For the love of Produce...
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BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »Pre-emptive Pumpkin question.
Historically, Pumpkin doesn’t really appear here in the Uk - in more recent years they’ve stocked various Pumpkin type squash/gourds for Hallowe’en decoration purposes mainly.
My daughter bought a bunch of these, this year. Various colours and sizes. She doesn’t know if they’re edible even, but is visiting this weekend and has offered them to me to cook with because she feels bad at potentially wasting food by dumping them in the bin.
I’ve said I’ll give it a go, never having cooked or eaten pumpkin 🤷♀️. What I’m asking here is are the pumpkins pictured below of an edible variety? I don’t want to poison anyone if not! 😂
I have more experience with pumpkins than squash.. so the orange pie pumpkin is great for roasting, mashed pumpkin, anything calling for purée and both savory and sweet dishes! You can also roast the seeds.
I am cooking a pumpkin/coconut cake!
Photo attached .. disregard my ashy oven.
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A quick trip to California and I’m stuffing myself with all of the west coast things I can’t get on-island. Apples, good ones - ones that haven’t been in a container bobbing across the ocean for weeks. Fresh figs. A perfect pear. Jicama.
Don’t get me wrong. Hawaii produce is unreal and varied in ways I’m still discovering. But it turns out I’m nostalgic… for apples. Pomegranates. Persimmons.
Fall flavors. I’m still new enough that I don’t have island produce that feels ‘fall’ to me yet, although the local winter squashes have made for some great soups.6 -
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After a long season, frost was coming so it was time to say goodbye to my tomatoes. I used the green ones to cook, blend and make a ‘green ketchup’; it’s DELICIOUS. It doesn’t taste exactly the same as regular ketchup but it’s tangy and wonderful on almost everything. The orange tomatoes I used to make sauce for sausage-pepper pasta. The black/red ones I saved to ripen (they ripen fantastically well on the counter) and will hopefully be using them in soup later this week!6 -
Cauliflower kimchi update.
Yesterday was the day I was supposed to jar it up and put it in the fridge. I went to the forest to stomp around and collect mushrooms instead. Today's weather is very high wind and a crapton of rain, so I took advantage of the weather.
So today was the day.
I also jarred up the sauerkraut that was supposed to be done today. Can I just say there's a very interesting set of aromas in my house now. It will continue because a friend gave me a couple Napa cabbages from their farm, and they are presently sitting in a big bowl of salt. I will massage them a little more then cover them with water for a few hours while I go get some other ingredients, then rinse rinse rinse, then mix up the next kimchi. But all that has nothing to do with the cauliflower.
It really was interesting how the smell of the stuff changed every few days. The thing I was most curious about was how it tastes. It's actually pretty good! I will make more again some other time, and I might shut down the fermentation a few days early hoping it will be just a little crisper.
The taste is unique. It's mildly sour, but it's also sweet. Slightly crispy with a lot of ginger and garlic accenting the vegetable. It's still crisp to be honest, and it really isn't fermented too long. Maybe I should just stick to the same recipe. Even though the flavors are the same ones I use for Napa kimchi, the flavor is totally different.
There's a sauerkraut thread over in a group that I'm going to copy this to; some of those folks might be interested.
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Finally found a way to serve cauliflower in a way that my brassica hating hubby likes. Try to keep leaves on if you use this recipe because they turn into something similar to kale chips.
https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/miznons-whole-roasted-cauliflower5 -
Are mushrooms "produce?" They sure aren't vegetables, and while what we eat is considered the "fruiting body," they aren't fruit either. Mushrooms are more closely related to animals than they are to plants, so...
But they're in the produce section of the grocery, so....
I had fun with some today. I took a bunch of Agaricus bisporus (a.k.a. white button mushrooms from the grocery store) and roasted 'em. First I removed the stipes (stems) and set them aside. I tossed the caps with a little oil and some salt, then put 'em on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. I finely chopped the stipes, tossed with oil, salt, spices, and a little panko. Then I stuffed that back in the caps and put them in a 425 degree (F) convection oven for about 25 minutes.
Yummers.6 -
Oh.
Yeah.
Yesterday I chopped up a couple purple cabbages from a friend's farm. She gets a share of the sauerkraut. I haven't made purple kraut yet. Now I'm starting.
Was a bit of a pain, but as it turns out, it was a good thing the two cabbages weighed in a pound or two more than my normal recipe. There were spots inside each heat that were dried, brown leaves. I don't know what would cause this, but I know this farm doesn't use pesticides. It could be insect damage. Whatever. So it took a lot longer to prep than normal as I had to sort out the bad spots every two slices of cabbage. When done, I sorted the whole batch from the giant bowl into a plastic bucket, then sorted again back into the giant bowl. I think I got rid of most of the brown/dry bits. Very odd.
Salted the cabbage and let it sit an hour maybe as I massaged it a few times then packed into a gallon jar. It released plenty of liquid. I checked it this morning, and it was just barely starting to show signs of coming to life.
For a change I made this one very basic. No carrots. No garlic. Just cabbage, salt, and caraway. It will be ready to sample in three weeks.
Then today I put more cauliflower in a brine to soak. In the morning I'll drain it and get the "sauce" going and in a few days my house will smell really funky again. I've already eaten through about half the cauliflower kimchi I made a couple weeks ago. The flavor is mellowing. Ah, fermentation season....
Still not sure mushrooms are produce though.
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Well, it's happened again.
I opened my fridge and smelled something that seemed a little off. I had a couple ideas what it might be. Then I realized, no... it's not in the fridge, it's the two gallon jars undergoing a transformation from lactic acid bacteria about five feet away.
Now I just need to eat a pint of sauerkraut in the next two or three weeks to free up a quart jar so I have enough for the purple cabbage sauerkraut and the cauliflower kimchi.3 -
Local Breadfruit- made into cranberry bread pudding & paleo brownies (those also have local butter avocado.)
Not pictured:
-cranberry salsa with local mango
-taro chips (came out too done. Lower oven next time)
Other pic:
-salad: local kale, roasted miso-maple pumpkin, spiced fried walnuts, pomegranate (herbed tahini dressing)
-Okinawan purple mash, with toasted garlic coconut oil drizzle and mint from the garden.
Happy feasting season kickoff7 -
o0Firekeeper0o wrote: »
Loving this pic. Beauties.2 -
Found some fungi today. Best find was my friend found a Sparassis (cauliflower mushroom).
We were looking to collect candy caps (Lactarius rubidus). We found SO MANY.
We quickly got as many as we wanted, then my friend found the Sparassis. We dropped all that by the truck and went for a walk. About three miles with little pokes off the trails to find a few chanterelles, several hedgehogs that were too small to pick, and some Tricholoma equestre. These are edible mushrooms that now have an asterisk. I have eaten them before. I took a few; I won't eat pounds a day for several days in a row. They have been known as choice edible mushrooms going back to Roman times, but a few years ago someone died from them. Very specific circumstances.
We even found a gnome under a tree.....
And now your quiz. Can you identify this mushroom?
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Steamed artichokes and hollandaise. I don't remember ever seeing artichokes before at this time of year, so probably bad karma in terms of carbon footprint.
5 -
Found some fungi today. Best find was my friend found a Sparassis (cauliflower mushroom).
We were looking to collect candy caps (Lactarius rubidus). We found SO MANY.
We quickly got as many as we wanted, then my friend found the Sparassis. We dropped all that by the truck and went for a walk. About three miles with little pokes off the trails to find a few chanterelles, several hedgehogs that were too small to pick, and some Tricholoma equestre. These are edible mushrooms that now have an asterisk. I have eaten them before. I took a few; I won't eat pounds a day for several days in a row. They have been known as choice edible mushrooms going back to Roman times, but a few years ago someone died from them. Very specific circumstances.
We even found a gnome under a tree.....
And now your quiz. Can you identify this mushroom?
I stopped eating foraged mushrooms after the hubby went out with a self proclaimed mushroom expert and brought back some stuff that included a dutch fairy ring variety known locally as a honey mushroom. Their efforts were served at a dinner party with 8 people. I was the only person who got sick. But after losing fluids from all orifices for 3 days the charm of foraged mushrooms disappeared.7 -
Found some fungi today. Best find was my friend found a Sparassis (cauliflower mushroom).
We were looking to collect candy caps (Lactarius rubidus). We found SO MANY.
We quickly got as many as we wanted, then my friend found the Sparassis. We dropped all that by the truck and went for a walk. About three miles with little pokes off the trails to find a few chanterelles, several hedgehogs that were too small to pick, and some Tricholoma equestre. These are edible mushrooms that now have an asterisk. I have eaten them before. I took a few; I won't eat pounds a day for several days in a row. They have been known as choice edible mushrooms going back to Roman times, but a few years ago someone died from them. Very specific circumstances.
We even found a gnome under a tree.....
And now your quiz. Can you identify this mushroom?
I stopped eating foraged mushrooms after the hubby went out with a self proclaimed mushroom expert and brought back some stuff that included a dutch fairy ring variety known locally as a honey mushroom. Their efforts were served at a dinner party with 8 people. I was the only person who got sick. But after losing fluids from all orifices for 3 days the charm of foraged mushrooms disappeared.
What we call a honey mushroom is Armillaria mellea. There are lots of look-alike mushrooms. I never eat anything that isn't 100% positive ID. My friend isn't just a self-proclaimed expert; he actually wrote the book on North American truffles. Literally. I am slowly (very slowly) expanding the mushrooms I'm comfortable identifying 100%. I have a new one now. We didn't 100% identify the pictures mushroom, but we are 97.7625% sure of what it was. We'll go back next year with it in mind; it's a choice edible.
It is ALWAYS advised that when you try a mushroom you've never eaten before, you should just eat a little, and don't eat more than one kind you haven't eaten before. There are some mushrooms that cause a reaction in SOME people. There's also the chance something gets picked that ain't quite right. Worse yet, there's routinely a news item around here about immigrants from Asia who go out locally and pick paddy straw mushrooms, but you can't really find those here. What you CAN find is Amanita phalloides The common name is Death Cap. It is a particularly nasty one. It causes your liver to produce a toxin that destroys the liver. By the time it goes to work, your body has already digested the mushroom.
It's also not a bad idea to not eat ALL the mushrooms you bring home. Save a few so just in case you get symptoms you can take them to the doctor with you so they might be able to figure out the toxin and find out if there's anything they can do to help you. For Amanita phalloides, liver transplant may be the only option!
Be careful out there.
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Found some fungi today. Best find was my friend found a Sparassis (cauliflower mushroom).
We were looking to collect candy caps (Lactarius rubidus). We found SO MANY.
We quickly got as many as we wanted, then my friend found the Sparassis. We dropped all that by the truck and went for a walk. About three miles with little pokes off the trails to find a few chanterelles, several hedgehogs that were too small to pick, and some Tricholoma equestre. These are edible mushrooms that now have an asterisk. I have eaten them before. I took a few; I won't eat pounds a day for several days in a row. They have been known as choice edible mushrooms going back to Roman times, but a few years ago someone died from them. Very specific circumstances.
We even found a gnome under a tree.....
And now your quiz. Can you identify this mushroom?
I stopped eating foraged mushrooms after the hubby went out with a self proclaimed mushroom expert and brought back some stuff that included a dutch fairy ring variety known locally as a honey mushroom. Their efforts were served at a dinner party with 8 people. I was the only person who got sick. But after losing fluids from all orifices for 3 days the charm of foraged mushrooms disappeared.
What we call a honey mushroom is Armillaria mellea. There are lots of look-alike mushrooms. I never eat anything that isn't 100% positive ID. My friend isn't just a self-proclaimed expert; he actually wrote the book on North American truffles. Literally. I am slowly (very slowly) expanding the mushrooms I'm comfortable identifying 100%. I have a new one now. We didn't 100% identify the pictures mushroom, but we are 97.7625% sure of what it was. We'll go back next year with it in mind; it's a choice edible.
It is ALWAYS advised that when you try a mushroom you've never eaten before, you should just eat a little, and don't eat more than one kind you haven't eaten before. There are some mushrooms that cause a reaction in SOME people. There's also the chance something gets picked that ain't quite right. Worse yet, there's routinely a news item around here about immigrants from Asia who go out locally and pick paddy straw mushrooms, but you can't really find those here. What you CAN find is Amanita phalloides The common name is Death Cap. It is a particularly nasty one. It causes your liver to produce a toxin that destroys the liver. By the time it goes to work, your body has already digested the mushroom.
It's also not a bad idea to not eat ALL the mushrooms you bring home. Save a few so just in case you get symptoms you can take them to the doctor with you so they might be able to figure out the toxin and find out if there's anything they can do to help you. For Amanita phalloides, liver transplant may be the only option!
Be careful out there.
I believe what the called a honey mushroom when I lived in the Netherlands that grew in a fairy ring was a species that used to be on the edible list but was later removed. That was the advice I got from another self proclaimed expert who grew up foraging with her dad, much like the first self proclaimed expert. I seemed to react badly to them but no one else at the dinner party got sick and there were 8 people at dinner that night.1 -
I forgot about the persimmon at the bottom of the fruit bowl. A little overripe but still delicious.
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You already know I love to roast vegetables in the cooler months. I don't run my oven when it's hot out. Well, I had never roasted a whole cauliflower until today. I had sort of roasted a whole cauliflower at once, but after I broke it down to smaller pieces and tossed with oil and seasoning.
That changed today.
It took me a long time to decide what to cook. I thought maybe potatoes. I thought maybe the Sparassis I need to cook (and might later). I even thought about maybe pasta or rice or even grits. Or some of the black beans I cooked on Thursday night. I had this cauliflower I wanted to cook all week. It was still in great shape - not even any dark spots. I've done really good the last few months not letting any produce get too old to cook.
So I cleaned this one up, made a seasoning blend with grapeseed oil, curry powder, garlic, salt, yellow mustard powder, and ancho powder. I poured some inside and rubbed the rest on the outside and set it in the convection at a HIGH temperature (450F) heat for an hour.
Looked pretty.
I sprinkled some Maldon salt on it, served some up, and dug in.
It was definitely tasty, and yes I ate the whole thing. Will I do it again? Maybe if I am making it for more than just me. If I break up the head first and toss with the oil and seasonings, it doesn't take as long to cook, and I can do it at a slightly lower temperature. Saves energy, but in winter I guess I need the heat anyway.... But breaking up the head first also means each little piece has crust all over it. Maybe not quite as crispy as this crust, so who knows. It was not difficult to cook, and was delicious.
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Here's my recent first attempt at a whole roasted cauliflower. I poached for 15 minutes in salted water early in the day (my husband refuses to eat cauliflower unless very tender) and left it to dry in the strainer to finish in the evening. Rubbed with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and then roasted in the air fryer for 30 minutes at 200C. We had that with rice and sambal goreng tempeh. Next time I want to try to add curry powder.
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