Wild Mushroom Medley
Kip Dooley
Fall | Entree | Jump to Recipe
Prep time: 5 minutes | Cook time: 30 minutes | Total: 35 minutes
Wild Mushroom Medley / Kip Dooley
As summer rounds the corner, it feels as though life is accelerating. The air becomes crisper, cool breezes arrive in the evening as the light dims earlier and shadows lengthen. Here on Lake Superior, we’re putting up jars of carrots and beets in salt brines with loads of fresh garlic, a hedge against the colder, darker days to come, and we're savoring every last tomato.
Summer, you are hard to let go of.
If there has been a scent to these recent late summer days, it’s the pine, oak and birch forests of Madeline Island, a mix of the Lake’s clarity and the forest’s earthy undergrowth. Kip and his wife Alli have been learning to forage the wild foods that grow abundant here, from chokeberries to nettles, and especially mushrooms – black trumpet, hedgehog, and soon (we hope) chicken of the woods.
Thanks to some forager friends willing to take them out on hikes, we’ve been feasting on the forest’s unrequited gifts. Knowing that many of these foods only grow wild, we cherish their unique flavors, each slightly different in its own woodsy way.
Mushrooms, unlike berries and greens, are often not easy to find. While raspberry canes droop over fences and sway wildly along the lakeshores almost begging to be picked, mushrooms do not proclaim themselves. They reveal themselves instead, only to those who slow down enough to gaze softly across heaps of dead leaves, peer behind logs, or sit on the forest floor and wait. Any forager knows that if you try too hard, you’ll come home with an empty basket.
Chanterelle mushrooms / Kip Dooley
Mushrooms, with their meaty texture and layers of umami, are just right for the heartier dishes we need at this moment in the year. Sautée them with wild rice, bake them into a quiche, or chop them fine and simmer them in butter before piling them onto toast.
And mushrooms are good not only for us (especially their antioxidants, which bolster the immune system), they also play a key role in the health of forests, breaking down debris into topsoil for new growth, while networks of their mycelia pass nutrients between trees.
Wild-foraged mushrooms do feel extra special – but if they’re not within reach, there are some fabulous local growers you can purchase from.
Try Northwoods Mushrooms (pictured left, from Clayton, Wisc.), Midwest Mushrooms (Twin Cities), Forest Mushrooms (St. Joseph, Minn.), or simply what's available at your local foods co-op.
Wild Mushroom Medley
Serves 4
Prep time: 5 minutes | Cook time: 30 minutes | Total: 35 minutes
Using a mix of different mushrooms gives you a lot of bang for your buck. This recipe relies on a mix of shiitake, hedgehog, and chanterelle.
Ingredients
1 cup dry wild rice
1/4 cup dried cranberries
Dash of maple syrup (optional)
2 lb. mixed cultivated fresh mushrooms (cremini, shiitake, oyster, etc.)
3 tbsp. unsalted butter, more as needed
1/4 c. finely chopped shallot
2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
2 small cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c. dry white wine or splash of white or red vinegar
1/2 c. chicken or vegetable stock
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Wild Rice: Set a pot with 1 cup water over high heat to boil, and add 1 tbsp sea salt. (Set aside 2 more cups water to add to the rice as it cooks). Rinse the rice with cold water in a mesh strainer, and add to the water once it's boiling. Allow the water to come to a boil again, then turn the heat down to simmer and cover.
Check the rice water levels every 5 minutes or so as you prepare and cook the mushrooms, slowly adding more water until the rice has opened up and the grain is soft, between 25 and 40 minutes depending on the variety.
When the rice is ready, add the dried cranberries, stir in and add salt and a dash of maple syrup to taste. Cover until serving.
Mushrooms: With a damp paper towel, wipe the mushrooms clean or quickly dunk in water and pat dry.
Heat a wide skillet over medium-high heat and add the butter, swirling the pan. When the butter begins to foam, toss in the shallots and mushrooms and cook, stirring until the mushrooms have released their juices and are lightly browned, about 8 to 10 minutes.
Remove the thyme leaves from their woody stems, chop fine with the garlic and stir in with the mushrooms to coat. Season well with the salt and pepper and continue to sauté for one more minute.
When the ingredients have browned slightly and are starting to stick to the pan, add the wine or vinegar and the stock, and continue cooking until the liquid has reduced by half, about 5 to 8 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings.
Serve atop the rice, garnish with a few more cranberries and full sprigs of thyme.