Mushrooming

Late September after all the rains can turn the taste buds toward mushrooms. They're sprouting all over the place, including farmers' markets where you can pick from a grand variety. And why not? Mushrooms are purveyors of nutritional benefits few other foods can manage, particularly hard to come by Vitamin D.

Mushrooms are also friendly with whatever ingredients you may have lurking in the fridge or pantry. Sauteed in a bit of butter with chives and leeks--all in season right now, they make a spectacular omelet if you use farm fresh eggs. Sauteed with shallots and radicchio--also in season, and kissed with a bit of cream, they really perk up pasta. Garnish heavily with chopped flat leaf parsley, freshly ground black pepper and grates of good Parmesan cheese. Put them on a goat cheese pizza with garlic and arugula.  Make a mushroom, celery, shallot and sage risotto using beef broth. Make mushroom soup from a miso or seaweed base, tossing in diced carrots, ginger and firm tofu. Sauté some with chopped broccoli and kiss with sesame oil. Possibilities are endless at this point in time.

Thanks to a major agricultural grant program, mushrooms have become a family farm cash crop in upstate New York and Vermont. Mostly shiitakes which are symbiotic with oak bark. A few downed logs and some spores, even in the short growing season, has yielded about $11,000 a year. And they sell out, trying to meet the demand of restaurants and gourmet markets. Here's hoping others take to the dirt and bring on the mushrooms.