Keeping mushrooms; making a sourdough starter, food goals for 2022.

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10 January 2022, 06:53 PM

jodi

Keeping mushrooms; making a sourdough starter, food goals for 2022.

I add mushrooms to a lot of things I cook, but they go slimy pretty quickly now that they get packaged in plastic boxes instead of cardboard. So now I dump them in a colander and let the modern frost free fridge dehydrate them and they last forever.

Also decided I’m going to get better at bread making this year and am attempting a sourdough starter. Do any of you do this? I’ve been binge watching some of those ordinary people who seem to make a living documenting their lives and kitchens on youtube channels and it looks like fun. So here’s mine (started today) sitting on the edge of the stove. (I may have have temp issues because of winter, I think)

I am also going to start fermenting vegetables. I did a couple of things last year (mustard seeds, and carrots) and they were yummy.

10 January 2022, 07:03 PM

wtg

Great tip on the mushrooms! I'll definitely try that.

As for starter, I tried it many years ago. My friend had a starter that she had kept going for like five years and she gave me a small jar to take home to start my own. I got it going, but I wasn't good about tending it and it finally went south.

Do you by any chance have an old yogurt maker? I wonder if that would work to keep the starter toasty warm while it gets going. You could probably pick one up in a thrift store for next to nothing....

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We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home. - Australian Aboriginal proverb

Bazootiehead-in-training

10 January 2022, 07:53 PM

jodi

I used to have a yogurt maker. One of the many things we ditched when we moved! I have a very small food dehydrator (fan running with warm air) that I’ve been using to dry the paints I’m making. I tucked the jar in next to that this afternoon.

10 January 2022, 08:02 PM

wtg

quote:
Originally posted by jodi:
I used to have a yogurt maker. One of the many things we ditched when we moved! I have a very small food dehydrator (fan running with warm air) that I’ve been using to dry the paints I’m making. I tucked the jar in next to that this afternoon.

I read this as "that I've been using to dry the pants I'm making".

I thought, "I want to see those pants.".

Hilarity ensued.

I guess a heating pad (maybe wrapped in a towel) set on low could work, too.

Funny you brought up bread baking. I used to bake a fair amount in my day but haven't for years. I was just saying to Mr wtg last week that I was planning to make one of his favorites, an oatmeal bread with a touch of molasses.

I may be busy making bread tomorrow while Steve is cooking Soup Roberto.

11 January 2022, 01:20 AM

Steve Miller

Sign me up for your kitchen blog!

Once you dehydrate them in the colander do you transfer the mushrooms to another container? Or do you just use them out of the colander?

11 January 2022, 12:20 PM

jodi

I usually end up using them before they are completely dry, sometimes I transfer them to a smaller open container if they are almost dry. Most important thing is I never end up throwing any slimy mushrooms away now. When they are completely dry they are pretty cool - they snap easily into smaller pieces, so you don’t have to cut them! I just remember seeing dehydrated mushrooms in containers at Costco, and they were soooo expensive. This is cheap and easy!

11 January 2022, 12:34 PM

jodi

quote:
Originally posted by wtg:

I read this as "that I've been using to dry the pants I'm making".

I thought, "I want to see those pants.".

Lol.

Did you end up making bread? This morning, Fred (the sourdough starter) is sitting on an ove-glove (best kitchen tool ever) on a vintage Pyrex thigie filled with warm water on the warming burner or our stove (because even when I turn the heat up to 70, the kitchen stays about 65). Next to him is a bowl of bread rising - I have a kitchen-aid mixer that I vowed to use a bunch this year (had it since we lived in Ferndale), and though I plan to learn to better knead bread manually, I’m using the dough hook and the mixer for now - as so far it’s been awesome. The bread will go into a Dutch oven (and into the oven) to cook.

11 January 2022, 12:37 PM

AdagioM

This is brilliant, on the mushrooms. I’ve thrown away so many slimy ones.

I keep buying food as if the kids still live here. The fridge is full. I choose what to cook based on “what is in danger of going bad?” It’s delicious. Risotto last night, with asparagus and mushrooms (mushrooms were endangered).

Sourdough starter: A friend gave me some. I forgot about it by the next weekend, and then I left town. DEAD. No sourdough for me.

11 January 2022, 01:56 PM

jodi

You can make your own. Supposedly takes a week. It becomes uniquely yours (cause it’s the yeast from the flour and the surroundings in your kitchen).

11 January 2022, 03:06 PM

jodi

This is the yeast bread - kneaded using the stand mixer, baked in a Dutch oven (in a 450 degree regular oven). I cut the “X” a little too big!

I had to order a stainless steel knob for the (Le Creuset) Dutch oven lid - the black one it comes with isn’t heat safe at that high a temperature.

11 January 2022, 05:00 PM

markj

I love this. My sourdough starter is over 3 years old. I neglected it over the past few months as I am trying to lose some excess weight and so much bread is a definite no-no. If you keep it fed and maintained, it can last for decades.

11 January 2022, 09:39 PM

AdagioM

quote:
Originally posted by jodi:
You can make your own. Supposedly takes a week. It becomes uniquely yours (cause it’s the yeast from the flour and the surroundings in your kitchen).

It’s the remembering to keep it alive that is my problem!

12 January 2022, 06:46 PM

BeeLady

quote:
Originally posted by jodi:

To hell with the food (I live alone so don't do big cooking projects like this anymore.)

I WANT that gadget holder and the garlic keeper!

I am sucker for pottery...I have a handmade paper towel holder made by a potter.

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"Wealth is like manure; spread it around and it makes everything grow; pile it up, and it stinks."
MillCityGrows.org

12 January 2022, 09:54 PM

jodi

My mom made the tall pot, and I made the garlic keeper!

12 January 2022, 10:00 PM

RealPlayer

I love ceramic stuff too. I’ll post pictures when I’m up for the photo hosting hassle.

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“It's hard to win an argument with a smart person. It's damn near impossible to win an argument with a stupid person." -- Bill Murray