sautéed mushrooms

courtesy of wikipedia

"Mushroom Picking"

artist: Franciszek Kostrzewski (1826–1911)

simple sautéed crimini mushrooms


utensils

frying plan & large spoon

cutting board & knife

ingredients

a batch of crimini mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

a tablespoon or two of olive oil

seasonings

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Courtesy of Mushrooms Canada Blog

Crimini Mushrooms Growing

At White Crest Mushroom Farm In Ontario, Canada

procedure

1.  oil and heat your heat your pan on a medium flame.

2.  add mushrooms, salt and pepper, watch and stir regularly for a few to several minutes until they have browned to desired consistency, releasing a certain amount of water.


enjoy!  serve sautéed crimini mushrooms over rice, baked red garnet yam (or a simple baked russet), a meat, fowl, or fish entrée, in a grilled panini with other vegetables - combining beautifully with eggplant or zucchini.  Or simply put your mushrooms in a sandwich with greens, tomato, top with a sharp or mild cheese (your preference), put in the oven or grill for a few moments to melt the cheese on top and hold the ingredients together.  your sautéed crimini mushrooms are also lovely to add to a simple pasta tossed in egg sauce as blogged here or here, combining with any of those ingredients, or as an alternate.  You can top any number of soups with our versatile sautéed friend - for example - miso, onion, or a simple chicken or beef broth.  And sure, we love sautéed crimini mushrooms on pizzas, whether you improve on an easy ready-made, or create everything from scratch.  lest i forget - add them to this baguette and sausage combination, also as blogged earlier, or your food of antiquity omelette (add a little more oil when your mushrooms are finished, and then add your egg et al).


other stuff

many eatable mushrooms can be substituted here, though cooking time and preparation may vary.  mushrooms can also be foraged in the wild.  wiki reports mushroom foraging popular in "most of Europe, including the Nordic, Baltic, and Slavic countries and the Mediterranean Basin, as well as in Australia, Japan, Korea, Canada, and the northwestern, Midwestern and Appalachian United States."

if you are interested in foraging wild mushrooms, seek expert advice as some varieties are poisonous and not always quickly distinguished from the safer kind.  some folks have workshops, taking people out to forage in groups, and there are wild mushroom foraging clubs and forums.

below, feral kevin takes us foraging for wild chantarelle mushrooms in the california bay area:

Wilding

Did you read this New York Times article about foraging abandonned gardens?  A scissors is a handy thing to carry around if you happen upon edible greens.

I took a walk down an old trail that meandors into town over assorted woods alongside the backs of abandoned buildings – near wilded gardens. 

I spotted a broccoli plant without broccoli, but tons of tasty and nutrition-rich leaves, often ignored and discarded by consumers.  So I pulled out my handy scissors and clipped a few, along with the outer leaves of a nearby cabbage needing barber, and another variety of cabbage and kale at the next spot.

A few hikers smiled and nodded as they passed me, snipping and clipping into my sack. 

Broccoli Leaves Without Broccoli - Spigariello

Courtesy of Veggie Gardening Tips

Just several hardy leaves with this trusty manicure device, and I conveniently continued on with at least a week's supply of fresh greens  - and greens that stay fresh.  (Since supermarket greens are a lot older than we often think - at the end of this supply, the leaves were still firm and rich - fresher than the freshest ones on a quality store shelf.)

I added some of Green Dean's "Eat the Weeds" dandelion greens on the way.

Once home, they were soaked and well cleaned, chopped, and mixed - then ready to pull from the refrigerator for fast, delicious, assorted stir fries and soups.

Foraging

Have you met Green Dean at Eat the Weeds?  He has many helpful videos on how to identify edible weeds and wild plants, even in urban areas like Los Angeles.  Also recipes!

Here is a great video he did on foraging the common yet highly nutritious Dandelion green.