Home >> Mushroom Channel

Posts Tagged ‘Mushroom Channel’

Newer Entries »

Beef, Shiitake and Snow Pea Stir Fry from We Are Not Martha

Wednesday, July 6th, 2011

This very weeknight-dinner-friendly stir fry is brought to you by Chelsee Adams of Boston dining duo We Are Not Martha.

The summer months are always go, go, go. Work all day only to run home just to head back out to enjoy the last bits of daylight before the sun goes down. I find myself always searching for quick dinners to make in between all of the welcome-chaos that the summertime brings. It’s so easy to find yourself in an unhealthy slump when you get busy so I find that cooking quick dinners from scratch is the perfect remedy. And stir-fry is always a great option when I’m looking for something fast but delicious. Plus, it typically provides a generous amount of leftovers, so you’ll have lunch or dinner for the following day!

The chili-garlic sauce provides the right amount of heat while the hoisin sauce adds a special touch of sweetness and stickiness. I also imagine enjoying this stir-fry with a heaping bowl of rice… Delicious!

Beef, Shiitake, and Snow Pea Stir-Fry

(adapted from epicurious.com)

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 1 lb sirloin steak, cut into 2-inch long, 1/5-inch-thick slices
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tabelspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
  • 8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, thickly sliced
  • 8 ounces snow peas
  • 1 bunch green onions, sliced
  • 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
  • 5 tablespoons hoisin sauce
  • 2 teaspoons chili-garlic sauce

Begin by seasoning the beef with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add ginger and mushrooms until mushrooms are tender, about 3 minutes.

Next, add the beef to the skillet until beef browns but still remains a bit pink in the center, about 1 minute.

Add snow peas, half of the green onions and half of the cilantro, stir-fry for about 1 minute.

Now, stir in hoisin sauce and chili-garlic sauce and continue to saute until peas are crisp and slightly tender, for an additional 1-2 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper and transfer to a serving bowl. Garnish with remaining cilantro and green onions. For a warm entree, serve immediately. Or if you’d like a cooler, more refreshing dish, chill in refrigerator and serve over cool udon noodles.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Dinner Tonight, Featured Contributor | No Comments »

Welcome Summer! Stuffed Mushrooms from Stetted

Wednesday, June 1st, 2011

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.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Conferences, Dinner Tonight, Featured Contributor, Health, Portabella, vegetarian | No Comments »

Mushrooms: Ready for Their Close-ups!

Monday, May 23rd, 2011

Shiitake and Egg Breakfast Pizza courtesy of Chef Todd Humphries, Kitchen Door, Napa

We’re fresh from the studio, following our annual foodservice photo shoot of marvelous mushroom dishes from some of our favorite chefs.

To prepare for the shoot, we perused menus from top restaurants and college campuses across the country and selected the best mushroom entrees. After all that hard work tracking down awesome recipes, we got to have a little fun at the photo shoot.

Mushroom Bulgogi Tacos courtesy of Chef Robery Mayberry, University of Texas, Austin

A lot more goes on behind the scenes than you would think (a testament to our talented photogs, prop stylists and chefs)! From the slicing and dicing to the cooking and assembly, these plates had more prepping and primping than we do, all to ensure that our mushrooms looked porto-bellisimo! (you know, Italian-mushroom speak for “lovely.”)

It was like Goldilocks and the many mushrooms—we had to make sure that the size, shape, colors and props were just right. What can we say, all part of a day’s work here at the Channel. Though, staying focused is a challenge when the workplace is filled with one delicious aroma after another. While each dish was in front of the lens, our on-site chefs manned the kitchen cooking up the next shot. With this crowd of mushroom fans, it’s hard to believe any of these dishes made it from the stove to the set. Test out the recipes for yourselves!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Breakfast, Cooking Tips, Dinner Tonight | No Comments »

Portabella and Halloumi "Burgers" from Food for My Family

Monday, May 2nd, 2011

Shaina Olmanson is the food writer, home cook and photographer behind Food for My Family and Olmanson Photography. This is her first recipe for the Mushroom Channel and we’re willing to cosign it as the one that could turn the meat-lovers in your house meatless…at least for one night a week.

I spent several years as a vegetarian, and it’s a lifestyle that still sings to me, calls me even.  Contrast that to my husband’s classic Midwestern meat-and-potatoes upbringing, sandwich them together and you’ll find us today where navigating the landscape of real food, and seeking to fuel our four children’s bodies with the best nutrition available, settled quite happily into omnivore status.

With an effort to change the way we think of food and the way we eat our food comes giving and taking, and sometimes it also means exploring those meatless meals for my husband, who loves vegetables but prefers to pair them with a side of meat (to help fill him up).  His dislike for meat-like products is strong, and he declares good vegetarian burgers to be something of a myth that is talked about but does not exist.  That is, he did until I changed the concept.

Rather than imitating meat, this meatless burger is a play on the whole sandwich with giant portabella mushroom caps as buns and a slice of grilled halloumi takes the place of the burger.  These were not only accepted, but devoured and raved about after dinner.  I may just turn the carnivore yet.

Portabella and Halloumi “Burgers”

  • 4 portabella mushroom caps with stems removed
  • 3 ½ tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 thin slices halloumi
  • 2 thick slices tomato
  • Sea salt and pepper
  • 1 handful basil leaves

Heat grill to medium-high heat (about 450 degrees).  Wash mushroom caps and cry.  In a shallow bowl, combine the balsamic vinegar and olive oil.  Place mushrooms gill side down in the mixture.

When the grill is hot, grill the mushrooms on the gill side first for about 5 minutes or until they start to sweat.  Flip and grill 2-3 minutes more.  Add halloumi to the grill and grill 2 minutes on each side over relatively high heat until grill marks form on the cheese and it becomes soft and pliable.  Sprinkle salt and pepper onto the tomato to taste.

Assemble the “burger” with the mushroom as the bun, the halloumi cheese as the burger, the lightly salted tomato and fresh basil leaves.  Wrap and serve hot.

Makes 2 servings.

Of note:

:: For a true vegetarian meal, find a vegetarian halloumi made with non-animal rennet.

:: Be sure to wrap these sandwiches before serving or plan to eat them with a knife and fork, as they are a bit slippery.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Dinner Tonight, Featured Contributor, Portabella, vegetarian | 10 Comments »

Cream of Mushroom Soup from Chez Us

Monday, April 11th, 2011

This post comes to us from 2011 Mushroom Channel contributors Denise and Lenny – the brains and appetites behind Chez Us. We love that they took a classic and truly maximized the mushrooms by using a mix of types, blending some and leaving other in slices for additional texture. Really looking forward to trying it at home!


We are excited that this is our first recipe for the Mushroom Channel.  Just as exciting for us, is getting the chance to meet all of you.  We have at least one thing in common, and that is mushrooms.  We look forward to learning more about what the eaters of the Mushroom Channel like, and how we can develop recipes to make you hungry for more MUSHROOMS!

We have been playing around with this mushroom soup recipe for a couple months;  long before we knew we would become Mushroom Channel contributors.  The first few attempts at this recipe, were good, but not quite what we were hungry for.  We wanted something creamy, hearty, flavorful… and easy.  We finally got it right, and just in time to share it with all of you.

This cream of mushroom soup is definitely not what you would think of reaching for when that craving for cream of mushroom soup hits. Our version is light, earthy, full of texture, and a little bit spicy.  You will learn over the next few months, that we are all about texture and spice.

For this recipe, we used a mixture of cremini and portabella mushrooms which are readily available at most markets.  We did not want this soup to be pasty;  it had to have substance.  Instead of pureeing all of the mushroom mixture, we pureed, half of the mixture with the cream and starch, and then combined it with the remainder of the mushroom mixture.  This technique left us with a bowl of soup that had  a creamy broth, and thick, meaty mushroom pieces in every bite.

If you are a vegetarian or gluten free don’t shy away, this recipe is adaptable for you. We have made it with gluten free, rich vegetable stock, lemony-chicken stock, as well as a deep beefy stock;  all versions came out equally as delicious. We’ve also used potato starch and flour as thickeners;  both work perfectly.

To make a complete meal, we like to serve this soup with a leafy green salad and warm, crusty bread.


Recipe:  Cream of Mushroom Soup
*makes 4 hearty servings or 6 light servings

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 yellow onion
  • 1 large garlic clove, minced
  • 1 pound cremini  mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
  • 1 medium portabella, cleaned and sliced
  • 4 springs thyme, leaves only
  • 1 teaspoon Basque paprika or other spicy paprika
  • 4 cups stock, your choice
  • 1 cup half and half
  • 2 tablespoons potato starch or flour
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • handful minced parsley
  • kosher salt to taste
  • black pepper to taste

In a large dutch oven or sauce pan, heat the olive oil, over medium heat. Add the onions, lower heat to a low medium, and cook until soft; about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, thyme, and cook for 5 minutes. Add the sliced mushrooms, and continue to cook over low heat, for 7 minutes. Sprinkle in the paprika, and stir. Add the beef stock, lower the heat to a low simmer; cook for 20 minutes. Remove from heat, and let cool for 10 minutes. Put half of the stock mixture, and about a fourth of the mushrooms, into a blender or food processor, add the half and half and the starch or flour. Give it a couple whirls until the mushrooms are broken up, and the mixture is fairly lump free. Put the mixture back into the stock pot, with the remaining stock and mushrooms. Gently reheat, over low heat. Stir in the butter. Season with salt and pepper. Serve. Eat.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Write for the Mushroom Channel!

Friday, February 18th, 2011

For the two years, the Mushroom Channel has hosted posts from some truly incredible contributors. In fact, there is a proper standing ovation owed to those that shared some properly STUNNING work in 2010:

Colleen from Foodie Tots

Erika from In Erika’s Kitchen

Kate from Savour Fare

Lauren from Healthy Delicious

Mardi from Eat Live Travel Write

Patti from Worth the Whisk

Paula from Bell’Alimento

Rachael from Fuji Mama

Sabrina from Rhodey Girl Tests

Susie and Chelsee from We Are Not Martha

Several of you have asked how you could become featured contributors to the Channel and we’re excited to announce that we’re opening up the search for 2011′s contributing spots. We’re hoping to still see some familiar faces in the crowd among new friends.

These are paid positions.  Consider the Mushroom Channel as the perfect outlet for all of your marvelous mushroom discoveries.  All of your posts will feature a short bio that links back to your personal blog and your post will be linked to via both the Mushroom Channel’s Twitter and Facebook pages.

We’re looking for food bloggers with an eye for great food photography and a healthy level of curiosity.  Posts could range from a great new mushroom recipe of your own to an old family favorite or even a profile of a restaurant dish.  Creativity is encouraged and the editorial staff at The Mushroom Channel is more than happy to work with you if you’ve got grander ideas.  Compensation details are readily available, just send your questions to mushroomchannel@gmail.com and we will respond promptly.

How It Works:

1) Submit a sample post with a photo and recipe using fresh mushrooms to mushroomchannel@gmail.com.  Tell us a little bit about yourself in your email and please include a link to your blog. Posts tend to be 250-300 words if you need a frame of reference and it’s okay if the recipe is something you’ve posted in the past. Deadline for submission is Friday, March 4, 2011.

2) When we go through the entries, we’ll be looking for the following in all contributors:

  • Someone who knows how to engage an audience
  • Posts at least weekly on their personal blogs
  • Past mushroom content (Every other post doesn’t need to be about mushrooms, we just want to know that our contributors are fungi fans.)
  • Clear, illustrative photos

3) Selections will be made by Tuesday, March 16th and announced on the Channel. From there a member of the Mushroom Editorial staff will be in touch to sort through compensation and assign deadlines for your five posts in 2011.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Editor Post, Featured Contributor | No Comments »

Featured Contributor: Yaki Shiitake from La Fuji Mama

Monday, May 10th, 2010

Editor’s Note: Rachael is the inventive home chef behind La Fuji Mama. Now a mother of two, many of her dishes take inspiration from the time she spent living in Japan. While she’s no stranger to mushrooms (the Japanese diet are rich with them), this is her first post for the Mushroom Channel. Check out her recipe below but make the jump over to her main site when you’re done!

Yakitori, a dish of chicken threaded on skewers and cooked over a charcoal fire, is one of those foods that I start to crave when the weather turns sunny and warm. With all the beautiful weather we’ve been having, I decided it was time to break out the bamboo skewers and make some. Instead of making the traditional chicken skewers, I used fresh shiitake mushrooms and sliced scallions. Shiitake mushrooms, a native fungi of Japan, have a rich meaty and slightly smokey flavor. These mushrooms are fat free and a great source of protein, iron, dietary fiber, and vitamin C. Grilling them brings out their wonderful meaty flavor. You’ll find you won’t miss the chicken!

This is also a great way to introduce kids to shiitake mushrooms. I’ve found that kids are more receptive to anything served on a stick. Case in point—when my three year old saw we were making yakitori, she got very excited and told me, “I want some!” She didn’t even know what we were putting on those skewers!

Yakitori, a dish of chicken threaded on skewers and cooked over a charcoal fire, is one of those foods that I start to crave when the weather turns sunny and warm. With all the beautiful weather we’ve been having, I decided it was time to break out the bamboo skewers and make some. Instead of making the traditional chicken skewers, I used fresh shiitake mushrooms and sliced scallions. Shiitake mushrooms, a native fungi of Japan, have a rich meaty and slightly smokey flavor. These mushrooms are fat free and a great source of protein, iron, dietary fiber, and vitamin C. Grilling them brings out their wonderful meaty flavor. You’ll find you won’t miss the chicken!

When you are buying shiitake mushrooms, look for mushrooms that are plump, firm, and clean, and avoid any that have wet slimy spots on them or are wrinkled. They can be stored in the refrigerator in a loosely closed paper bag for about a week until you are ready to use them. Making the skewers is easy. You simple clean the mushrooms and discard their stems, and wash and cut the scallions into pieces. Then you thread the mushrooms and scallions onto the skewers. Make sure to soak your bamboo skewers beforehand so that they do not burn. Fresh shiitake mushrooms mushrooms are soft, so do not squeeze or push too hard. If you are having difficulty pushing the skewer through a mushroom, gently rotate the skewer as you are trying to push it through.

When you have finished putting the skewers together, you brush them with a tiny bit of vegetable oil and then set them on a preheated grill, with the mushrooms facing gill side up. You can also cook these skewers under the broiler. If you do this, make sure you start by cooking the skewers gill side down.

When the skewers have finished cooking and you are ready to serve them, brush them with a bit of tare (a slightly sweet and savory Japanese basting sauce) and serve them. They make a fabulous appetizer or side dish for a Spring or Summertime menu.

Yaki Shiitake (Shiitake & Scallion Yakitori)

Makes 8 skewers

For the tare (basting sauce):
½ cup soy sauce
½ cup mirin
¼ granulated sugar

For the skewers:
16 large fresh shiitake mushrooms, preferably donko
1 bunch scallions
Vegetable oil

1. Make the tare: Put the soy sauce, mirin, and sugar into a small saucepan and cook over medium-low heat. When the mixture begins to boil, reduce the heat to low, and continue cooking over low heat for 20 minutes. Skim any scum off the surface as the sauce is cooking. Set aside.

2. Make the skewers: Soak the bamboo skewers in water for 20 minutes. Preheat the grill. Clean the mushrooms with a slightly damp paper towel or cotton cloth, then cut away and discard the stems. Cut the firm white and whitish green parts of the scallions into 1 ¾ inch lengths.

3. Thread two mushrooms (lengthwise through the mushroom caps) and two pieces of scallion onto each skewer, alternating between the mushrooms and scallion pieces. Brush the mushrooms and scallions with a light layer of vegetable oil.

4. Place the skewers on the grill, with mushrooms facing gill side up. Cook the skewers until the tops of the mushroom caps are dry. Turn the skewers over (mushrooms gill side down), and cook them until the insides become wet with the mushrooms’ own juice. Turn the skewers over (mushrooms gill side up) one more time and cook for about 1 or 2 minutes more until the mushrooms and scallions are completely cooked through.

5. Remove the skewers from the grill, and with a pastry brush, baste them with the tare. Arrange the skewers on a large plate and serve.
Yakitori, a dish of chicken threaded on skewers and cooked over a charcoal fire, is one of those foods that I start to crave when the weather turns sunny and warm. With all the beautiful weather we’ve been having, I decided it was time to break out the bamboo skewers and make some. Instead of making the traditional chicken skewers, I used fresh shiitake mushrooms and sliced scallions. Shiitake mushrooms, a native fungi of Japan, have a rich meaty and slightly smokey flavor. These mushrooms are fat free and a great source of protein, iron, dietary fiber, and vitamin C. Grilling them brings out their wonderful meaty flavor. You’ll find you won’t miss the chicken!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Cooking Tips, Dinner Tonight, Featured Contributor, Health, vegan, vegetarian | 4 Comments »

2010 Mushroom Channel Contributors

Friday, April 16th, 2010

Featured Contributor

The wait is over.  After considering every awesome entry until the last possible minute, your Mushroom Channel team is thrilled to announce the ten official contributors for 2010.  Sincere gratitude is in order for everyone who took the time to write us an email, expressing love for mushrooms. The process of going through the submissions warmed our fungi-friendly hearts.

Without further ado, the 2010 Mushroom Channel Contributors are…

Colleen from Foodie Tots

Erika from In Erika’s Kitchen

Kate from Savour Fare

Lauren from Healthy Delicious

Mardi from Eat Live Travel Write

Patti from Worth the Whisk

Paula from Bell’Alimento

Rachael from Fuji Mama

Sabrina from Rhodey Girl Tests

Susie and Chelsee from We Are Not Martha

To our contributors, be on the lookout for an email from the Mushroom Channel editorial staff to talk through details.  To our readers, be on the lookout for a new post from one of these contributors every week starting April 26.


Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Editor Post, Featured Contributor | 6 Comments »

Write for the Mushroom Channel!

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

For the last year, the Mushroom Channel has hosted posts from some truly incredible contributors. Kath from Kath Eats Real Food, Jenna from Eat Live Run, Susie from We Are Not Martha, Rachel from A Southern Fairytale, and Luisa from The Wednesday Chef just to put names to a few of the words that have graced these pages with delicious recipes and photos. We’re now looking to expand that program significantly.

Several of you have asked how you could become featured contributors to the Channel and we’re excited to announce that we’re opening up 10 contributing spots in April.

These are paid positions.  Consider the Mushroom Channel as the perfect outlet for all of your marvelous mushroom discoveries. We’re also interested in sending traffic your way from our various sites. All of your posts will feature a short bio that links back to your personal blog and your post will be linked to via both the Mushroom Channel’s Twitter and Facebook pages.

We’re looking for food bloggers with an eye for photos and a healthy level of curiosity.  Posts could range from a great new mushroom recipe of your own to an old family favorite or even a profile of a restaurant dish.  Creativity is encouraged and the editorial staff at The Mushroom Channel is more than happy to work with you if you’ve got grander ideas.  Compensation details are readily available, just send your question to mushroomchannel@gmail.com and we will respond promptly.

How It Works:

1) Submit a sample post with a photo and mushroom recipe to mushroomchannel@gmail.com.  Tell us a little bit about yourself in your email and please include a link to your blog. Posts tend to be 250-300 words if you need a frame of reference and it’s okay if the recipe is something you’ve posted in the past. Deadline for submission is April 6, 2010.

2) When we go through the entries, we’ll be looking for the following in all contributors:

  • Someone who knows how to engage an audience
  • Posts at least weekly on their personal blogs
  • Past mushroom content (Every other post doesn’t need to be about mushrooms, we just want to know that our contributors are fans.)
  • Clear, illustrative photos
  • A unique voice

We’ll be looking for a few of these among individual contributors:

  • Health backgrounds (RD in particular)
  • Parents with advice on healthy meals kids love
  • Frugal-minded fresh mushroom lovers

3) Selections will be made by Friday, April 16th and announced on the Channel. From there a member of the Mushroom Editorial staff will be in touch to sort through compensation and assign deadlines for your four posts in the next eight months.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Editor Post, Featured Contributor, Mushroom News | 1 Comment »

Newer Entries »