Chris Parker: The Man behind the Mushrooms Part 3
In this post Chris shares some inspiring ideas about what to do with your mushroom harvest once you have all these wonderful, tasty, home-grown mushrooms.
What are you favorite things to do with mushrooms once harvested?
It didn’t take long for Chris to declare his favorite use for mushrooms...
“Cook them! Sauté with butter...or if vegan with oil of choice.”
There are some many different types of mushrooms, that have such subtle difference when cooked Chris thinks he could talk for 5 hours or more about different recipes and ways of cooking them! Instead he choose his two favorite recipes/ways of cooking for the ever versatile and flavorsome Oyster mushroom.
1. Noodle Bowl with oyster mushrooms
a. Shred them apart, sauté.
b. Sauté them for a while.
c. Make a sauce using rice wine vinegar, bit of tamari sesame oils, bit of powdered ginger, powdered garlic, and corn starch and cold water.
d. Pour on the sauce, after they have turned brown cut the heat and let the mushrooms absorb the flavors,
“It gives them a really rich flavor”
2. BBQ cluster of Oyster Mushroom
a . Put a whole cluster in a dry cast iron pan, with another on top over a low/medium heat.
b. Sear on one side
b. Flip them and let them sear on the top.
c. Make a BBQ sauce:
Vinegar base, mustard powder, oregano, thyme, paprika and plenty of oil.
e. pour on sauce, flip, put cast iron back on cook for 5min, and flip for another 5 mins.
Chris says about this recipe that “Each layer of mushrooms that is there gives you are really meaty texture, it absorbs all the oil an flavor..it’s like fat...It has fooled me into thinking it is pork a number of times.”
Drying & Freezing
Chris explains how different mushrooms dehydrate well and some don’t. Shiitakes, Oysters and Lion’s Mane are ones that dry really well.
Freezing mushrooms – Chanterelles – sauté in mushroom and then freeze them. Drying doesn’t work for these guys – Chris says them end up tasting like cardboard!
Making Medicines
Mushrooms have been used for centuries for their medicinal properties. Chris uses Reishi as an example, referring to its long standing in use in Chinese and Japanese culture, to explain how there are some mushrooms however good for you, you wouldn’t want to eat it! Luckily for us, it does dehydrate well.
Making medicines is complex and can often involve using alcohol and water(?) to do a double extraction. This is aimed at getting all the nutrients and benefits from the mushrooms and distilling them into an easy to use liquid or tincture. This process is a bit complicated for this blog, however Chris has an idea below for a quick, holistic way of getting mushrooms benefits into your body. The Vegan Bone Broth.
Vegan Bone Broth
Easy to make, store and use the Vegan Bone Broth is an excellent way of getting all the health benefits of mushrooms into your diet regularly.
Not only is it simple to make but Chris also has a time saving tip for storage and use. Pop the liquid into ice cube trays. When they are frozen pop the cubes in a zip-lock bag. You can then just use this frozen stock whenever you need to, in a tea, or maybe even your morning oatmeal
How to make:
Use a good variety of mushrooms, some Chris suggests are:
>> Shiitake
>> Oysters,
>> Turkey Tails,
>> Lion’s Mane
>> Maitake
Pop them in a slow cooker (with a similar proportion of water to mushrooms) and cook over night on a low heat. He suggests you avoid using Reishi in this as it provides a bitterness that is tricky to mask.
Once cooked you can drain off the liquid to keep and use.
Why cook your mushrooms?
The long period of cooking time in hot water helps break down the chitin. Chris explains the importance of this being broken down “ if you don’t cook your mushrooms for a longer period, your body can not break down the chitin and you might not get nutrients from the mushrooms you would get if you cooked them for longer”
A last word from Chris:
“ I would recommend cooking your mushrooms for quite a well, and they taste better, as long as you don’t burn them!”