The one good thing about all this rain we have been having is that there are mushrooms everywhere. Frank was headed up the road to see if he can figure out how the sheep are breaking out, and came back really quickly for a mushroom basket because he spotted these Oyster Mushrooms not far from the house at all. OMG are they yummy when they are this fresh. There was another flush further up the tree, but he couldn’t reach it even standing in the tractor bucket and decided they were too far gone to warrant bringing out the ladder.
I’d been wanting to find time to make some more egg noodles, and a raining day is the perfect time for that. I used whole wheat flour, two duck eggs from our ducks, butter and milk. I kept them pretty thick — that’s how my grandmother used to make them. I like that texture. I made some stars and stripes for the dinner soup, and made some lasagna sized ones that I dried for some sort of pasta dish later this week. I have loads of canned tomatoes from last year that I need to get cracking on using up. (What a hardship!)
For dinner, I cooked the egg noodles in duck stock that I’d made when we slaughtered birds last Thanksgiving. Then I sauteed the oyster mushrooms in some duck fat. (I’m now out! Must render more.) I added some dried black trumpet mushrooms and frozen Chanterelle mushrooms from last year. I had some celery and red peppers chopped up and frozen from last year’s garden, and that was it for veg, but oh well. I put some chives and chive blossoms on the top for a garnish, and that worked out well. For spices, I did some cayenne pepper, garlic and onion powder, a little soy sauce, some maple syrup and five-spice powder. I’d made some whole wheat potato bread earlier in the day, which was perfect for sopping up that sauce.
Frank found a beer made in NH at the local gas station, and that topped off the meal perfectly.
I am so impressed. It reminds me of Michael Pollan’s meal he foraged himself from Omnivore’s Dilemma. My mouth is watering looking at that rich brown sauce. Yum.
By the time I had it for lunch two days later, it was all mushroom. I could barely taste the duck. Fortunately, I love mushrooms.