Mushrooms for eating
Fresh mushroom recipes
Simple, savory ways to cook the fresh mushrooms we grow in New Smyrna. We are writing the full recipes up one at a time from our own kitchen, so what is here right now is the technique and the dishes these mushrooms take to best. That does more for a mushroom than any recipe does. Our fresh mushrooms are pickup only at the farmers market, and we never ship them.
What fresh Lion's Mane is good at
Lion's Mane is the substitution mushroom. Dense, mild, faintly sweet, and once it is seared it pulls into strands that read as crab or lobster to most people. The dishes it slots into:
- Steaks. Half-inch slabs, pressed and seared on both sides, finished with butter, garlic, lemon, and black pepper.
- Cakes. Shredded, dry-sautéed hard to drive off the water, bound, formed, and pan-fried to a golden crust.
- Scampi. Quick sear, plenty of garlic, fat, a squeeze of lemon, over pasta or bread.
- Tacos and sandwiches. Pulled into shreds and crisped at the edges, then treated like any other filling.
What the oysters are good at
Blue, pink, and Italian brown oysters are thin, quick, and they crisp beautifully at the edges. They want high heat and a short time in the pan.
- Stir-fry. Torn into petals, very hot pan, kept moving.
- Sheet-pan roast. Tossed with oil, spread in a single layer, roasted hot until the edges go crisp.
- Crispy tacos. Torn, roasted or fried until the edges crackle, seasoned, loaded into tortillas.
- Fried bites. Dredged or battered, fried, drained, salted while they are still hot.
Pioppino and the Chef Mix follow the same rules. Pioppino has long, firm stems, so give it a bit more time in the dry pan before the fat goes in.
The recipes themselves are still being written
We would rather put up a handful of recipes we actually cook than a long list we do not. Each one gets written out properly, cooked, photographed as the real dish, and added here when it is ready, so this page fills in over time rather than all at once.
If there is a dish you want to see written up here, tell us at the market.
Start with the pan, not the recipe
Nearly every mushroom recipe worth cooking is one good sear plus two or three other ingredients. Drive the water out of the pan, build a real crust, and a plain skillet of mushrooms is already good enough to eat standing at the stove. Get that part right and the recipe stops being the hard bit.
So the technique comes first, and it is right below. Six steps, no special equipment. Learn it once and every dish above gets easier.
From our kitchen
How I actually cook them
Learn to cook mushrooms from a real mushroom farmer who cooks them every single day. No fancy gear, no long ingredient list.
- Start with a cast iron or stainless pan on medium-high heat.
- Add your shredded or chopped mushrooms to the dry pan. Don't crowd them, and don't add water or oil yet.
- Mushrooms are about 90% water. Let them release it and reduce down, no oil at first.
- Once that water cooks off and they take on a brown sear, add your oil or butter.
- I like to add garlic, onion, black pepper, and paprika here.
- Figure about 5 to 10 minutes dry, then another 5 to 10 with the oil. After that, cook them into whatever you're making.
Storage
Keep them fresh
What kills mushrooms fastest is moisture, so keep them on the drier side. A paper bag in the fridge, never sealed plastic. If they do dry out on you, don't toss them, they're perfect for soup.
Preorder for pickup
Have yours waiting at the market
Fresh mushrooms sell out fast at the booth. Preorder and we'll set yours aside for market pickup. No shipping, ever; you get them from us in person.
