Raccoon and Lobster

Day 18

At the mushroom fair 2 weeks ago, I picked up an oyster mushroom growing kit. My instructions were to stab it a few times with a clean fork and stick it in the closet. As the days went by, it went from looking like a sack of dirt and mulch to a sack of dirt and mulch that was slowly being taken over by a white growth. The bag had beads of moisture inside and I was worried that I had somehow messed up my simple task and I was growing a container of mildew and slime ooze.

The white growth was firm instead of slimy, so I assumed that it was the mycelium spreading and that the plastic bag would contain it all. Probably nothing to worry about, right?

This is what greeted me on February 27, 13 days after I first stuck my bag o’mushrooms in my closet.

My perverted oyster mushrooms flashed me and now I’ve passed that indecent exposure on to you. You’re welcome.

Once the primordium formed, it was time to let the mushrooms out of the closet.

48 hours later, the mushroom indecency was transformed into mutant alien buds and now instead of just two growths, I had three.

This last picture was taken a few minutes ago, a little over a day after the previous photo.

The buds are  starting to look like actual mushrooms!

Today marks day 16. In about 5 or 6 more days I will be able to make my first harvest of fresh homegrown mushrooms. My total effort exerted so far consists of stabbing the bag with a fork and moving it from the closet to the living room. Even my black thumb can manage that. Fungus among us indeed.

Edit: Want to get your own mushroom growing kit? You can order them online at Fungi Perfecti and Mushroom Adventures or check with a mycological society near you about mushroom kits and forays.

What color were the mushrooms you used in your breakfast omelet? Mine were purple.

I was invited to go on a second foray and we found more edibles than were needed for the fair, so I was able to take some home to try. The Boyfriend spotted these and I was thrilled to be able to identify them as blewits (Lepista nuda). They are sometimes found in high end grocery stores under the name Bluefoot mushrooms and they sell for a princely sum. It’s still a little harrowing to eat a wild mushroom; ill effects from dangerous mushrooms may not appear until several days after ingestion, and by then it can be too late. More experienced mushroom hunters verified my ID and I took a spore print at home just to be extra sure. And in case you were wondering, they tasted like danger.

This Sunday the LA Mushroom Society is holding a Wild Mushroom Fair at the LA County Arboretum. To prepare for the fair, they held several mushroom forays that were open to the public. I thought this would be a great opportunity to start learning about finding my own edible wild mushrooms so I signed up for a foray in the Santa Monica Mountains. Thanks to the increased rainfall, the mushrooms were out in abundance this year. In just 2 hours time, we collected 4 giant coolers worth of mushrooms. Several people never made it out of the picnic area. You were in danger of stepping on a mushroom with ever step you took. Later, a smaller party went to another park and gathered even more mushroom varieties.

We soon filled the tables up with different mushroom types.

We found some big chanterelles.

And some really big chanterelles. They’ll be at the fair if someone doesn’t accidentally eat them first.

Can you tell them apart from the false chanterelles that will make you sick?

I saw more mushrooms than I had ever seen in my life. Some were obvious.

Really obvious.

Some were less so.

My personal highlight was finding this little teal blue mushroom, which is apparently quite rare. The mycologists were very excited! You can see it at the fair tomorrow.

The mushroom fair is on Sunday, February 14, 2010, at the LA Arboretum, 10am-4pm. I am told that visitors will get a kit to grow their own oyster mushrooms at home. Maybe I’ll see you there.

This fragrant risotto was so delicious that I went back for seconds and thirds and then made it again the very next day. Even now I am fighting the urge to make more. One minor adjustment and I could eat this every day until I die of the inevitable heart attack. A local restaurant makes a risotto that is brought to the table in a enormous wedge of parmesan. As the server stirs, the risotto is crammed with cheese, and then when portions are doled out, you are offered a sprinkling of even more cheese if you like. If someone were to buy me a giant wedge of parmesan, I would never leave my house again. By which I mean I will soon grow too fat to fit through the door. But don’t let that deter you from being a generous person and making a dream come true.

Mushroom Risotto

1/2 tablespoon butter
1 bunch green onion, finely chopped
6 oz crimini mushrooms
6 oz Arborio rice
2 oz white wine
2.5 cups chicken stock, heated
heavy cream
3 oz (or more!) grated parmesan cheese

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the green onions and mushrooms and cook until soft, stirring often. Add the rice and stir until translucent.

Add the wine and stir until it is cooked off. Add about a cup of chicken stock, stirring frequently until it is absorbed. Add the remainder of the stock a half cup at a time, stirring until all the liquid is absorbed before adding more. Continue until the rice is tender but still firm, approximately 20 minutes. Add a few tablespoons of heavy cream and the parmesan cheese and remove from heat. Stir until combined and season to taste with salt and pepper.