spaghetti & mushrooms

There is a guy here in town, a good customer at the store, who grows mushrooms. Each year, he brings Steve a big bag of luscious, fresh mushrooms. The first year, I was suspicious and lacked confidence and ended up throwing them out. This year, the grower told Steve exactly how his lovely oyster mushrooms (which I saw for sale at the co-op today for $8.99/lb) should be cooked for maximum flavor. The trick is to sear them in a hot, dry pan for about five minutes until crispy. Then add butter and whatever else you want to use to flavor them. They won't pick up as much of the other flavors, but will retain more of their woodsy goodness.

I roughly chopped the shrooms and seared as directed. Then I added butter (a lot, I confess), some chopped portabello mushrooms, lots of coarse ground salt & pepper, the juice of one large lemon, and four cloves of garlic (chopped). Sauteed until brown and yummy, then mixed with whole wheat spaghetti noodles and blanched brocolli florettes tossed in olive oil. Add some shredded parmesan, and yum!

If you find yourself with a pound of oyster mushrooms, I highly recommend this recipe. Actually, it would be good with just portabello caps as well, or any mushroom you like.