December 8, 2010

I Made Myself an Interesting Lunch

You may have seen my television show in early November when Jack Algiere, the “Four Season Grower” at the Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture, demonstrated how to create a shiitake mushroom log.  The shiitake is an edible mushroom used extensively in many Asian cuisines, and its rich, smoky flavor has made it highly desirable in other cultures, as well.  A symbol of longevity in Asia, Shiitake mushrooms offer many health-promoting properties.  I have always loved this fungi and I found it fascinating that you can actually grow these mushrooms yourself.  If you missed that show, you can watch the video here I was fortunate enough to take home a nicely blooming shiitake log.  When those mushrooms were mature, I harvested them and brought them into the kitchen.  That log is now resting in my cold house, where, if things go according to plan, it will bloom again in about six months with a new crop of beautiful shiitakes.