New News is Good News

One - Illustrated Wild Foods Calendar Giveaway!!
A lovely local blog called Are You My Ghost? is having a calendar giveaway and all you have to do is post a comment and you may be picked! So awesome, so easy. Thanks Renai! Ends Tuesday afternoon, December 22nd.

Two - Its gift time, and it's almost 2010. It is time to move these babies! - The Illustrated Wild Foods Recipe Calendar is on SALE. At the farmer's markets or online on the Nettletown Etsy Shop - 2 calendars for $20! Now you don't have to wonder if you should get one for yourself when it buying as a gift for someone else! Just do it, someone once said.

Three - Emily Counts and I have put our friend powers together and formed an alliance of lovers of time, art, and food. Please join our The Illustrated Wild Foods Recipe Calendar Fan Club on Facebook!!! TIWFRCFC for short. I am kinda tired of typing out the name of the calendar, what were we thinking!?!

And a final blurb that really isn't news - A special thank you to all of you who have supported my calendar venture and this lil' blog called Nettletown. In this new year arriving soon, we hope to get better and bigger and to grow under the the warm wing of your continued interest and support!!!

This Week at Foraged and Found Edibles 12/12

It has been a week full of glorious clear days, intense winter sunsets, and .... icicle temperatures. Unfortunately these crispy frozen days are not the best for mushroom season. Frozen mushrooms are not to fun to pick. Once it thaws though we should see some new growth.

We do have chanterelles this weekend and will be starting a special on the the Wild Foods Calendar. It is also a good time of year to stock up on dried mushrooms. They are nice to have around for impromptu soup and stew nights warming up by the fire. Keep your eyes peeled for a tasty dry mushroom soup recipe coming soon on Nettletown.

This weekend at the market
Chanterelles
Recipe Calendar Special - 2 for $20
Frozen White Truffles

I just started a fan club for the calendar on Facebook - please join us!
The Illustrated Wild Foods Recipe Calendar Fan Club

Also check out these two recent articles by local food writer Rebekah Denn.
This is someones writing you should follow if you haven't already found her. In my opinion she is one of the best local food writers with more focus on regional local food producers and politics, and less on the restaurant fluff. She wrote an award-winning article a number of years ago about Foraged and Found and Jeremy that really blew me away. "Out of the Woods - Forager Faber is a Master in the Wild" from the ol' PI. It drew a accurate picture of the business from field to restaurant and she truly captured Jeremy's nutty personality.
Rebekah has a great blog -eatallaboutit.com

One short and sweet and one long and thorough -
"Washington Businesses Break Ties to Industrial Food Chain"
Seattle Times
Very interesting article about local food producers and their challenge to source high quality food and to know where it is coming from. A few of them were hit by the massive countrywide peanut recall and had to rework their systems of procurement and production. Caveman Bars, CB Nuts and Snoqualmie Gourmet Ice Cream are featured.

On the lighter side....
"Is there a better word for "foodie"?"
The Christian Science Monitor Blog
I have always struggled with this word myself. It is such a stupid word but it happens to perfectly encompass exactly what many of us are.

This Week at Foraged and Found Edibles 12/4

a small amount of matsutake available today!

Truffle time! Jeremy is digging the first black truffles of the year out on the Olympic peninsula today. It is time for moist truffle-y scrambled eggs and creamy cauliflower soup with shaved truffles lightly floating the top. Technically the prized local black truffle is called an Oregon black truffle but patriotic tendencies toward our home state trumps the rival state name. We call it by where the geographically correct hole in the ground is - Washington. Dug in Washington or Oregon it is still a Leucangia carthusiana- a prized underground fungi with complex musty aromas and a hint of sweet pineapple. These little earthy lumps are love/indifferent affair - you either understand the lump and it hits you right in the gut with an aromatherapy-taste bud tango or you shrug your shoulders and wonder if you didn't get the memo.

This weekend at the markets -

Chanterelles
"Dug in Washington" Oregon Black Truffles
Cranberries
Come early for these at U. District Market-
Hedgehogs
Matsutake

This Week at Foraged and Found Edibles 11/27

Note to West Seattle customers - We are no longer at the West Seattle markets until the Spring. Come see us in University District and Ballard through the winter.

Sometimes, post holiday it can be hard to get excited about cooking again any time soon. You just put in long hours in the kitchen and most likely the tupperwares are stuffed to the brim with leftovers. Turkey sandwiches are the likely five day forecast. Lots-o-leftovers are a fabulous excuse for creative transformation. How about turkey chanterelle noodle soup with Moroccan flavors like cumin and cinnamon or turkey chanterelle shepherd's pie with the gravy and mashed potatoes. Cranberry sauce, toasted walnut and ice cream parfaits sound good. Or what about fried turkey and mushroom risotto balls with cranberry sage aioli?! Well... maybe not.

This weekend at the Farmers Market

Chanterelles
Cranberries

CRANBERRY CRAZY!!!

cranberry quince chutney

To celebrate the cranberry harvest and Thanksgiving I have three cranberry recipes for you, including two using raw cranberries. Raw cranberries are extremely healthy. High levels of antioxidants, antibiotic properties very helpful for those with urinary tract infections, and a preventative measure for kidney stones are a few of this autumn berry's nourishing ways.

Cranberries are native in North America and were used by indigenous peoples for food, dyes, skin treatments, and preserved in pemmican. They have been popular for Thanksgiving meals for centuries, and as a juice since the 1960's thanks to Ocean Spray, a cranberry cooperative started in the early part of the century. They are in the genus Vaccinium along with fellow bush berries, the blueberry and huckleberry.

Washington State is the 5th largest supplier of cranberries, many of them being made into juice and Craisins by Ocean Spray. In 1919 the first cranberry farm was planted in Grayland (7 miles south of Westport) and this still is the center of cranberry farming in Washington. On the stretch along the Pacific between Westport and Tokeland the area is called The Cranberry Coast. Thirty percent of cranberry farms in Washington are located here. There is even a yearly Cranberry Harvest Festival and a self guided Grayland bog driving tour available on the Westportwa website. That driving tour would be a great combo trip with some razor clamming out at Grayland Beach State Park.

Most Washington cranberry farmers sell directly to Ocean Spray. It would be nice to see some of those cranberries being directly marketed to local consumers. This year was the first time Foraged and Found Edibles has sold cranberries at the farmer's market. In the past we have picked just enough for personal use. We harvest them in a old overgrown bog in Grayland next to our friends house. Before all this farming cranberries grew wild all along the Pacific Coast and were utilized extensively by the local natives and then the settlers when they arrived. There are still different varieties of cranberries growing in the wild, just a little harder to find than in the past.

a cranberry bog in grayland

Many cranberry preparations call for large amounts of cane sugar to balance out there sour and bitter flavors, unfortunately this greatly lessens their healing properties. I have been trying to increasingly use alternatives to conventional sugar in my cooking. These recipes take advantage of fruits and honey to sweeten the berries. Apple cider is one great sweetener that is easily available to us in the NW.

Cranberry Walnut Vinaigrette

This recipe is inspired by a salad in Starting With Ingredients by Aliza Green. I am not usually a fan of fruit vinaigrettes but this sounded interesting. The bright pink color is not the most appetizing for food but it does taste great. Serve with bitter greens like endives or in a carrot slaw with dried fruit. I ended up nibbling on it like dip with treviso, sliced raw cranberries and chopped walnuts, yum.

1/2 cup fresh cranberries
1/3 cup walnuts
1 Tbsp chopped shallot
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup walnuts
1/4 orange juice
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
3 Tbsp honey
salt and pepper

Place all ingredients in a blender and combine until smooth.

creamy pink yumminess

Raw Cranberry Ginger Relish

This easy sauce is great with Thanksgiving turkey or with roast game. And so good on leftover turkey sandwiches. Add some chopped walnuts right before serving if desired. With walnuts it reminds me of haroset served at Jewish Passover meals. Adjust the dates and honey to your sweetened desire.

2 satsuma oranges, washed, halved, and seeds removed
6 - 8 medjool dates, pits removed
1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger
2 cups fresh cranberries
2-4 tsp honey, maple syrup, or agave syrup

Place satsumas, dates, and ginger in the work bowl of a food processor. Puree until fine. Add cranberries and sweetener and pulse to chop until medium-fine but not a paste. Alternatively toss all ingredients together and run through a meat grinder. This gives it a great texture. Let sit at least one hour for flavors to combine.

Spiced Cranberry Quince Chutney

I adapted this sauce from my own recipe in the 2010 Illustrated Wild Foods Recipe Calendar for Evergreen Huckleberry Chutney. It goes with out saying - this is turkey dinner material. Also a perfect candidate for a holiday chutney cream cheese roll.

1 cup small diced shallots
3 tbsp olive oil
1/8 tsp salt
¼ tsp ground cardamom
¼ tsp ground allspice
¼ tsp ground clove
¼ tsp ground black pepper
1 cinnamon stick
1 ½ cups small-diced quince (about 1 med quince)
2 cups apple cider
3 1/2 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen
3-6 tbsp of honey

Sauté shallots in olive oil over medium-high heat until they begin to lightly brown. Turn heat to medium, add salt and spices, and cook for a few more minutes, until spices are fragrant. Add quince and apple cider; bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then turn down and keep at a simmer. Cook for about 15 minutes until quince is tender. Add cranberries and 3 tbsp honey and cook until berries pop, about 20 minutes. Taste and add more honey if too tart. Let cool to room temperature to serve, or store in refrigerator for up to one week.

Thanksgiving and This Week at Foraged and Found Edibles 11/20

Thanksgiving means family, friends, and celebrating the American cornucopia. Though many Thanksgiving food traditions have steered away from seasonality (green bean casserole), it still is at its core a harvest celebration. I love to hear about different traditions within families and regions of the US. I think it was James Beard who said - if you tell me what you eat for Thanksgiving I can tell you where you are from. If in New England the feast may include mashed carrots and rutabagas, from the South it may be scalloped oyster saltine casserole, sweet potatoes, and pecan pie. Here in the Northwest wild mushrooms, winter squash and apple pie are common.

There is a very interesting article on Slashfood about the decline of shellfish, specifically oysters, in the Thanksgiving repertoire. Pre 1950 it was a mainstay on holiday menus, but with the decline of the oyster harvest at that time and rising prices over the years it has been pushed to the back burner. With our oyster bounty in the Northwest we are perfectly poised to bring back this tradition - oyster stew, oyster Rockefeller, oyster dressing! - all of these would fit into the turkey dinner feast.

My family's Thanksgiving menu doesn't stray to far from the classic dishes, though over time the traditions change and evolve with the times and tastes in our ever expanding family. We play a bit with turkey seasonings, the salad, the cranberry sauce. Brussel sprouts are a addition in the last couple years, but my mom doesn't like them so we had a vote to keep 'em in or not. Brussel sprouts vs. my Mom - brussels won.

The Choi family menu- sherried pumpkin soup with croutons and chives (this is something my Grandma always fed us earlier in the day while we waited for the feast), roast turkey with herbs, chanterelle gravy sometimes with truffles, plain gravy (for the mushroom haters!?), mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts with lemon, shallots and hazelnuts, dressing with chestnuts, green salad with persimmons or pears, cranberry something (I like to play around with different recipes, two recipes for cran sauce coming soon on Nettletown), pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake. This year I am going to make that southern scalloped oyster casserole too, with the pre-shucked oysters from Taylor Shellfish to make it easy. And maybe it will become a new Choi family tradition.

Tell me what you have for Thanksgiving!

This weekend at the Farmers Market

Chanterelles
Cranberries
Frozen white truffles
Frozen Mountain huckleberries
Matsutake - small amount available at the U District market

Also on Saturday from 3-5pm I am doing a calendar signing at Eat Local on top of Queen Anne. There also will be live music in the store from Pro Musica.

Also, this may be our last weekend at the West Seattle Market. Our harvest is dwindling and it is hard to support two Sunday markets. We may be at the one or two more before Xmas though.

This Week at Foraged and Found Edibles 11/14

We have some exciting stuff this weekend. Finally some black trumpet mushrooms and really ripe and beautiful cranberries from coastal bogs. These sweet cranberries would be great in a raw cranberry relish.

It is pretty much over with the porcini season but our mushrooms were featured in a Design Sponge recipe with pictures by local photographer Lara Ferroni yesterday. Check out the Porcini Mushroom Tapioca here.

At the markets this weekend -

Chanterelles
Black Trumpets
Hedgehogs - just a bit available early at U District
Watercress
Cranberries

Wild Food Calendar Dinner at the Corson Building

Just a little reminder that I am teaming up with Chef Matt Dillon for a very special wild food dinner at the Corson Building next Monday, November the 16th. We will be making a couple recipes out of the calendar and every other dish will feature wild ingredients too. Everything depends on availability, but for sure we will be using elk, black truffles, rosehips, chanterelles, huckleberries, and watercress. Possibly will also have hedgehogs, matsutake, black trumpets, razor clams, and wild salmon. Lisa Gordanier, my recipe editor, will be helping in the kitchen too! It is a sort of kitchen reunion - she worked with Matt and I back at The Herbfarm.

There will be two seatings - 5:30 and 8 pm. Reservation only.
Cost $60 and includes one copy of The Illustrated Wild Foods Recipe Calendar. Additional copies will be available for the special price of $10.
See the Corson Building event calendar here and call 206-762-3330 for reservations.

This Week at Foraged and Found Edibles 11/06

The week that started with clear skies has given us some nice dry chanterelles for the market. Of course you will be buying them in the pouring rain if you slosh it to the markets this weekend. Rain or shine, we go year 'round. And we feel fortunate that ardent customers and the farmer's market organizations are there to support us and all the other farmers that can provide 365 days a year. The cold season markets really depend on people that are intensely passionate about healthy, unique and local food and are willing to tough it through the Seattle "elements".

If we forage high (northern Washington) and low (southern Oregon) there is almost always something delicious hiding in the woods, even in the cold of winter. Those winter mushrooms, such as hedgehogs and black trumpets, are barely starting though, and either they are hiding better than usual or they may not want to perform as big of a show this year. In abundance we call it a flush, in scarcity, a blow out. Just as most things go in nature, we will just have to wait and see......This is one of the most beautiful and difficult things about foraging, and probably farming for that matter. We are subject to the expressions of the earth and its fantastic and complex organisms (wild mushrooms happen to be one of the most unpredictable!). We are given the generous opportunity to reap the harvest, but in so many ways have no control over it. We wouldn't have it any other way.

This weekend at the markets -

Chanterelles
Wild Watercress

Fresh-Picked Seattle

Lets say you love food, you live in Seattle, and you have a weekend with no plans, what do you do?!? Actually lets say you just live in Seattle, because freshpickedseattle.com has good info and events for any Seattlite - foodie or not, bored or not.

I am so thoroughly impressed with this site that I must to share it with all you. Fresh-Picked Seattle is dedicated to being the place to find out about food events and culture in Seattle. A woman named Leslie Seaton hosts the site; I don't know how she keeps up with all this info, but she does and does it well. It is refreshingly thorough with lots of links and useful information including stuff such as free happenings, kids events, seasonal interests. For example a recent post on National Chocolate Day and has links to local chocolate shops, a Google event calendar, various tours available around the area, and a resource list. Also included a nice video of a tour at Theo Chocolate (I have been dying to do this and fresh-picked post was a great reminder to get myself there).

There is also a great page for Pacific Northwest wild food, foraging, and ethnobotany. This should be THE GUIDE for wild food resources in the Northwest. Links to articles and blogs(including this one!), local mycological societies, wilderness schools, and Google event calendar which includes razor clam dig days and cooking classes.

Fresh-Picked Seattle's little byline is pretty cute too- Seattle=Let's Eat
Go there, you will be inspired to venture out foraging for new (fresh!) experiences in your home town.

This Week at Foraged and Found Edibles 10/30

It is a light week at the markets. We are in the lull between the fall and winter flush. Soon there will be an abundance of hedgehogs, yellowfoot chanterelles, black trumpets, and truffles as the nights get chillier. Speaking of cold weather, the watercress has been really beautiful, and will be around until our patches get hit with a frost. Wild watercress tends to be much spicier and more flavorful than the limp bunches found in grocery stores. Try pairing the spicy leaves in a salad with sweet roasted beets and a hazelnut viniagrette.

We have this weekend -

Chanterelles
Hedgehogs - a small amount
Wild Watercress

Rose Hip Harvest Time

bushes and bushes full of hips along the Burke Gilman trail

Small sunset colored globes brighten up the desolate fall landscape every year. Rose hips are the fruit of the rose bush that forms after the blossom dies away. They ripen in fall turning vibrant red to orange colors, and are best harvested after a frost, when slightly soft and wrinkly. Like many other fruits and vegetables of the autumn season, such as parsnips, grapes, and brussel sprouts, cold temperatures help convert their starches to sugars. The conversion is a survival mechanism, sugars help keep the plants from freezing. Rose hips will persist on bushes through out the cold months and if you happen to get lost in the woods they can be eaten as a winter survival food.

The texture and taste of fresh rosehips are moist, bright, and pasty, reminiscent to overripe apples and tangy cranberries to which roses are related. Rose hips are one of the highest plant sources for vitamin C and also contain significant amounts of vitamin D and E, antioxidants, and pectin.

Wild rose bushes grow like weeds all over the city and country, and are easy to find cultivated in many home gardens. Avoid plants in decorative gardens that have been sprayed with pesticides. Rose hips contain many hairy seeds; the fine hairs are said to cause mild intestinal irritation. There are conflicting accounts, but the seeds seem to be best removed unless final preparation is strained through cheesecloth or very fine sieve, though many recipes do not do this. Removing seeds can be a daunting task if your fruits are very ripe. A good way to avoid this hardship is to partially dry fruits for a few days or so and then remove seeds when flesh is firmer.

Tea made with fresh or dried rose hips is one of the most common ways to enjoy this fruit but there are many interesting traditional preparations. Try making a simple rose hip syrup (one more recipe here) for mixed drinks, or as a vitamin C elixir. In Sweden rose hip soup with sour cream or yogurt is a mainstay. You can even buy rose hip soup dry mixes there. Two different recipes for soup are here and here. Combine apples and rosehips for jam, jelly, or fruit leather. Dry sweet large pieces and use as a snack or raisin substitute. I am thinking about making rose hip syrup with honey, dried rose petals to increase the floral notes, and a touch of ginger. I will also dry a bunch to add to my cold weather tea mix with nettles, mint, and elderberries.

Mushroom Recipe Plea Answered

I sent a call out for mushrooms recipes about a month ago. I wanted to hear what was going on in your kitchens, the ways you eat and create.
I had many nice responses but the Lobster Mushroom Bisque really stood out. Lobster mushrooms do have a shellfish aroma and nutty taste that reminiscent of shrimp shells, so it makes perfect sense to make a bisque out of them. I cooked it up a few days ago and ate it with a cheesy grilled fig and proscuitto sandwich, a perfect quick dinner.

creamy orange lobsterness

Naomi Bishop, The GastroGnome, sent in the recipe-

"This is unbelievably tasty...and uses one large lobster mushroom to make a soup that feeds at least 4 people. Simply make a roux using about half a cup of flour, about 6 tablespoons of butter (I didn't measure, so this is my best guess!) You can keep it light, just make sure the flour is all well coated, then add about 2 cups homemade stock (I used turkey, since I'm still working through last thanksgivings bounty) and bring to a boil. Add the mushroom, all cut up, then let it boil for about ten minutes, blend it (I used an immersion blender, so it all stayed in the pot, didn't have to transfer. After blending, I added a small handful of fresh thyme, salt and pepper to taste and a splash of sherry vinegar to lighten it up. This is still a thick and hearty soup, and makes an amazing meal. Sometimes I sautee chanterelles with rosemary and sprinkle on top."

This recipe stood out for its simplicity verses its sophistication. Basically I mean this recipe is fast and easy, but fancy enough for a dinner party, if needed. Her recipe was technically loose so I took it upon myself to measure and play with the ingredients, and come up with a ratio for all of you cooks that like to follow recipes to the T. The only big change I made was to add onion and milk to the liquid ingredients to give it a bit of creaminess.
Thank you Naomi, for your contribution!!


Lobster Mushroom Bisque, Nettletown version

An immersion blender is a must for making this a fast project. I was thinking a nice variation would be a touch of saffron, fennel seeds, celery and lemon to play with the "seafood" theme, instead of the thyme and sherry vinegar. If you try it let me know. I reserved a little bit of diced lobster mushrooms to garnish my soup, though sauteed chanterelles, like Naomi suggests, would be great too.

1 pound lobster mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
6 Tbsp butter
1/2 sweet onion, diced, about 1 cup
4 cups mild stock- like veggie or poultry
6 Tbsp flour
2 cups whole milk
2 tsp thyme, chopped
1 tsp sherry vinegar
1 1/2 tsp salt
black pepper or cayenne to taste

Dice a large handful of lobster mushrooms for soup garnish. Over medium high heat heat in a large straight-sided pan, saute diced mushrooms in a 1/2 Tbsp butter until tender and lightly browned. Add a splash of sherry vinegar and a sprinkle of thyme leaves, remove from pan and set aside. Place pan back on heat and saute onion and the remaining lobster mushrooms in 1 1/2 Tbsp butter for about 5-8 minutes, until vegetables begin to sweat. Add stock and bring to a simmer. Meanwhile in a large pot make the roux - heat 4 Tbsp butter over medium heat and stir in flour until incorporated, cook for a few minutes. Slowly add milk in batches, whisking constantly until smooth. Add warmed stock and mushrooms and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes until soup thickens and flavors combine. Add thyme, sherry vinegar, salt and pepper or cayenne and blend until smooth. Adjust seasoning and serve garnished with sauteed mushrooms.

More inspirations-
Many others sent in recipes (alot of soup!, its that time of year I guess) that all sounded great too, so here are links to a few more bloggers mushroom inspirations-
From the Desk(top)Russell H. Everett - The Sexiest Soup Ever with chicken-of-woods
From Phoo-d - Mushroom "Cappuccino" with Truffle Foam
Cook Local - Wild Mushroom and Fig Risotto

Cider Press at the Corson Building

This is a bit of a late notice but I just made arrangements with The Corson Building to provide recipe calendars for purchase at the Cider Pressing tomorrow. $5 dollars of the calendar proceeds will go to Teen Feed, an organization that provides hot meals to homeless youth.
The Corson is a fabulous place to go for special events, they are always festive and the garden is a great place just to hang out no matter what else is going on. I urge you to check this one out - Press your own cider, eat some delicious food, and get a t-shirt and recipe book! More info on their website journal. Some of these beautiful posters will also be available for purchase.

This Week at Foraged and Found Edibles 10/16

The height of the mushroom season is winding down. The harvest for the weekend is not as plentiful as last. Come early this weekend to get what you want!

We will have at the markets this weekend

Porcini
Chanterelles

probably available only at University District Market
Matsutake
Lobsters

Events, Happenings, Dinners

I am tromping through the (greater) Seattle landscape with wild food calendars in tow, reaching my arms far and wide to spread the good recipe word. I am having a number of calendar happenings in the next few weeks, come one and all to hear the wild food word.

Food- Ins

Cooking Demo at the Puget Sound Mycological Society's Annual Fall Mushroom Show.
I will be demoing this Saturday from noon to 2 pm on Saturday. I will be making the Kashmiri Morel Curry Recipe with dried morels from June in the 2010 calendar, and other mushroom goodies using fresh chanterelles and matsutake.
The exhibit features a fabulous display of hundreds! of mushrooms set up in a natural habitat (think overblown high school science fair). There is also an mushroom art contest gallery, talk by Langdon Cook of Fat of the Land, Mushroom experts to ID your forest finds, mushroom books, t-shirts, etc for sale, and a cooking demo kitchen open the whole time.

Admission- $7 general, $5 students and seniors, 12 years and younger free.
Saturday October 17th - 12noon to 7pm
Sunday October 18th - 10am to 5pm
The Center for Urban Horticulture (CUH), University of Washington
3501 NE 41 Street (Mary Gates Drive)
Seattle, WA 98195

The Corson Building Wild Foods Calendar Dinner - November 16th
Chef Matt Dillon and I will be putting together a four to five course dinner featuring a couple dishes from the calendar and focusing the whole of the menu on seasonal wild mushrooms and other wild foods.

There will be two seatings - 5:30 and 8 pm. Reservation only.
Cost $60 and includes one copy of The Illustrated Wild Foods Recipe Calendar. Additional copies will be available for the special price of $10.
Make reservations here or call 206-762-3330.

Local Roots Farm Dinner-
All summer Farmers Jason and Siri have been hosting visitors to their farm in Carnation for tours and enjoying a meal featuring the farm's awesome produce cooked by local chefs. The date is not set yet but I will be doing multi-course dinner featuring wild dishes from the calendar and other foods from the farm. Like the Corson dinner it will include a copy of the recipe calendar.
In the summer the dinners are set outside in the middle of the fields, in the fall we head inside to the greenhouse to keep warm and dry. I did a dinner last week that was Asian- themed. A fun challenge to use as much seasonal and local foods for the dinner as possible.

The date will probably be either the Friday 30th of October or Monday the 2nd of November.
Donation- $90 and includes wine and a calendar.
Send Jason an email if you are interested or would like to be on the mailing list - jasonsalvo@earthlink.net.the rustic local roots farm setting

Pan-Roasted Porcini with Bay Leaves

use chopsticks to gently turn mushrooms

This recipe is inspired by Jonathan Julia, many of you may know from the University District Market booth. Jonathon had chef-ed at many great local restaurants, including Lark and the Herbfarm, before Jeremy snagged him to work with us at Foraged and Found. Don't forget to use him as a great resource for recipe ideas. He says this is his favorite way to eat porcini, and he prefers eating the stems to the caps. Browning king boletes brings out their nutty rich flavor and delicious creamy texture too.

Small Porcini ( King Boletes) - stems only or whole
Butter
1 or 2 Bay leaves per mushroom, preferably fresh
Salt and Pepper

Cut mushrooms into thick wedges. Heat a healthy amount of butter with bay leaves over medium high heat in a saute pan that will fit mushrooms in a single layer. Add mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Turn down heat slightly and cook mushrooms turning often until lightly brown, about 5 minutes. Do not over brown or bitter flavors will develop. Serve.

i accidentally had video mode on but I went with it, and it turned out nicely so here it is

This Week at Foraged and Found Edibles 10/9

And featuring ........ Foraged and Found!!

A few local restaurants are taking full advantage of the height of the fall mushroom season-

The Herbfarm is doing their annual Mycologist's Dream Menu from October 16th through 24th.

Art of the Table in Wallingford will be featuring fungi at their Weekend Supper Club - Magical Mushroom Madness October 15th through 17th

Pagliacci's Pizza is doing a Foraged and Found Chanterelle Mushroom and Proscuitto Pizza for a month or so. Available at all locations!

Please support our friends!!

At the market this weekend -

Matsutake
King Boletes (Porcini)
Gold Chanterelles
Lobsters

We have plenty of mushrooms to last through the day at all the markets. Prices are probably the lowest of the season, it will only go up from here.

I will be at the University District Market in the Chef in Residence booth answering all the mushroom cooking questions you can drum up - from 10 am to noon on Saturday.

This Week at Foraged and Found Edibles 10/2

Matsutakes are in!!!

These fine treasures of the fall forest have begun to sprout. Matsutakes, meaning pine mushroom in Japanese, are highly sought after by culinary crusaders. We are lucky to have them growing in abundance in the Northwest, so abundant that much of the annual harvest is actually sent to Japan to feed the foodie frenzy. That is one reason the price stays so high close to home. Another is they are very hard to find hiding in mosses and duff, and often grow on the steepest of hillsides. Why are they so special? Matsutake have a distinct aroma unlike any other mushroom- sweet, cinnamon-y, warm. The traditional matsutake dishes of Japan highlight the preciousness of this mushroom. A frugal but glorious dish is a simple broth with thinly sliced matsutake brought to the table covered and unveiled to reveal the matsutake's lovely hypnotic aroma. Another is matsutake slices quickly grilled over an open flame served simply with lemon or a light soy dipping sauce. Or matsutake gohan - steamed short grain rice with matsutake and light seasonings.

This Weekend at the Farmer's Market

Matsutake
Chanterelles
Porcini- possibly only available at U District Market
Lobsters- also possibly only at U District
Huckleberries

Queen Anne and Thursday Bellevue Markets are closed for the season.
We will continue to be at University District, Ballard, and West Seattle Market through the Fall.

Call Out For Recipes!!!!

working on a recipe for fresh corn tamales with mushrooms

Dear Nettletown Readers -

I would love to hear from your kitchens and homes with a recipe for your favorite wild mushroom dish. It is always nice to see other peoples approaches to food and flavors. If I choose to publish it on this blog I will gift you a pound of chanterelles or a 2010 calendar, your choice, and ship them if need be. Send it over to honeyfromaweed@gmail.com by October 10th and let me know where you live. Can't wait to see 'em!!