Mushroom Shares From Spring To Fall!
Thank you so much from all of us at Forest To Fork for considering a CSA share order of our mushrooms! We look forward to providing you with our unique products throughout the year.
At Forest To Fork we pride ourselves on supplying the most respected restaurants and discerning home chefs with the highest quality and freshest wild and wild crafted mushrooms and wild food products available.
New for this year, Gentleman Forager will be growing our own mushrooms as part of our retails store at the Keg & Case Market on West 7th in St. Paul. You will be receiving mushrooms grown in MN by us, which is an adventure we hope you are looking forward to as much as we are!
Mushrooms provide a unique opportunity to add their delicious umami flavors to almost any recipe while also adding the uniquely healthy properties they contain to your diet. Mushrooms are rich in micro-nutrients, protein, anti-oxidants and many vitamins – including being a natural food source of Vitamin D. Mushrooms can be a transformative ingredient, especially those that are not grown in the dark such as white button or portabella.
Mushrooms can elevate you to far away culinary destinations and offer flexibility in preparation. Pick a recipe you are comfortable with and use these as an opportunity to extend your culinary chops. Here are some guides to help you get the most from your mushroom share:
STORAGE:
All mushrooms need a moist environment to maintain their freshness. Store all mushrooms in a refrigerator with a damp (not wet!) towel on top – never seal in an airtight container. Refresh the damp towel from time to time to extend storage time.
CLEANING:
Most mushrooms provided through the CSA will have a high yield, meaning you can cook and eat almost everything.
COOKING:
A good general rule for all mushrooms is to pan roast them in a dry, hot pan (no butter or oil yet!) before adding them to any recipe. This concentrates the flavor and sweats out the water content. When all of the liquid released has evaporated, add a touch of butter or oil to brown them up beautifully every time. After browning, add salt and pepper to taste.
Add an $80 mushroom share to your current CSA order and receive 1/2 pound of delicious fresh mushrooms with your CSA box twice a month in July, August, September and October (that is the equivalent to over 18 packages of white button mushrooms!).
Please follow this link to add mushrooms to your current CSA share, https://www.pahls.com/mushroom-shares/.
Check out some of the varieties you’ll receive:
Baby Shiitake (Lentinula edodes)
Fresh Shiitake’s rich, meaty, buttery flavor is six times more intense than that of ordinary button mushroom. Use it to add depth to a myriad of dishes, but it is especially suited for sautéed dishes, soups and stir-fry. Baby Shiitake are at their most tender age, and unlike larger shiitake, they can be utilized fully, stem and all, with zero waste.
Black Poplar (Agrocybe aegerita)
This mushrooms beautiful chocolate brown caps make for a stunning presentation in many dishes. The Black Poplar has bold and earthy umami flavor and are frequently described as “foresty” and peppery, with a firm texture and satin finish that holds up beautifully in cooking with near 100% utilization. Trim the bottom of the stem, and they are ready to use. Phenomenal with a grilled steak.
Blue Oyster (Pleurotus ostreatus var. columbinus)
A delicate, mild flavor with a velvety texture. Oysters pair well with chicken, seafood and white meats. This mushroom’s meaty texture lends well to frying, stir-fry, and braising. They are extremely perishable, so use Oyster mushrooms as soon as possible for optimum flavor and freshness. Stems are not edible, but best used to flavor soups and stocks.
Brown Beech (Hypsizygus tessellatus)
The Beech or Shimiji is a delicious mushroom that can be roasted, steamed, sautéed and pickled. Add to soups, stir-fry’s, omelets and noodle dishes. Beech pair well with with seafood, citrus, grilled meats, white wine and fresh herbs. No trimming needed. Completely ready to use as the come.
King Trumpet (Pleurotus eryngii)
This stout, thick fleshed mushroom is pleasantly chewy top to bottom with a delicate taste of woodsy and sweet. Adapts well in French, Italian, Mediterranean and Chinese cuisines. It stands up to sautéing, stir-frying, and grilling, becoming golden brown and nicely crisp. The stems are frequently used to create faux scallops. Simply trim the bottom of the stem, and use the rest of the mushroom.
Wild MN Chanterelles (Cantharellus cibarius)
These are the straight out of the forest to you, and are the most popular wild mushroom in MN. Rich in flavor, with a distinctive fruity taste and the aroma of dried apricot. Great mushrooms to sauté in butter, oil or cream. They also contain small amounts of water and alcohol-soluble flavorings, which lend the mushrooms to pair well to recipes involving wine or other cooking alcohols. Rinse off under faucet, but do not soak. Once clean, the whole mushroom is ready to use. Can be cut, or peeled like string cheese.
Nebrodini (Pleurotus nebrodensis)
This large, firm mushroom has rich, sweet, buttery flavor. One of the best selling mushrooms for Gentleman Forager, the texture is like cutting into a finely cooked ribeye steak. This mushrooms makes an awesome vegetarian substitute. Enjoy its unique attributes by keeping it simple: slice in ¼” pieces and saute’ in butter, or slice in half, brush with olive oil, grill. A minute sliver at the base of the stem and you’ll have close to 100% usability.