For the love of Produce...

A produce thread! Amazing!

I’ll contribute this soup I made; I got some arugula at the farmer’s market this weekend and it was violently spicy. I love arugula but this was WAY too much for me. So I made a soup with this, some spinach and a couple other veggies and it was AWESOME. You can still get a little hint of the bitterness from the arugula at the end and it’s really fantastic

Farmers market day again. One of my favorite food trucks was there, so I had a fried brussels sprout taco with pomegranate seeds, pickled fennel, spicy vegan aioli, more that I don't remember. (I've had these before. *So* good. And, yes, I have no idea how to calorie count it. Lots of nice olive oil, though. 😆).

Then there was the haul: Clockwise, Jonathan apples, pears, cabbage, poblano peppers, Hakurei turnips, salad and cherry tomatoes, little eggplants, plus (not shown) goat feta and eggs.

Still have a few radishes and collard greens from last week, local strawberries, figs, guavas, spaghetti and acorn squash (plus leftover Georgia Candy Roaster squash from the recent squash-freeze-fest), so lots of nice eating ahead.

Safari_Gal_ wrote: »

mtaratoot wrote: »

Yesterday I stomped around the coast range for about 4.5 hours up and down the hills and through the blackberry, salmonberry, and thimbleberry not to mention sword fern, cascara, and other understory. It was foggy and just spitting a little rain when I started, but the sun came out. I went to one of my favorite spots first. As I entered, I went through some spider webs. This told me nobody had been there yet. But they must have been there the day before - I started seeing cut stems. I kept stomping around and found some.

Fly agaric:

@mtaratoot - wow! What a mushroom haul! I’ve always been a little worried about picking wild mushrooms. My husband’s uncle picks wild mushrooms in Italy (outside of Rome) and snails and all sorts of wonderful things.

There is one family story about how one mushroom picking sent everyone to the hospital .... we are leery of all mushrooms now lol

So a kudos to anyone that can pick em!

Many of us have heard the aphorism that there are old mushroom hunters, there are bold mushroom hunters, but there are no old, bold mushroom hunters. It's imperative to be 100% positive in identifying any mushroom you're going to eat. I have a limited number of species (like six or eight) that I am 100% certain of in the field. There's some others I'm working on. I have no problem with chanterelles (golden and white), yellowfoot chanterelles, morels, pig's ears, cat's tongue, cauliflower, King bolete, lobster, and oyster. Others like matzutake, fairy ring, grisette, almond mushroom, and others are on the list of those I want to get better at.

There's another list of mushrooms I can 100% ID, but they aren't edible. If I make a mistake - no big deal!

I haven't read about a poisoning from death caps (Amanita phalloides) lately. Used to be we'd read about one every year. They are not native, and they look a lot like paddy straw mushrooms. Whole families would get sick. It's a particularly toxic one. It doesn't just make you puke, it destroys your liver. Once you kow you've been poisoned, it's too late to pump it out of your stomach. Very nasty.

I got "sick" from eating mushrooms a few weeks ago. It was my own fault. I had left a lobster mushroom too long before cooking it, and it was moldy. I thought I cut out the mold, but I guess not. I had six minutes of being sick, and that was it. I hadn't eaten them all, and I was really surprised when the mold was growing in the container of COOKED mushrooms the next morning. So you even have to be careful with edible mushrooms.

I always go through everything I collect when I get home to double-check that nothing else slipped into the basket! It's recommended to keep one or two mushrooms uncooked, just in case you do get sick, someone else might realize you misidentified it.

Then there's also individual sensitivity. A few people react poorly to otherwise edible mushrooms. It's recommended when trying a new species for the first time, don't eat a large portion. Just eat a little to make sure you don't react. And if you have more than one new species.... Well, you can either just try one at a time or try 'em all assuming you'll be fine with them all and then trying to figure it out later if maybe one or more doesn't agree with you.

Then there's things like Man on Horseback (Tricholoma equestre). It's been a prized edible mushroom since medieval times. Recently this mushroom has been linked to poisonings, but under specific circumstances. They all involve people eating large quantities of them for several meals a day for several days. We found some on a foray a couple years ago, and we cooked them. We made sure everyone knew the current status of this fungus and was told to decide for themselves if they wanted to eat it. I can tell you it is tasty. I would eat it again, but not in large quantities.

I think I'll go make something with chanterelles. I had an omelet yesterday. It's a great way to highlight them. I should treat myself to a little cream and just make a bowl of creamed mushrooms - almost soup, but not quite. I will saute some and freeze for later. I like to make a vegetarian shepherd's pie around Thanksgiving time that uses lots of mushrooms, and my ex showed me a way to make mushroom dressing that's really good. Basically you line the bottom of the pan with lightly sauteed whole mushroom caps. You use the stipes (stems) and maybe lots more mushrooms in the dressing, then fill it up. Stuffed mushroom mushroom stuffing! So tasty.

I'm going to gain more weight this week...

My SIL gave me a big bag of wild chicory.

Made an Asian slaw last night as part of dinner: green cabbage, red bell pepper, purple carrot, and this beautiful watermelon radish! Fresh, crunchy and delicious

This week's farmers market haul - still lots of good stuff here in mid-Michigan even though we've had some localized frost here. Some of the supplier farms have row covers, greenhouses, and other season-extenders.



This would be a huge head of mustard greens (put a bunch in lentil soup last night, so good!), Tuscan kale, apples, Roma-type and yellow cherry tomatoes, baby eggplant, Romaine, Hakurei turnips, radishes. Also still have a head of cabbage on hand from earlier, plus *lots* of carrots, parsnips, and spaghetti squash that my neighbor gave me. I think I sort of over-bought greens this week (given that I can eat the turnip and radish greens in addition to the mustard, kale and romaine), but I'll do my best not to waste any. it's way too easy to get carried away when I see all the yummy veggies/fruits on display, and extra temping when we're reaching the tail end of the most bounteous season.