Who wants oyster (mushrooms)?!

rf1170

While letting my chickens out this morning, I spotted this beauty!

Don't see it? Check out the bottom right corner, under the nest box.

Bam!

A lovely Pleurotus ostreatus, growing (as far as I can tell) off the straw inside my coop, fruiting right outside. Hopefully this means the mycelium will survive the cold winter and the mushroom will continue to fruit! Another deep litter, no cleaning bonus.

Here you can see the gills:


And here's the side that was growing next to the coop:


I'll try to post a photo when I cook them later today! Does anyone have any favored oyster mushroom recipes? Please share, I love the inspiration!

wfte

The restaurant I used to work at we done oyster mushrooms, red onion, garlic, pine nuts, pan fried in some butter, served on toasted ciabatta bread. It was absolutely gorgeous!

rf1170

The restaurant I used to work at we done oyster mushrooms, red onion, garlic, pine nuts, pan fried in some butter, served on toasted ciabatta bread. It was absolutely gorgeous!

mmm! sounds great! I thought I'd just fry them up if I didn't have any other ideas.

rf1170

I fried the mushrooms in some butter:


And served them with some chives and parsley on grits:


They were mighty good! Great texture (firmer than button mushrooms, and with less moisture), and the flavor was meaty and slightly woodsy. All in all, a lovely mushroom to add to a dinner plate! I have a bit left that I'll cook tomorrow - you have to draw out the pleasure, right?

And for those interested, P. ostreatus, a.k.a. the Oyster Mushroom, is fairly easy to cultivate. It'll grow on just about every kind of fibrous substrate (like my straw chicken bedding!), and I once grew some from a kit on three or four gallons of coffee grounds that I got from Starbucks. I bought my kit from Fungi Perfecti (http://www.fungi.com/product-detail/product/the-espresso-oyster-mushroom-patch.html), but they're fairly widely available.

wfte

Agree with you about taste and texture. Easily one of my favourite ready available mushrooms.

rf1170

Just finished my last meal of oysters for breakfast this morning - served on white grits (as in the picture I shared above), fried in butter, and topped with some chives, dill, and parsley. And a glass of red wine. Because, although it's Sunday morning, it's never too early for mushrooms and wine. Now I'm warmed up from the inside, and ready to go on another mushroom hunt! To the woods! Enjoy your Sunday, everyone!

SpazzyMal

You just reminded me that I've been meaning to try my hand at this, too! Your shrooms look great, I bet they were delicious!