio campus. Mushroom usage in Latin culture dates back to the time of the Aztecs, so it was no surprise to see the following recipes served up and quickly devoured.

Cheese and Mushroom Stacked Quesadillas

Mushroom Chilaquiles

Fried Eggs with Portabellas and Ranchera Salsa (a twist on eggs benedict)

At the CIA’s Worlds of Flavor annual conference in St. Helena, CA, the theme was Japanese cuisine. Another no brainer for mushrooms and plenty were available for sampling. The Council worked with Chef Masa Uehara from Masa’s Sushi in Mountain View, CA to prepare some delicious recipes for attendees to sample. If you are in the area, be sure to stop by his restaurant and ask for the Royal Trumpet Roll (pictured below). Described by many as the best dish of the conference, it features a tempura Royal Trumpet mushroom wrapped in a sushi roll and topped with a sake-marinated shiitake mushroom.

Also served during the conference was a Portabella Sashimi,

Maitake mushrooms served three ways: Grilled, Tempura, Sautéed,

And a Portabella Panko Katsu.

Have any unique Latin or Asian mushroom recipes of your own you want to share?

Also served during the conference was a Portabella Sashimi,

Back from Boston, Feeling Better than Ever

Last week the Mushroom Council packed its bags and headed to “Beantown” along with nearly 10,000 nutrition professionals for the American Dietetic Association’s annual Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo.

Our good friend and vitamin D expert Dr. Michael Holick was the speaker of a session, “Vitamin D: Connecting Science to Health,” in which he discussed the importance of vitamin D, its impact on our health and solutions for maintaining healthy D levels. Mushrooms are on his list of recommended foods since they’re one of the few dietary sources of vitamin D (and the only natural source for vegans!). Following the session, we had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Holick at the Mushroom Council booth to greet attendees and distribute copies of his book, “The Vitamin D Solution.”

In addition to our D-lightful day with Dr. Holick, we continued to discuss the Council’s commitment to breast cancer research. For every attendee who scanned his or her badge at the booth, the Council increased its contribution to the breast cancer research taking place at City of Hope. We tip our caps in appreciation for the hundreds of attendees who helped build our “Wall of Pink” by signing tributes to loved ones who have faced the disease. We were moved by their messages and proud to watch the wall turn pink throughout the event. Check out some of the messages in the photos below.

Being the fun-guys that we are (get it, fungis?!), we toured the city for the best mushroom recipes in town. One of our favorite dishes was this grilled sashimi of chanterelle and shiitake mushrooms at O Ya. We snapped a quick pic on blackberry, but the photo doesn’t do the flavor of these mushrooms justice. You’ll have to taste it for yourselves next time you visit. Boston was incredible and we were lucky to be joined by some of our favorite food and nutrition friends. Can’t wait to catch you all in San Diego for FNCE 2011!

Our Recent Rendezvous with the CIA…Culinary Institute of America That Is!

Take a quick break from voting to check out a few new delicious mushroom recipes from our latest adventures with the Culinary Institute of America!

Not too long ago we were lucky enough to hang out with the top nutrition researchers and chefs at the Culinary Institute of America’s annual Worlds of Healthy Flavors conference in sunny St. Helena, California. We got to talk about food the whole time, in particular how to create more healthful and flavorful menus with our favorite ingredient, mushrooms!

Mushroom Display

Secretly, we knew it wouldn’t be too hard of a sell. As you mushroom fans know, mushrooms are case in point that delicious and nutritious can indeed be one in the same. Not only do mushrooms add great flavor (thank you, umami), but they also are low in calories, fat and cholesterol-free and full of vitamin D and antioxidants! Why wouldn’t someone want to add mushrooms to their menu?

Now, one of the best parts of the conference was – you know it! – the food. We enjoyed watching a cooking demo from Chefs Michael Tuohy,  John Ash and Suvir Saran and we offered up some delicious breakfast recipes that you can now try too! Check out these new recipes and their mouth-watering pics:

Farro and Mushroom Burgers (this was the cooking demo dish!)

Mushroom Slider Demo

Sautéed Mushroom, Spinach and Red Pepper Strudel

Breakfast

Mushroom-Stuffed Ancho Rellenos

Mushroom Stuffed Peppers

Frittata with Sautéed Mushrooms and Black Beans

Black Bean Mushroom Frittata

Yukon Gold Potato, Beet, Shiitake Mushroom Hash with a Poached Egg

Potato, Beet and Shiitake Mushroom Hash with Poached Eggs