31 January Tuesday

So, the first month of the year has come to an end. What have I learned? First, I could be a little more ambitious. I achieved half my of year´s cooking goals in the first month. Second, all those recipes on the ¨to cook¨list? Cook them, you´re not getting younger. I´m so happy I made that Chicken Spaghetti and made it exactly to the word of the recipe. OK, those are probably the things, aside from the good food I´ve made and eaten, about which I´ve already been written.

Now the leftovers are gone, the fridge is fairly empty, and whatever. I sat for a moment in my living room, looking at my cookbook bookcase, and let my mind wander. What is the next thing to get excited about? I was drawn to a book, long on my shelf called The Mushroom Feast by Jane Grigson. Jane has featured prominently of late, as she wrote the recipes that were the basis for or taken by word for our Shepherd´s Pie, the Three Kings Salad, and the Dark Chocolate Orange Marmalade cake. A good Christmas.

This book explains the varied types of mushrooms available for food, and the best ways to use them. It is a bitterly cold night here in Northern California, and in this weather I crave ramen noodles. I went to my local joint, which is excellent, and ordered the vegetarian mushroom ramen and read this book. The market up the street is known all over the city for its variety of fresh mushrooms, from porcinis to oysters to trumpets, and those cute little ones that grow by the dozens from a single stem.

As a kid, I learned to enjoy mushrooms in two typical ways- 1. Deep fried, the hot mushroom juice bursting in your mouth after the crispy crust. 2. Stuffed- with sausage, breadcrumbs, cheese, herbs. Those were the gateway mushrooms. Then, pizza topping, pasta sauce, omelettes, stir-fries, risottos, you name it. I wonder how often I would use Mushroom ketchup if I made it? Or mushroom powder, which sounds really interesting, in a delicious way? What about a braised chicken with walnuts, bacon, mushrooms, brandy? Mushroom fritters with tomato sauce? Mushroom and grape sauce? There are a variety of fish, shellfish, and mushroom dishes.

Will I make any of these things? We shall see.