from the heartland of mushroom country!

Although I’m from the Garden State, I acknowledge that Pennsylvania is the king of mushroom growing in the US. Not too far outside Philadelphia, a small, quaint town – Kennett Square – proclaims itself as the “mushroom capital of America.” Each fall, the town hosts a mushroom festival to promote mushrooms and to educate people about their health benefits.

Some basic “biology facts” about mushrooms. Though they’re found in the Produce Department, they are NOT plants. Mushrooms and their yeast cousins belong to the Fungi Kingdom. Genetically, mushrooms are more closely related to animals than they are to plants. A lot of what we know about how our cells work is based on yeast cells too, so these “fun- guys” are very important model organisms! Okay, done with the science, moving on.

I’ve learned that people generally love mushrooms or hate them, so there's no middle ground. I for one, think that mushrooms are edible sponges, soaking up any flavor. I'm even trying to grow my own!

On one of my trips to the farmer’s market, I picked up a mix quart of wild mushrooms: shitaki, pearl, and blue oysters.

Look at these "fun -guys"! 

The vendor suggested a simple sauté with butter and garlic; I thought, “It’s Sunday: pasta day!” I had fresh lasagna sheets that I cut to fit in my “lasagna for two” pan (it’s 3x9inches).  I prepared a béchamel sauce, and layered the pasta, mushrooms and sauce, until full. 

Ingredients:

1 lb mushroom

½ sweet onion, diced

lasagna sheets 3 full sheets, then cut to fit in pan

2 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

mozzerella

béchamel sauce

2 tbsp flour

2 tbsp butter

2 cups milk , room temperature

½ cup parmesan cheese

Directions:

Heat olive oil, and sweat onion with salt and pepper. Chop mushrooms and add to pan. 

Cook until amount has become a quarter of original amount. 

Where did they all go?! Mushrooms are mostly water. 

To prepare béchamel sauce, prepare a roux with butter and flour. Cook until lightly brown and nutty smelling. Slowly whisk in milk. Milk should be room temperature so that the temperature change isn’t too drastic. Once thicken (15 minutes), add parmesan cheese. 

See it will stick to the spoon; if watery, keep cooking! 

Prepare lasagna sheets as directed by your particular pasta. To pan, add sauce, layer pasta, mushrooms, and mozzerella. Continue in this manner until pan full. 

layering

Bake for ½ hr at 350F. Enjoy! 

Bubbly out of the oven! 

It was a great success even for my husband, who over the last seven years has gone from a mushroom "hater" to "okay, I like this one!" 

Kohlrabi – coal-rob-ee

Another farmer’s market find was kohlrabi. I had heard about this vegetable on cooking shows, but never really knew what it was. I asked the vendor, and he described it as a radish-like vegetable. When I quipped, "Is it sharp?" He responded, "Well, no ... well yes, but more so sweet like an apple." I then asked, "How do you cook it?"  and he told me I could prepare it roast, but really, he liked eating it raw.

When I returned home, I googled kohlrabi; I found this! 

Does this come from outer space or PA farm country??

I immediately questioned, "Did he know what he was selling me?! Is this it?!" I quickly read that there are two varieties, green and purple, and they are usually shaved down when sold. Though kohlrabi looks like a root vegetable, it’s more related to cabbages and kale then carrots and turnips.

I peeled the vegetable and tried a wedge. Not too sharp and tasted like an overly starchy apple, and it was slightly sweet. I thought instantly to make a kohlrabi slaw. 

Ingredients:

- Two kohlrabi "bulbs"

- Two beets

- 1 endive

- 2 tbsp olive oil

- 1 tbsp white balsamic vinegar 

- 1 tsp honey

- salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Shred kohlrabi and beets. 

Look at those colors! 

Cut endive. Mix olive oil, vinegar, honey, salt and pepper. Combine dressing with vegetables. 

Enjoy!!

More kohlrabi info found here, http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/09/discovering-kohlrabi-its-a-vegetable/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

When will it be time to make the doughnuts??

As a child, it was a treat to be taken to Dunkin’ Donuts. I remember the sheer joy of peering over the counter and gazing at all the varieties of sprinkled sweets and iced goodies that where only a reach away.  Once given the box of doughnuts, my eyes would widen and then the choice was on; fried glazed chocolate crawler or the classic rainbow sprinkled?  But the “crawler” of my childhood is gone, replaced with something that’s now called a “stick” - and I’m lucky even to find the chocolate variety! - and my sprinkled doughnut leaves me with a strange, chalky coating in my mouth. The Dunkin’ Donuts of yesteryear is gone and with Corporate’s initiatives to make DDs a fast food restaurant, and I wonder, “What would ‘Fred the Baker’ think?!”

Over the summer, I heard the first news of Dunkin Donuts trying to emphasize the “Dunkin’” part of their name, when CFO Paul Carbone said, “We’re a beverage company.” To me that was a complete assault on what made the company famous, the doughnuts!  I can still hear the echoes of Fred calling, “Time to make the doughnuts!” and can remember Fred restocking the doughnut shelf commercial.  I cringe to think that this memory of doughnuts could be possibly wiped from memory with the invention of more nonsense “-lata” drinks! I will admit, I’m not a fan of DD’s coffee and their coffee-like drinks are just full of sugar and creams and compounds that are most likely found on my lab bench. If DD wants to focus on something, maybe they should hone their efforts in a more health conscious drink instead of bring the American consumer more of the same syrupy concoctions. Then again, if you’re frequenting Dunkin Donuts, you’re looking for a treat that is usually not on the healthy side…

What got me thinking about Dunkin Donuts was a billboard ad that boasted six doughnuts for $3.99. That doesn’t sound incredibly expenses, but like the price of the postage stamp, the price for a doughnut at DD has gone up too. With some searching, I learned that Mr. William Rosenberg, creator and first owner of Dunkin Donuts, sold a dozen doughnuts for 69 CENTS in 1950! With this special going on, the price per doughnut has almost sextupled! Yes, coffee and milk prices have risen, so currently it’s a steal to buy six doughnuts instead of one (one doughnut is $.99 and without the special it’s normally $5.89 for a half dozen).   

I haven’t written off all doughnuts; I actually love doughnuts and that’s why I won’t settle for just “okay.” Even many restaurants have recently added some kind of doughnut dessert item whether or not they actually call it a “doughnut,” the item is still fried, sugary goodness! It’s not about cost but purely taste. So in Philly, the doughnut king would be Federal Donut, and only for $1.50, you can enjoy the sugar raised doughnut of your childhood. 

Amazing delight fresh out of the frier and rolled in cinnamon and sugar!

It’s not just FedNuts, but I feel like any mom and pop establishment has a better product than DD. Take Duck Donuts in the Outer Banks; they house “the breakfast of champions” - or maybe kids and kids at heart!  What both these establishments have is that you can actually watch how your treat is being prepared; from being fried and glazed right before your eyes - a craft that DDs lost long ago.  

Duck Donuts in Corolla, NC

To me, Dunkin Donuts is in a bit of an identity crisis. It cannot produce a quality product while it’s trying to be recognized for something that it is not.