March Meal of the Month Mushroom Madness!

This month of Spring, presented a month of extremes in the Living Library Gardens. The OMI/ Excelsior Living Library & Think Park was lucky enough to receive a donation, that not only offered mind-blowing scientific observation for all, but also, taste-bud, exploding flavor. An nice gentleman from Brisbane, donated two bags of Far West Fungi Oyster Mushrooms to our Gardens.  If you have never seen their mushrooms, you should really check them out online, or down at the Ferry Building on the Embarcadero.

Week 1:  A bag arrives with a block of wood chips containing Oyster Mushroom spores (reproductive cells). 

Week 2: Condensation starts to form and mushrooms begin to develop in small clusters.

Week 3: Oyster Mushroom Explosion!  The mushrooms have miraculously grown from 1 in. tall to 6-8 in. tall ! There were “Ohhs” and “Ahhs” heard from around the class, as hundreds of students watched the mushrooms grow during the month of March. Finally our Student Stewards After School Internship Group was able to feast on these fabulous fungi.

Students each discussed their favorite recipes at home for mushrooms, and how to best prepare them in our Garden Kitchen. Finally, they decided how to best showcase these Oysters in the simple recipe, shown below:

Ingredients:

– 2 heaping handfuls Fresh Oyster Mushrooms, chopped

-4 cups Brown Rice, cooked

-1/4 cup Butter, melted

-1/2 cup Sage, fresh and diced

-Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a pan on medium, to melt the butter. Turn heat to high, and add fresh chopped Oyster Mushrooms. Cook mushrooms until lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Add pre-cooked rice and fresh diced sage to the mushrooms and butter. Add salt and pepper, as you wish, but remember that you do not want to mask the flavors of the mushrooms and sage.

Serve while still hot. Take a deep breath of the earthy aroma from these mushrooms.  Eat, and enjoy !