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February 2015 Challenge - Fungi!

9K views 119 replies 24 participants last post by  jrjr 
#1 · (Edited)
Coming off of last months challenge there were SO many awesome suggestions for topics that it left my head spinning. I had to step away from it all.. and think about what would be a focused challenge yet something that would allow everyone to participate in a way that could be unique to their culture or style.

So for February 2015 I've chosen those tiny little friends of ours that often go without mention.. fungi!


This opens the door for any yeast fermented foods and the more obvious is the fruit of fungi - mushrooms to be used in any way possible. Bakers - this is your opportunity to show off your mother starters and the wonderful breads you make.. and if we have anyone doing micro-brews now is your time to shine! Let's pay homage to the beautiful things that fungi have done for us in food.. whether stilton or shitake, half sours or sourdough.. Fungus is among us!

Clarification: You don't have to actually ferment beer or make cheese, I just want to focus on products that rely heavily on fermentation, for instance an aged cheese vs. mozzarella. An entirely separate track would be meals that utilize mushrooms and I am hoping everyone will enjoy that part.
 
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#3 ·
I suppose I will need to make some more sourdough bread then! Which reminds me, I need to feed my starter.

And since we now have a new challenge, I can start deciding what to eat this coming month.
Tonight is going to be homemade sauerkraut mash with rookworst (smoked sausage)........
 
#6 ·
I have to admit that sauerkraut is not very photogenic.

I tried making a picture with my tablet (got some issues with internet on my normal computer) and that's not really a success either.
Anyway the sauerkraut mash tasted fine, my sausage has plenty room for improvement (a bit dry).
 
#13 ·
Thanks Nate.
ES: Didn't we have a Mushrooms Challenge some time ago?
Nov 2013 we had mushrooms.... this is not a "mushroom" challenge
Maybe I'll be damned for this but the challenge is fungi.. to include breads, cheeses, beers, etc. This is not a "Mushroom" challenge.
For example....... a grilled Stilton cheese sandwich (using sourdough bread).
I imagine if there was time (or maybe you make Stilton on a reg basis) there would be extra atta boys if the cheese and bread were house made?

mimi
 
#17 ·
Hello. New here. Just curious to how these challenges work and the rules? Is there a page I can go to? Thanks!
First welcome to Chef Talk!

Probably the best way to get "the spirit" of these challenges is to go back and read thru some of them.
If you still have questions then just post them in this thread.
We are a friendly lot and are very good at making new members feel comfortable and at home.

mimi
 
#18 ·
Hello. New here. Just curious to how these challenges work and the rules? Is there a page I can go to? Thanks!
I'm not sure there is an official rule page. @Nicko should someone develop one?

@ChefJasonB welcome. The basic premise of the challenge is to make food based on the challenge theme. Photos and a recipe are nice to include. The person who poses the challenge, in this case it is @eastshores hosts the challenge, and chooses the winner at the end of the month. The winner then gets to come up with the next month's challenge theme and hosts it.
 
#19 ·
No rules just cook something that contains the ingredient and enter as many times as you like. The only rule really is "HAVE FUN" if we start wrapping rules around this it will take all the fun out of it. As Joe Dirt says "Lets keep on keeping on..." Whatever that means...
 
#21 ·
@ordo
as usual you are out of the gate running.. beautiful dishes already!
Thanks @flipflopgirl
and @Koukouvagia
in helping to explain the challenge.. I'm sorry if i chose something confusing.. I wanted our fermenters to have the spotlight for once and I'm sure the rest have plenty to work with!
IMO the way you took the ingredient and stretched it to include a more global approach was a bit of genius.
Should be interesting.

mimi
 
#22 · (Edited)
I managed to sort out something with my internet, not ideal, but will work for the time being.
So now I can post a better picture of the sauerkraut (and then a couple older ones of when I made it)


[edit: the small pics are not in the right order, sorry]
 
#25 ·
Oddly enough just minutes ago I posted a link about home made kraut on Facebook:

http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-mak...on-jar-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-193124
Not sure if that was you posting it here before, or if I originally googled it, but that's exactly the recipe I followed when I first made sauerkraut. Worked great for me. I left it on the counter about 12 days I believe. Then cooked it with really dry northern-France white wine, sausages, smoked baby back ribs, and smoked pork belly. Served with potatoes, of course.

I have 2 1/2 heads of cabbage in the fridge, I'll make more kraut tomorrow!
 
#26 ·
This should be a good one. I've been off the site for some time. Glad to be back. LOL.

Sulpher Shelf Mushroom aka Chicken of the Woods. Found a huge flush last summer while fishing in the high sierras. Simple campsite preparation (Of course we brought the venison heart). Delicious!
Grilled venison heart

Sulpher Shelf mushrooms

Butter

S&P

Copious amounts of small batch Rye whiskey

Frozen peas etc.


 
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