The End of Two News Cycles and a Word about Mushrooms

 The Ames Free Library debuted its loanable e-readers yesterday and on May 18 will be hosting experts on the Nook e-reader. Over the weekend I upgraded the operating system of my Nook Color and now have a built in news reader that lets me check the news at bedtime. Here's what I learned at midnight last night. The right wing wants the credit for killing bin Laden-see torture actually works-to go to George W. Bush. Thank Bush they say. No word on whether we need to thank him for the debt, tax cuts for the rich, the financial collapse, or eight years of inaction on climate change. Think I'll just thank the Navy Seals and all our brave servicemen and women  and leave the politicians to squabble.

I also learned that a Pippa Middleton fan page on Facebook has 92,000 followers while a similar fan page for her derriére (based on that white dress, no doubt) has 44,000 followers. You can also trackdown a wonderful shot of Pip at a party wrapped in a toilet paper dress-apparently she didn't get the memo about cell phone cameras and friends posting pictures on the Interweb. And yes, I have no trouble posting links to fake photoshopped pictures of a dead bin Laden, but I won't do that to a lady! Trackdown, by the way, makes me seem like I actually went looking for it-there she was an inch tall in the entertainment section of the new news reader! Pippa by the way is short for Philippa which she apparently prefers-I expect to be doing extensive research on this and will keep you informed. Finally, the UK's Independent has a fun article about good girls using bad girl tactics comparing Kate Middleton and Anne Boleyn. No word from the right wing about forming a fan site for Bush's derriére, but it is doubtless coming now that Glenn Beck has time on his hands.

Last year the library sponsored two programs on mushroom hunting. The first was by an expert on wild mushrooms who convinced me, unintentionally,  never, ever to eat anything outside a grocery store. The other was a forager who noted that there are a few wild mushrooms even I couldn't mistake. Still, about 90% of wild fungi are either inedible or poisonous leaving me with the choices I find in the supermarket. Even there things can get confusing.

A recent visit to Hannafords found fresh button mushrooms, portabellos, baby bellas, criminis, oysters, and shitakes. There were also a few other varieties of dried mushrooms. What's the difference or more importantly why the difference in price? Oyster mushrooms and shitakes are tree fungi that are commonly grown by plugging holes in logs with mushroom spawn. The oyster mushroom, Pleurotus ostreatus, was first cultivated in Germany as a subsistence food during World War I. It prefers deciduous trees with beech trees a particular favorite. The flavor profile is a little like oysters although the  common name probably comes from its shape. It is most commonly used in stir-fries. I use it in a meatless stir fry with ginger, garlic or onion and either a mild Chinese cabbage or pea pods. Shiitake mushrooms, Lentinula edodes, favor oak trees. The stems of this mushrooms are edible, but can be hard or woody so they are seldom used. Shiitake's are favored in vegetarian dishes for their umami taste-the savory taste of cooked meat. I'm not a fan of this mushroom's flavor and seldom use it. Both these mushrooms are more complex to grow and slower than common mushrooms, hence the higher price.

Button mushrooms, portobellos, baby bellas, and criminis are all the same mushroom, Agaricus bisporus. Unlike oyster and shiitake mushrooms, these mushrooms favor grasslands. There are two color varieties the white and the brown. The white variety is the typical supermarket variety that we have been buying for years from button size through stuffing size. The brown ones are called baby bellas in the button stage, criminis in the small slicing stage, and portobellos in their mature stage where they are sold in sizes larger than their white cousins. In America this has become a wonderful marketing strategy. The brown variety usually costs more than the white and in the smaller sizes don't justify the added cost in flavor-any difference is all in our heads as we tend to associate brown with earthier flavor. Large members of the white variety generally have lighter gills than the brown making them ideal for cleaning out for stuffed mushroom appetizers while the larger brown ones are ideal for slicing and cooking as a meat substitute once again due to the umami taste. I find buying a large loose portobello for a sandwich the most economical way to enjoy these mushrooms unless packages are on sale.

A couple of things-there are some carcinogenic chemicals in these mushrooms that are reduced to very low levels by cooking. On the other hand they also contain a chemical that may reduce estrogen production in the body reducing the risks of certain cancers in women. No real reason to hope or fear in any case. Regarding cooking small sliced mushrooms, Jim Messinger of Loco believes that mushrooms as a side dish should be sauteed slowly in a little olive oil, red wine (or other liquid like broth or even water), with a pinch of salt and pepper and maybe a little garlic. To reach their best flavor they should be on the stove about as long as it takes to boil carrots-longer than we generally cook them-the trick is not to use too high a heat and to watch to add a little more liquid as needed.