Hey, do you know what day it is? Um, let me think...being unemployed, (retired that is), with no clock to punch, not a boss in sight, sometimes the day of the week just slips my mind.
But NOT today... It's Friday, yep, and you all know what that means...it's our food fightin' Friday, with CAPITAL F.
So let's get ready to fumble, fling ,fork, frenzy on some fantastic food.
Here we go my foodie friends, this is going to be fun!
Today I am serving a new dish I tried recently with a most unusual ingredient.
Lions Mane. What the heck is lions mane? That's what I said to @thebigsweed when he brought it home from a local farmers market. "I'm supposed to cook that thing, it's weird", now I have to figure out a recipe.
Thanks to Mr. Google, I soon learned what this strange thing was sitting in my kitchen.
Hericium Erinaceus , now that's a mouthful. It's a big mushroom that grows wild in North America, as well as in Europe and Asia. The amazing thing is, this weird big white mushroom was spotted last year on our #farm, we even took a few photos
but never moved forward to research it.
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We now know it grows on hardwoods, is part of the tooth fungus group and it's ok to eat. Whoopie!
But I still don't know how to cook it or what other food groups should be pared, I mean paired, with this bad boy.
I complained, moaned and stomped around the kitchen, ready to throw that big white ugly thing out into the backyard.Then I saw it, my saving grace, on the table was a 4x6 index card with a blow by blow description of...wait for it,
LIONS MANE CRAB CAKES. That wonderful woman at the market had provided this recipe just for me, I was sure it was JUST for me, I love crab cakes.
Here's a picture of the ingredients.
Now just for fun, I wanted to weigh this gianormous mushroom. Pretty darn big, right?
So I began with the chopping, slicing and dicing. I had to sweat the mushroom first to get out the water, that big guy was really bloated. It took a while to slim him down and squeeze out all the water. Once that was done, the rest was easy. All I did was sauté the scallions, add the lions mane, crab meat, a little butter and brown it up. Then remove from heat let cool enough to handle, then add a couple eggs, panko bread crumbs, lemon zest, 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, chives, parsley, pinch of tarragon, a nice shot of hot sauce and grated parmesan.
Worked all this good stuff into a nice, hold together consistency, formed some nice thick patties and into a 425 degree oven. Beautiful!
With a side of baked cauliflower and a fresh tomato salad...Dinner was served.
The best part of the whole cooking adventure...Finding this big, beautiful, fungus growing right here on the #homestead.
There's nothing better than discovering another #food source provided for us by my friend, Mother #nature.
Thanks mom...
A big shout out to our foodie friends @idig, @jlsplatts and @dandays for having the #fff party. Thanks guys.
Now let's eat.
Enjoy the weekend everyone!
I thought that you just peeled out a hedgehog😀 look at the third snap.. it looks like a hedgehod sitting from here😊
No mushroom for me.. but I trust you this one is tasty.. who can beat the crab's fillet sweet and tender along with the herbs?
But @farm-mom ... I pass.. I can't eat mushroom or I'll die 😀
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Oh boy, you must be highly allergic. I'll keep that hedgehog away from you, I promise.😁
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@farm-mom, you’re such a great contender every week, thanks for continuing to load our feeds with excellent reading material—that was real fun.
The cakes look just like crab cakes to me, I know they don’t taste the same, be real with me, Mrs, Jurg.. will you send Sweed to fetch more of that hardwood growing fungus among us?
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Hello there Arts, the crab cakes were made with crab and the lions mane mushrooms, as well as assorted spices and herbs. They were really delicious, although I had my doubts upon looking at this very weird hunk of white mushroom.
We are so fortunate to live here, with such an abundance of resources, plus we are always busy and happy to be together. It's a laugh a minute. We are truly blessed.
I am now in the business of planning our winter get away south. Going to Florida in late January thru March. Returning in time to tap the sugar maple trees for our syrup making. Never thought I would be so busy in retirement...It's been great!!
Hope all is well with you and pura.
Thanks for dropping by, peace my friend.
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I enjoyed very much the story and the pics, I wish i'd enjoyed the dish too, hehe. and just a little notabene: F is for #fungifriday also :P
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Thanks so much for stopping by. I am so glad you liked my post, the crab cakes were really good. The loins mane mushroom was so big, I used it in two other dishes.
Enjoy your day and be well.
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Thanks so much for stopping by. I am so glad you liked my post, the crab cakes were really good. The loins mane mushroom was so big, I used it in two other dishes.
Enjoy your day and be well.
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Great post. Yum. They look delicious. Now I know what to do with them, but I'll buy them at the farmer's market.
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Good day @owasco, glad you stopped by. It's really a good idea to get your mushrooms at the market rather than in the wild. You have to really know your mushrooms to harvest from the forest. I am just beginning that quest. There are so many wild mushrooms on our farm, but the lions mane was the first one I have harvested. Study, study, study...that's what I'm gonna do before I go after the wild ones.
Have a wonderful day.
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I only just recently tried Lions Mane, as well! There's a "mushroom guy" that comes to the farmers market sometimes, and I couldn't resist when I saw he had some of that to try. I didn't realize how much moisture it held until I started cooking it and it shrunk down to almost nothing, haha. I think I need to try again because it wasn't my favorite. I think I used it in tacos? I know it's supposed to have a lot of good health benefits making it worthwhile to have a second taste! So cool that it grows on your property!
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Hello there @plantstoplanks, they do hold a lot of moisture. My recipe called for sweating the lions mane twice. I used it in crab cakes and loved it, it added a mild mushroom flavor. The next time I get one, I have a recipe to make a mushroom gravy that sounds pretty good.
Thanks for dropping by. Have a blessed day.
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Ooh, I bet the gravy is a good idea!
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That certainly does not look like a food ingredient;);) Amazing find right there on your farm! Your Crab cakes look sooo delicious, lovely fff post @farm-mom.
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It's so funny how we spotted it last year, not realizing it was even edible, let alone delicious and so expensive to buy.
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You forgot to mention if it was tasty y/n :-)
Does it taste like a mushroom or more like something else?
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Hello there @bubke, yes, it was tasty, but with a very mild mushroom flavor. I am just so happy to have found out that it grows here. Going out tomorrow to see if there are any to be harvested.
Thanks for dropping by...Enjoy!
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View or trade
BEER.Hey @farm-mom, here is a little bit of
BEERfor you. Enjoy it!Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
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Oh thanks a lot, it's after 12 here so I guess I can go for it👍
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Amazing! I've only come across (a small) lions' mane once. I didn't try that one either, though I have tried almost a dozen species of wild mushrooms now. Thanks for sharing this one - now I know something to try when I find it again!
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Hello again, now that I know these are ok to eat, I am now encouraged to learn more about the edible wild mushrooms here in Upstate. I see mushrooms all over the place.
Thanks for the inspiration @viking-ventures.
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Yes, sometimes the biggest hurdle with mushrooms is simply knowing that yes, you can!!! Even when you stick to all the easy mushrooms, there's a lot you can play with safely - just only try one new one at a time in case you have a sensitivity to one. Also, you can't hurt yourself simply handling mushrooms - just don't put it in your mouth until you know what you have... I will often "tickle" a mushroom to find out what is underneath - does it have gills or pores or teeth?
Do try to find a book for your area though - mushrooms change from region to region.
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Thanks friend will do
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Wow nice find. I have yet to find one big enough for a meal. I bought a kit on amazon and grew my own and it produced a good 8 batches.
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Yes I was told by one of my neighbors that we have all kinds of edible mushrooms around here. I have to just do the research so I can identify them, so I don't poison my hubby...hehe
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Oyster mushrooms should be out now too, they are pretty easy to od since they grow out of trees and dead logs and have gills that run down the stem.
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Your Food Fight Friday Contender has been entered into Round 63
May your contender make it out alive and not be placed in a permanent food coma!
Good Luck
and
Have a
!BEER
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Command accepted!
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Hello!
This post has been manually curated, resteemed
and gifted with some virtually delicious cake
from the @helpiecake curation team!
Much love to you from all of us at @helpie!
Keep up the great work!
Manually curated by @solominer.
@helpie is a Community Witness.
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