Rainbow Beef with Shiitake Mushrooms

This is a recipe that I originally got from my sister (thanks sis). Its one of those spectacular, showy, look what I made kind of dishes. If you are looking for something to impress your friends this is the recipe for you. Basically you make lettuce wraps with the rainbow beef, topping it with the rice noodles. Even the most manly man will love this, just ask the Shiitake guy. Here's the recipe, hope you guys like it as well as we do.

Ingredients:
4 pounds of ground chuck or grass fed beef
1 finely diced green pepper
1 finely diced red pepper
1 finely diced yellow pepper (I didn't have one)
1/2 a pound of Grandview Farm Shiitake Mushrooms
6 finely diced celery
6 finely diced carrots
1 package of rice noodles
2 Tbs oyster sauce
2 Tbs hoisin sauce
Peanut oil
Bibb lettuce or Romaine

Marinade for the Beef:
4 Teaspoons Sherry
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
4 Tablespoons of soy sauce
2 Tablespoons of water

Stir fry veggies

Rainbow beef in lettuce leaves

Method:
Marinate the beef for 5-10 minutes. While beef is marinating deep fry your rice sticks in the hot peanut oil. The rice sticks will expand rapidly. When they are done move them to a plate to drain. After you have made your rice sticks add your shiitake mushrooms to the hot oil. Let them cook until golden brown, then add all your peppers, carrots, and celery. Stir fry till tender. When veggies are done transfer to a plate. If you need to add more oil you can do so at this time. Add your beef and stir fry till meat is done. Add your veggies and oyster sauce to the beef and mix thoroughly. Arrange your rice sticks on a serving platter. Pour your beef and veggie mixture over the bed of crispy rice sticks. Then just fill a lettuce leaf with beef mixture and rice sticks. You can add the hoisin sauce for taste. This is totally optional. Makes about 12 servings. Enjoy!

                                                                                                          

Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

 Here is a great recipe using Shiitake Mushrooms. We are about to start at the Farmers Market and we wanted to have some new recipes for our customers. The Shiitake guy loves this one! I hope you will too!

 Ingredients:
2 pork tenderloin
6-8 slices of bacon cooked and crumbled
1 pound of Grandview Farm Shiitake Mushrooms (just sayin)
fresh rosemary about 2 sprigs
fresh thyme
1 small onion, finely chopped
6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
4 handfuls of fresh spinach, chopped
salt and pepper 

Method: 
Preheat your oven to 375F. Set your oven rack in the middle of the oven. Start by cooking your bacon until crispy then remove to a paper towel. Using the same pan (I use a cast iron skillet) add your mushrooms to the bacon grease (yes, I said bacon grease) and cook for 3 -5 minutes. Then add onions, garlic, rosemary, thyme, spinach, salt, and pepper. Saute until onions are soft and spinach has wilted. Remove pan from heat and set aside. Next you want to butterfly your pork tenderloins. If you don't know how to butterfly tenderloin there are some great tutorials you can find on You Tube. After the tenderloins are butterflied open them like a book, cover them with plastic wrap and pound with a meat mallet until they are about an inch thick. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. 

 Next you want to spread the Shiitake mixture over the two tenderloins. Add your crumbled bacon. Then starting at the narrow end of the tenderloin, roll it, then tie it with kitchen string. You can also use tooth picks to secure it. Place tenderloins in a roasting pan. Cook the tenderloins for 45 minutes, or until the inside reaches 145F on a meat thermometer. When the pork is done, transfer to a cutting board and allow it to rest for 10 minutes. Remove kitchen string. At this point I mix olive oil, lemon zest, chopped fresh parsley, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Then  when the pork is rested brush oil mixture over your tenderloins. Slice and serve. Bon appetite!

We will be at Pepper Place Farmers Market April 9th. We hope to see you there!

Golden Oyster Mushrooms

Golden Oysters

 These are called ( Pleurotus Citrinopileatus) also known as Golden Oysters. They are a delicate mushroom with a smooth velvety surface. They grow in clusters hosting a high number of individual mushrooms. Everyone is amazed at the brilliant yellow color of this fungi. They are most recognized as a wild mushroom but can be cultivated. There are many different species of the Oyster Mushroom. They also range in various colors like blue, pink, and grey. We plan on growing Blue Oysters in the fall. The Golden Oysters you see here we have grown on logs. Soon we will be growing them in organic straw.

So, the Mushroom Man wanted me to make something with these beautiful, delicate mushrooms. I thought, Okay, I'll give it a try! What about Oysters Rockefeller? That would be fun. Who doesn't like a play on words. The first thing I needed to find was those appetizer spoons Ive seen on Chopped. I could use those for the oyster shell.
So I set out on my little adventure. I found myself walking through this thrift store and there they were. They were perfect.

Golden Oysters Rockefeller

Now that I had the appetizer spoons I needed to make a recipe. I came home and checked out several methods for Oysters Rockefeller.  This is what I came up with…


Oysters Rockefeller Mushroom Recipe

Ingredients:

Several large Oyster Mushrooms (10-12)

2 T Butter

1 T Olive Oil 

Salt and Pepper

1/4 Cup of Shallots

1/2 a Bulb of Garlic (yes, we love garlic)

1 T White Wine

1 T Flour

1/2 Cup of Cream

6 to 8 oz of Fresh Spinach Chopped

1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese

1 T Panko Bread Crumbs

Chopped Parsley

Method:

Slice up your mushroom caps, disregard the stems. Melt your tablespoon of butter and olive oil in a large frying pan. (I use a well seasoned cast iron skillet) Bring the heat up. When it starts to sizzle stir in your mushroom caps. You want to cook your mushrooms until they are golden brown in color on both sides. Don't keep stirring them just let them sit and seer one side at a time. When they are done remove them to a separate dish. Season them with salt and pepper.

Next you want to add your shallots and garlic. You might need a little more olive oil. Cook these until soft. Make sure you don't burn the garlic. You can avoid this by keeping the mixture moving. Pour in your white wine and cook until the alcohol has evaporated. When this is done remove to a separate bowl. 

Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter. Whisk in your flour for about 2 minutes. Making sure there are no lumps. Then pour in your cream. When this starts to thicken stir in your spinach. After a few minutes add your shallot mixture. If needed season with more salt and pepper. 

In a separate bowl mix your parmesan and bread crumbs. Turn your oven on medium broil. Now you are ready to assemble your dish. Gather your appetizer spoons. Add a tablespoon of the spinach mixture, some Oyster Mushrooms, a tablespoon of the parmesan mixture, then drizzle with olive oil. Broil until golden brown about 3-4 minutes. Serve with chopped parsley. Bon Appetit!

Cooking with fresh herbs

                                                       Fresh herbs from the garden

 There are several recipes you can use fresh herbs in. Most of the time I just cut an assortment of herbs, chop them up and add them to dishes I prepare. 

Stuffed Shiitake with Insalata Caprese

Insalata Caprese is a Neapolitan dish from the island of Capri. It's a simple dish made with buffalo mozzarella, vine-ripe tomatoes, fresh basil, and extra virgin olive oil. This is a dish we make often in the summer. We decided to stuff our Shiitakes with this delightful summer salad. Just take your Shiitake Mushrooms and cut off the stems. Place Shiitake mushroom caps on a cookie sheet. Pre-heat your oven to 350. Drizzle olive oil over your Shiitake caps. Add some salt and pepper. Place in your oven for 10 to 15 minutes. While the Shiitakes are roasting make your Insalata Caprese. In a small mixing bowl combine chopped vine-ripe tomatoes, diced mozzarella, chopped basil, extra virgin olive oil with some salt and pepper. Stir all that together and let sit to infuse flavor. When your Shiitakes are done roasting add you Insalata to the mushroom caps. Buon Appetito!

Just a side note:

You can use your stems to make a vegetable stock or put them in a food processor and finely chop them for adding to a stuffing later. If that doesn't work for you, just throw them in your compost, they won't be wasted! 

Wooly Thyme

This is called wooly thyme. Isn't it cool? I just love it! I really just show this off. I have common Thyme that I use in most recipes. 

Sage

Sage is a special herb with a sweet, savory flavor. It is used in the culinary world as well as medicinally. It's leaves are grayish green with a silvery tint. Since sage is very delicate it would be recommended to add to your dishes at the end. If you are stuffing a turkey or chicken I highly suggest using sage. It will be absorbed into the bird giving off an amazing aroma and flavor. 

If you want more recipes or ideas cooking with fresh herbs just leave me a comment or email me. Also, check us out on face book. We post weekly what we will have at Pepper Place Farmers Market. This week we will have Star-Gazer lilies. Their scent is amazing. Come join us on Saturday for our log grown Shiitake Mushrooms, fresh cut herbs, organic eggs, and lovely lilies. Hope to see you there!

Mushrooms and More!

 Morel Mushrooms

One of the biggest Morels

    Hi everyone! It's mushroom season again. Winter is finally over and the beautiful blossoms of spring fill the air with incredible fragrance. I will just leave that picture with you and not mention all the pollen.  Have you ever heard of morel mushrooms?  My husband, yes, thats the mushroom guy, has been wanting to go on a morel hunt for a very long time, and we finally found a foray in Georgia. So, we made our plans with Gary, my Father-In-Law, our son Cian, Charles (the fun-guy) and myself, and headed to Forsyth, Georgia for the weekend. It was a 2 day hunt. Looking for morels can be difficult. It seems like they hide among the Ash trees and choose when they want to be found. There was about 20 of us on this foray. We really enjoyed making new friends and Charles finally got to talk to several mushroom heads, who spoke the same language as him. He was thrilled!

Gary's morel find.

        Cian was in the lead!      

                                                           It's Shiitake Season!

    Now we are back in Alabama getting ready for our mushroom season. We will be at Pepper Place Farmers Market on May 2nd. We will have our Shiitake's as well as fresh herbs and farm fresh eggs. We are really looking forward to this next season. We hope you guys will come out and join us. We will also be at several other markets in June. We will let you know those markets and dates soon.

Fresh Herbs

I don't know about you, but I love to cook with fresh herbs. I enjoy going out to my garden and picking whatever I need for a meal. I have Basil, Thyme, Rosemary, Oregano, Parsley, Mint, Cilantro, Chives, and there is more to come. We plan to have these fresh herbs available at the markets. There are so many recipes you can do with these herbs. One of the Shiitake guy's favorite's, is an italian dipping sauce. Just take an assortment of fresh herbs, a handful of each…Oregano, Parsley, Basil, and Thyme, then finely chop them up. Add about 6 garlic cloves crushed, more or less depending on your preference,  then add your favorite olive oil, and some salt and pepper. Take some warm crusty bread from the oven and dip till your hearts content. Enjoy!

JULY 4TH WEEKEND

Pepper Place Farmers Market

It was a great weekend! We had family and friends come down from Tennessee. We also worked the market 2 weeks in a row. That is unusual for us. We are always at the mercy of our mushrooms. The Shitake's decided to show more of themselves this time. With a little help from the harvested Chanterelles we sold out, now thats a good day!

The fungi (fun-guy) shooting fireworks with our niece, Amara.

A pink smoke bomb just for Moriah.

Watch out for that fire cracker!

The fungi (fun-guy) getting in on the action.

 We had our friends the Paul's join us on Sunday for some fellowship and fun.

 Playing winker with the Paul boys.

 Cian on the slip and slide.

Watch out! Here comes Ashton.

Aidan getting a head start.

Moriah's on the move.

                                                                                                     Cousins                                                         

Show us how its done, Andrew!

Phil and Becca playing chess, while Hosanna reads a book.

It was a full weekend for sure. Everyone headed back to Tennessee around 4:00. We spent the rest of the evening with our friends JJ and Suzie. 

JJ and Suzie

We should be back at Pepper Place July 19th and we are hoping to be there July 26th.  So keep you fingers crossed. We also plan to keep an eye out for Black Trumpets. I think the Chanterelles are starting to fade. So look for us in the big parking lot. See you there!

It's Mushroom season again!

      Hi everyone! Just wanted to let you know we are back at the market. It has been a long winter here in Montevallo, Alabama. We have been waiting for the weather to get warm enough for our mushrooms to wake up from a very long winter's sleep. We have only been able to do 2 markets so far. But the Shiitake guy just told me that we should be back in business soon.

      We had a great day on Saturday. Pepper Place was filled with people. It was nice to see old friends and meet new ones.

    

We will be back on the 28th of June and we are also shooting for the 5th of July. As we move towards the summer months we will have more details and available dates.

    This was a great eye catcher at the market. The logs looked like legs so we  added some shoes. Usually by the end of the market we are picking the mushrooms right off the logs to sell to our costumers.

      As some of you know we gather Chanterelle mushrooms. We will have them as well as the Shiitake's this season. They are different from the Shiitake mushroom. The Shiitake is a very meaty mushroom with an earthy flavor. Chanterelles are more mild to the taste and fragrant. Some people say fruity. You just have to try it for yourself. So come on out on Saturday, we look forward to seeing you.