I Made Myself an Interesting Lunch
You may have seen my television show in early November when Jack Algiere, the “Four Season Grower” at the Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture, demonstrated how to create a shiitake mushroom log. The shiitake is an edible mushroom used extensively in many Asian cuisines, and its rich, smoky flavor has made it highly desirable in other cultures, as well. A symbol of longevity in Asia, Shiitake mushrooms offer many health-promoting properties. I have always loved this fungi and I found it fascinating that you can actually grow these mushrooms yourself. If you missed that show, you can watch the video here. I was fortunate enough to take home a nicely blooming shiitake log. When those mushrooms were mature, I harvested them and brought them into the kitchen. That log is now resting in my cold house, where, if things go according to plan, it will bloom again in about six months with a new crop of beautiful shiitakes.
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- With the Chinese noodles plated atop the wilted spinach and then topped with the sauteed shiitake, I made myself quite a spectacular and healthy lunch!
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- I had also picked a handful of baby spinach from the cold house and wilted it slightly in the wok.
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- After harvesting the shiitake from the oak log, I quartered them and sauteed them lightly in a wok along with some slices of fresh peeled ginger in a fruity olive oil, a bit of sesame oil, and a sprinkling of salt and freshly ground pepper.
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- I boiled up a plate of fresh Chinese noodles.
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- There is quite an assortment and all growing so well.
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- A closer look – you can see the shiitake stems still protruding from the log.
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- This is the white oak log that was inoculated with shiitake mycelium six months ago, producing the mushrooms I recently picked.
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- Radish – Cincinnati Market is an heirloom radish that is deep red, 6″ long, and tapered. The flesh is tender, crisp, and mild.
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- Bunching Onion – Deep Purple – Scallions that are red-purple in color
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- Arugula is a spicy and aromatic salad green. It’s also known as rocket, roquette, rugula and rucola, and is popular in Italian cuisine.
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- Mustard Greens – Early Mizuna – A Japanese mustard green often found in Mesclun mixes. Its bright green, serrated leaves are wonderful in in stir fries, salad, sandwiches and soup.
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- Onion Barletta – These are beautiful silver, white small pickling onions, also great for grilling whole.
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- Endive – Clodia – These fringed leaves are great in salad mixes.
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- Carrot – Creme de Lite F1 – These lovely creamy-skinned, tapering roots have a creamy flesh and a juicy, sweet taste.
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- The other end of the cold house is where my citrus trees are stored for the winter. I’ve been picking a lot of citrus lately.
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- This is the cold house, where vegetables are planted right in the fertile ground.
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