Every morning, one of the first things that I do is to harvest food for the day and usually just enough for the day so it stays fresh…no need to be shoving anything in the fridge. Actually we only have a tiny fridge for pharmaceuticals…no veggies, fruit and condiments allowed! Morning harvest:
Farm Harvest.
The leafy greens are chaya and to the front are some carambola (starfruit). The round yellow fruit, at the back are sour peach. The banana leaf has some wild mushroom (Schiziphylum commune). So, Gnome asked me:
Hello Everyone! Hope you are all having a relaxing Sunday. I am sure by now whenever you see my bun-eating avatar, it means that the post is food related! As promised, I have posted up my recipe for Beef Jerky and Wild Mushroom Soup after yesterday’s fungi foraging. This is a warm, hearty meal for winter because it also contains red kidney beans, pasta shells, onions, ginger and leafy greens. If you haven’t been out mushroom foraging, the recipe can still be used with shop bought items (either Wood ear bought from Asian Supermarkets or Button Mushrooms bought from almost anywhere except for Belize).
Anyway, here is a picture of the dish with fried Mayan mushroom used as a garnish.
Beek Jerky and Wild Mushroom Soup Garnished with Fried Mayan Mushrooms.
And, this is a picture of the Wood ear mushroom , sliced before cooking.
It has been pouring down in Toledo so this is the best time to go foraging for mushrooms! Take a look at what we found today…a bountiful treasure for Munchkin and Gnome!
We found oyster mushrooms growing on some peach palms. We identified them as Pleurotus ostreatus which is a smaller type of edible oyster; they are fleshy and full of texture.
Oyster Mushrooms Growing on Palm.
Yay! There are more Oysters coming up!
Lots of Baby Oyster Mushrooms!!
We also found more Wood ear mushrooms which are edible. These mushrooms are well-liked by the Asian population and are usually cooked in soups and stews. Of course, we like them too! Moreover, this little number also has medicinal properties which include anti-cancer, hypoglycaemic, anti-coagulant and cholesterol lowering activities. What a wonderful mushroom!
Wood Ear Mushroom with Two Romantic Snails.
Fungi foraging also revealed more of the Mayan mushroom known as Schizophylum commune. These are rubbery in texture but are edible nonetheless.
Mayan Mushroom on Log.
There was a plethora of Turkey Tail Polypores which came in a spectacular array of different colours. Not only are they nice to look at but they can be made into a medicinal tea. This type of fungus is known to have anti-cancer properties and so a cup of tea now and then won’t do you any harm.
Trametes versicolor on Log.Big Trametes.
You may have gathered that we are really Big on Mushrooms. Gnome has written many essays on this subject. Check out these links:
I am not a Texan Munchkin so I like to show my cheeky nature by embellishing Chili Con Carne. It sounds like when it comes to the truly authentic Chili Con Carne, people have many different ideas about it. The only idea that I have in mind is to “spice” it up “Munchkin Style” which basically means looking for anything growing on the farm and chucking it into the pot with Chili and Carne.
These are things I found to throw into the Chili Con Carne:
Split Gill Growing on a Log of Cashew.
Green Peppercorns.
Wild Split Gill Mushrooms are found growing everywhere in the Toledo region of Belize and like to grow on old logs. They are actually an esteemed Mayan mushroom which is traditionally cooked in the “Caldo” or Chicken Soup. These mushrooms are chewy in texture so they need a longer cooking time (about 30 to 60 minutes) in a stew or soup. Today, I deep-fried these mushrooms as an addition to the chili dish. My Chili Con Carne had lots of green peppercorns (as well as chili) to add to the overall spiciness.
Other spices I added to the Chili Con Carne Munchkin Style were: cinnamon, allspice, clove and cumin. My version had kidney beans and I served it with pasta twirls. How is that for total lack of authenticity?! I am sure some people would shudder at the thought of my gross deviation!
Chili Con Carne with Pasta Twirls and Wild Split Gill Mushrooms.
Needless to say it was very, very spicy and very flavoursome. The deep-fried split gill mushrooms added a crunchy texture to the dish.
This time, I will not furnish you with my recipe as I am aware that there is a plethora of authentic chili con carne recipes out there for everyone to choose from.
Gnome has written about Split Gill Mushrooms, click on the link if you want to read more!
