Saturday, 04 October 2008

  • Thought to Self

    After watching the Vice Pres debate, I was left with a few questions that were never addressed, one was the illegal immigrants, and the other question was, "health care" - Now I know that this probable are questions that should be addressed to the President elects but it would be nice to see how the VP's stand on the issue, I was told that all the billions of $$ we spent on this stupid war we cant win, we could have given health care to every American, and correct our educational system and fix every bridge in the country. 
    How nice of the soon to be x-president to leave this country in such great shape -




Sunday, 14 September 2008

  • Mushrooms -

     

    Boy, its been a long time since I blogged...  I am fine, not healthy, found out i had diabetes and Im working on bringing my sugar low ... lord what a job - if anyone knows of a 'herb' that I can take to help with my sugar, please leave me a comment.

    Well its that time of the year when the mushrooms start to come out here in Michigan, I ve picked Mushrooms since I was a kid - The trick to staying alive is to avoid all 'White' mushrooms, and just pick what u know is eatable - the mushroom above is a killer, its called "angle of death" if a fly lands on it the fly will die.. no kidding .




    The above mushroom is an edible mushroom - very sweet, the best way to cook mushrooms, are to take a wet piece of bounty and try to remove all the dirt, u can boil them for a few minutes also -

    bolete-print.JPGBoletus subglabripes 

    Classified as Edible

    Consult your Wild Mushroom guide for a more in-depth description.




    Recipe for Oyster Mushrooms 

    June 26, 2008 | By Larry In Fish | Comments(6)

    Oyster Mushrooms

    Oyster mushrooms are very good to eat and you should be able to find them at any decent market. They are commonly used in Japanese and Chinese cuisine as a delicacy. This recipe is very easy and is nothing more than a basic stir fry. Normally I just sauté my mushrooms in garlic and butter and that tastes great, but I think this is a lot better! Instead of just adding garlic and butter we are adding other ingredients such as soy sauce, white wine and rosemary. I was really amazing by the great flavor that the mushrooms had after frying them. If by some chance Oyster mushrooms are not available to you, I would think this recipe would go great with many other types of mushrooms as well. Enjoy.
    Oyster MushroomsOyster Mushrooms

    Ingredients:
    8 ounces fresh oyster mushrooms (rinsed)
    1 tablespoon garlic (minced)
    2 teaspoons olive oil
    1 teaspoon rosemary (minced)
    1 teaspoon butter
    2 teaspoons all purpose flour
    1 teaspoon dry white wine (or sherry)
    1 tablespoon soy sauce

    Cooking Instructions:
    Oyster MushroomsOyster Mushrooms

    Step 1: Slice mushrooms into pieces. Sauté garlic in olive oil for 15 seconds. Add mushrooms and sauté 3 minutes.
    Step 2:     Add rosemary and butter and stir fry until butter is melted. Sprinkle mushrooms with flour and stir fry.
    Step 3: Add wine and soy sauce and cook until liquid slightly thickens and the mushrooms are tender.


    Oyster Mushroom 


    I also came across a mushroom called Platterful. This mushroom is edible but has absolutely no taste. They are very plentiful here in the spring and early summer. But are of no use.

    Platterful Mushroom

    Platterful Mushroom (Tricholomopsis platyphylla)

    Cap-2 to 5 inches brownish grey streaked with dark radial fibers. Gills attached.Stem-3 to 5 inches fibrous with tough rind.Spore Print WhiteSeason-May to early October

    Habitat-Found on logs, stumps and wood debris.



    Tips for collecting and identifying edible Wild mushrooms 

    There is a lot to learn depending on how involved you want to get. You might want to focus on the easy to identify edible wild mushrooms when you first start out. A few I would suggest would be, the Morel, Oyster mushroom, Chanterelle and the Shaggy Mane. These all have fairly easy to identify characteristics. Several good books on identifying wild mushrooms is a must have. When you are choosing a book the colored pictures of the mushroom is as important as the information it provides. You want the pictures to be as true to the actual mushroom as possible to help with accurate identification.

    For collecting your mushrooms carry a sharp pocket knife. Cut them off close to the ground, but high enough to leave the dirt behind. If you are collecting a mushroom for identification- take the whole mushroom. Make sure you get all of the stem. Do not put them in plastic. A plastic bag will destroy the mushrooms before you can even get them home. Use paper or a basket with a flat bottom. Do not mix varieties of mushrooms and never mix poisonous or mushrooms you are unsure of in the same bag. I like to carry paper lunch bags with me for collecting specimens I want to take home to identify. I package each of these separately.