Shiitake's

 Steak and Shiitake Mushrooms
In all honestly if you're a vegetarian go right ahead and cook those shiitakes and you won't even need the steak, the meat here was in the backround especially when paired up with these meaty shrooms.

Shiitake's are great, and I hear they're healthy too but they're not that cheap so I tend to try to use up every part of them and since those woody stalks are not edible I take 'em off and freeze them until I'm making stock, they do lend a lot of flavour to a broth.  The only reason I kept the stalks on this time was to look pretty, so I sauteed the mushrooms whole on high heat with some oil. 

Sauteed whole shiitake mushrooms: 

- Shiitake Mushrooms, a big bunch (I bought one basket) 

- Oil 2 tbsp or so

- Butter 1 tbsp
- Pinch of salt

- Whole garlic cloves

- 1 tsp black pepper corns (or ground/cracked black pepper if that's what you prefer) 

- Splash of Worcestershire sauce


Heat your pot very well, it should be large enough that all of the mushrooms can brown without being too crowded, crowding will lead to soggy mushrooms as the moisture will escape and create a watery/soupy mess and they'll never brown.

Add oil and wait for it to be nearly smoking hot. 

Throw in the shiitake's and use a large slotted spoon or a delicate utensil as you will simply be tossing things around lightly without bruising or breaking up the mushrooms. 

Sprinkle with salt and allow to brown nicely, let the larger mushrooms be on the bottom with their caps facing the bottom of the pot for even browning and the smaller ones cook faster so move them to the top so they don't burn. 

Add garlic cloves and black pepper corns and continue cooking until they're browned and don't look very "Raw" anymore, don't let them get too soggy though.  Add splash of Worcestershire sauce and remove from heat. 

Remove the mushrooms from the pot immediately and dot with butter.  Plate and serve!

If you would like to serve it with a protein have it ready at this point as the mushrooms should be done last, so grill up your steak and have it resting for 10 minutes while you fry up these mushrooms so at this point you can simply plate the steak and add the mushrooms on top and serve. 

Enjoy!


You'll see here I also bought and roasted a delicata squash, these are my favourite of all squashes and I simply cut it in half, scoop out the innards and then place inside part down on a piece of foil and bake on a baking sheet.  Oven set to 400 for 40 minutes or so, it should be soft.  Add a sprinkling of salt and enjoy and if you want it as a dessert then add some brown sugar and eat. Mmmmmmmm.
The skins are edible, I'm pretty sure.