Mushrooms for days... This week we teamed up with the brilliant, local writer and food stylist Megan Walsh: @astoldbymegan_ to bring you some exciting and versatile mushroom dishes. Her instagram is full of fresh food, colour and flavour. We just had to get involved. She makes it look so easy! Megan has been cooking with Smithy shrooms for the past week, and she's brought us a wholesome and delicious dish for each day. We're mushroom mad about this one. Here's what she has to say...
"I’m convinced: a person who claims to dislike mushrooms only says so because they’ve never really eaten them. More often than not, these lofty affirmations are based on the squelching slug-like shrooms you might see on a fry-up, or the sorry looking things that have been chopped up in a sauce and cooked to almost nothing.
Yes, the humble mushroom might possibly be the most underrated ingredient of all time.
I know that because when you’ve experienced mushrooms that have been cooked in the right way, with proper seasoning – well, they simply can’t be beaten."
"Earthy. Meaty. Oozing with garlic, thyme or some other perfectly suited aromatic. And then there’s the umami: just a splash of soy sauce transcends the shroom into the ultimate vehicle for our most important fifth taste.
As you might have guessed, I’m a mushroom fanatic. But I’ll admit that my repertoire is usually a basic mix of Portobello and the common chestnut variety. So, when Smithy offered me the chance to cook with something a little more exotic, you can imagine my delight.
The BBQ box is a mushroom lover’s dream. Redolent of some sort of enchanted fairy garden, it’s packed to the rafters with a whopping 2kg of fresh produce, depending on what’s available upon purchase.
And while the shrooms do shrink a little once they’ve been cooked, 2kg would be enough to keep me going for a few meals at least – and so my week with Smithy began…"
"A TIP: I find the best way to get maximum flavour out of your mushrooms is to press down on them whilst they’re cooking (I use a spatula or masher). This helps them release liquid so they can absorb any flavour you want to add. Oh, and NEVER overcrowd the pan – unless you want soggy shrooms for dinner!"
Tuesday: Mushroom ‘CarNOTas’ Tacos
The king oyster is perfect for shredding and looks just like meat once it’s been marinated. For these meatless tacos I created a marinade using dried chipotle chillies that I whizzed to a paste with some tomatoes and spices.
I marinated the shredded mushrooms for around 30 minutes before frying until they had released their liquid and absorbed all the flavours of the marinade.
Once they’d absorbed everything in the pan, I put the shrooms under the grill until they were browned and crisped to my liking. As I waited, I prepared avocado, radish, pickled cabbage and coriander as toppings: but you could use whatever you fancy!
Monday: Shrooms on Sourdough
There’s nothing better than a slab of sourdough piled high with mushrooms, especially if they’re cascading in all shapes and sizes.
For this brunch of champions, I used enoki, shimeji and shiitake. I cooked the mushrooms in butter and soy sauce for that maximum unami flavour, adding a squeeze of lemon at the end to bring it all together.
Tuesday: Mushroom ‘CarNOTas’ Tacos
The king oyster is perfect for shredding and looks just like meat once it’s been marinated. For these meatless tacos I created a marinade using dried chipotle chillies that I whizzed to a paste with some tomatoes and spices.
I marinated the shredded mushrooms for around 30 minutes before frying until they had released their liquid and absorbed all the flavours of the marinade.
Once they’d absorbed everything in the pan, I put the shrooms under the grill until they were browned and crisped to my liking. As I waited, I prepared avocado, radish, pickled cabbage and coriander as toppings: but you could use whatever you fancy!
Tuesday: Mushroom ‘CarNOTas’ Tacos
The king oyster is perfect for shredding and looks just like meat once it’s been marinated. For these meatless tacos I created a marinade using dried chipotle chillies that I whizzed to a paste with some tomatoes and spices.
I marinated the shredded mushrooms for around 30 minutes before frying until they had released their liquid and absorbed all the flavours of the marinade.
Once they’d absorbed everything in the pan, I put the shrooms under the grill until they were browned and crisped to my liking. As I waited, I prepared avocado, radish, pickled cabbage and coriander as toppings: but you could use whatever you fancy!
Wednesday: Hot Lentil Salad
The oyster family was the star of this show. Pink, grey and king oyster mushrooms were fried in generous amounts of garlic and thyme, with a little lemon for added zest. Once I’d removed the shrooms, in the same pan I cracked an egg and fried until crisp. I added the eggs and mushrooms to a lovely pile of Puy lentils and Parmesan for the ultimate rainy-day lunch.
Thursday: Quick Noodle Soup: a ramen for cheats!
I love ramen – but cooking an authentic one is an arduous task. My cheat’s ramen, this miso noodle soup, takes about 15 minutes from start to finish: the perfect dinner after a long day.
The broth is a combination of white miso, garlic, onion, sesame oil and coconut milk, cooked down for around 15 minutes until the flavours had infused. Any noodles will do and here I’ve used straight-to-wok wholemeal.
I roasted shiitake mushrooms for around 15 minutes until cooked and flash-fried the last of my shimeji when the broth was almost ready. The earthiness of the shiitake was essential to this dish! Without them I would not have achieved the marriage of flavours you’d expect find in a traditional ramen.
Wednesday: Hot Lentil Salad
The oyster family was the star of this show. Pink, grey and king oyster mushrooms were fried in generous amounts of garlic and thyme, with a little lemon for added zest. Once I’d removed the shrooms, in the same pan I cracked an egg and fried until crisp. I added the eggs and mushrooms to a lovely pile of Puy lentils and Parmesan for the ultimate rainy-day lunch.
Thursday: Quick Noodle Soup: a ramen for cheats!
I love ramen – but cooking an authentic one is an arduous task. My cheat’s ramen, this miso noodle soup, takes about 15 minutes from start to finish: the perfect dinner after a long day.
The broth is a combination of white miso, garlic, onion, sesame oil and coconut milk, cooked down for around 15 minutes until the flavours had infused. Any noodles will do and here I’ve used straight-to-wok wholemeal.
I roasted shiitake mushrooms for around 15 minutes until cooked and flash-fried the last of my shimeji when the broth was almost ready. The earthiness of the shiitake was essential to this dish! Without them I would not have achieved the marriage of flavours you’d expect find in a traditional ramen.
Thursday: Quick Noodle Soup: a ramen for cheats!
I love ramen – but cooking an authentic one is an arduous task. My cheat’s ramen, this miso noodle soup, takes about 15 minutes from start to finish: the perfect dinner after a long day.
The broth is a combination of white miso, garlic, onion, sesame oil and coconut milk, cooked down for around 15 minutes until the flavours had infused. Any noodles will do and here I’ve used straight-to-wok wholemeal.
I roasted shiitake mushrooms for around 15 minutes until cooked and flash-fried the last of my shimeji when the broth was almost ready. The earthiness of the shiitake was essential to this dish! Without them I would not have achieved the marriage of flavours you’d expect find in a traditional ramen.
We absolutely loved this. Thanks to Megan for exploring the endless possibilities with our exotic shrooms, and sharing her recipes with us! Mushrooms for days, literally! This was all possible with our 2KG BBQ mix which you can purchase here. Take a look at Megans instagram below, for more mouth watering content.