Just add mushrooms!
We’re exploring the idea of adding maximum value in adding mushrooms in your everyday cooking, for flavour, texture and nutrition. Here we have the Chestnut mushroom.
Inexpensive, I can now buy these little gems loose, in paper bags in my local large supermarket. I see people grabbing for the plumpest juiciest ones, but smugly hold back. I love the wrinkled, slightly dried forgotten ones, tossed aside. You see, we know that they’ll soak up all our cooking liquid, intensify their flavour and that of whatever dish is on the menu. These forgotten ones are lighter, so cheaper by weight, I walk away bag full to the brim and light as a feather!
We’ve some favourite recipes whereby we swap out the meat for our blitzed up chestnut mushrooms. Spicey fajita style mince dish, deep with chilli herbs and spices, or Bolognese with plenty of roasted vegetables, plum tomatoes, great stock and a good slosh of red wine. Using the mushrooms to replace all or part of the meat in your dish, a quick blitz, browned and sauteed in a hot pan, before following your usual recipe to the end.
The health benefits are not lost on us, Chestnut mushrooms are good for your cells and blood health and support your immune system. The mushroom has recently been discovered to contain glutathione and ergothioneine, two potential anti-aging antioxidants – with plenty of B vitamins too, sit them in the sun for a couple of hours and they’ll absorb Vit D for your easy consumption. Tastier than their button mushroom cousins, why not try this next time you want to ramp up the flavour. We’re not totally vegetarian but we try to include plenty of meat/dairy free days in our cookery schedule. We love big bold family dinners, crowd pleasers and tummy fillers!
Lou created this incredible Wellington dish at the weekend. A definite contender for Christmas day menu at Caley HQ!
Mush love x
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