— Karlee Stoppenhagen

Oyster mushrooms are fun and they cook beautifully, but they kind of have a mind of their own. And before we go into the, um, the oyster, I just wanted to say that, um, trumpet mushrooms are another fun mushroom to use because you can shred the, um, stem with a fork and it shreds beautifully. So that if you wanted to make, uh, a barbecue dish like a, you know, shredded quote, quote pork or something like that, they just cook beautifully. I take the heads off and I will add those to a salad. And then, uh, the stems, I will, uh, use the fork method to shred them. And not too long ago, I made, I think I made 25 shredded, pulled oyster, I'm sorry, um, trumpet mushroom dishes. And no one believed that they were not meat. So they're fun to cook with. So in my, my rush, my mushroom search today, and I don't know how many of you pardon the noise from the paper bag, these are oyster mushrooms because they look like oysters. And, uh, this question, uh, is from Carly who was saying that she hasn't had much success cooking. So here is what I do when I make either lion's mane or I make oyster mushrooms. I use a brick. This brick is covered with a aluminum foil. If you are opposed to using aluminum foil in your cooking, you can then cover it with a piece of parchment paper or just put parchment paper on top of the mushrooms and squish them down. But I find that they will, the moisture will release as you see in the no oil saute assignment as it releases, it flattens, and then it begins to look almost like a steak of some sort or an egg, uh, a sauteed eggplant or whatever. So this is what I use, um, follow the same method that you see in the no oil saute. And I always have a brick in my kitchen because if I'm making a panini or something like that, um, this I find is, uh, just a great tool to have. I have a, a li say, um, grill pan that I like to use. So those are my recommendations for these. And I think tonight I'm going to do the same exact thing. I don't build these mushrooms because they have a tendency to break a portobello makes a great mushroom for, um, for grilling, but I don't find that with the oyster mushroom. So, uh, good luck. Let me know if you, what you decide to do and how it turns out for you. These have such a beautiful flavor to them, and I just think that they're so beautiful. And if you go on Amazon, you can find mushroom kits so that you can grow your own. And it really is kind of fun. It's sort of like a brick that comes to your house in a box and you water it, and then five days later you start watching these mushrooms grow everywhere in your kitchen. And, um, it's fun. And if you have young children, it's a nice way to show them food origins to, to an extent.