Oyster Mushrooms

Their hearty texture makes mushrooms a perfect stand-in for meat in many vegetarian recipes.  Vegetarian cookbooks are filled with many mushroom recipes including a few of my favorites from The New Vegetarian Epicure (adapted here).
 Storage and Preparation
Keep these mushrooms in a bag in the fridge until you are ready to eat them.  Do not wash them. They will last for about 1 week as long as they don’t get wet. These oyster mushrooms are grown in pasteurized straw and organic millet.  It’s a very clean process with no dirt involved so there really isn’t any need to wash them.  You may want to remove the very tiny amount of straw at the base where they were cut, but the whole thing is edible.
While they look fairly exotic, these mushrooms can stand in for white mushrooms in most recipes– we just wouldn’t recommend stuffing them, though you can…

• Sauté with butter and thyme and serve over rice
• Roast in the oven with some olive oil
• Dehydrate and save them for future stews, sauces and soups

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Oyster Mushroom Chowder

You can use sweet peppers or if you like spice, throw in the poblanos.  Corn would also be a nice addition to this recipe.
Ingredients (Serves 6-8)

• 2 large yellow onions
• 1 Tbs. olive oil
• 1 Tbs. butter
• 1 lb. oyster mushrooms, sliced
• 3/4 cup dry white wine
• 1 3/4 lbs. potatoes
• 1 cup chopped leeks, white parts only
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp dried (or 2 tsp. fresh) thyme leaves
• 5 cups vegetable broth
• 2 Tbs. Marsala cooking wine
• 1/2 cup finely diced pepper
• 2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup heavy cream​ ​

Directions
1. Peel the onions, cut them in half lengthwise, and slice them in very thin wedges.  Heat butter and oil in a large-non-stick pan over medium-high heat.  Add onions and sauté until they begin to brown.
2. Add the oyster mushrooms to the onions and cook until they are golden brown, stirring frequently (15-20 minutes).  Add the wine and cook until it evaporates.
3. Peel the potatoes, and dice them.  Boil them in a pot with water, salt, leeks, celery bay leaf and thyme.  Once it starts to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are soft
4. Add the potato mixture to the mushrooms, along with the vegetable broth, marsala, diced pepper and add pepper to taste.  Simmer together for another 10 minutes, then stir in the milk and cream. ​

Wild Mushroom Ragout

Use any combo of wild mushrooms you like here (shitakes, porcini, morels and oyster mushrooms are all great options).  Fill in the rest with white button or crimini mushrooms.
 Ingredients (Serves 6)

• 1 3/4 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced or cut into chunks.
• 1 large yellow onions in large slices
• 1 large red onion in large slices
• 1 Tbs. olive oil
• 2 Tbs. + 1 tsp. butter
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp. thyme leaves
• 2 stalks celery, sliced thinly
• 1 Tbs. flour
• Pinch of cayenne (optional)
• 2 cups heated vegetable broth ​​

Directions
1. Heat 1 tsp. olive oil and 2 tsp. butter in a nonstick pan.  Sauté onions until they begin to soften. Add the copped garlic and salt and pepper to taste.  Cook until the onions and garlic begin to brown.  Add half the red wine, the bay leaf and thyme and the sliced celery.  Reduce the heat and simmer until wine cooks down.
2. In a separate non-stick pan, heat 2 tsp. olive oil with 2 tsp. butter.  Sauté the mushrooms with a sprinkle of salt and pinch of cayenne until the excess liquid cooks off and they begin to brown.  Add the remaining wine, lower the heat and allow the wine to cook down.  Add the onions to the mushrooms.
3. Add 1 Tbs. of butter to the pan that had the onions in it and let it meld.  Store in the flor and continue to stir until it thickens and turns golden.  Whisk in the hot broth and continue to whist as it thickens.  Add the sauce to the mushrooms and onions.  Simmer everything together for about 10 more minutes.  Serve over rice.