Maitake Mushrooms

I love mushrooms. So you can imagine how very excited I was to find LA-Funghi at my local Farmers' Market.  Currently I am addicted to this little guy, Maitake - Hen Of The Woods.  He has a meaty core with beautiful delicate tips... no wonder I'm in love.  As of late, I have been trying to break away from the constraints of recipes & started cooking from the heart with paying attention to intuition & experience.  Relying on sight & scents... & above all else, palette.  I am also reminded of my Uncle Jim, who told me on more than one occasion, to K.I.S.S.... (keep it simple stupid).

So here is a perfect time to keep it simple, because this fungi has so much to offer just on it's own.  I preheated my pizza stone (My stone is a kitchen essential) in a 400 degree oven.  I drizzled a garlic infused olive oil over the top & simply placed it in the oven.  For 15 mins this beautiful mushroom sizzled in my hot oven until it's core was finally over come & the petals fell to the stone.

I am lucky enough to live in southern California where my herbs are still hanging on to their last bit of life.  I plucked two chives from it's pot & snipped them with shears over my deflated mushroom.  I then sprinkled some additional garlic infused olive oil over the top with a sprinkle of some Murray River Pink Flake Salt that simply melted away (did I mention my addiction to gourmet salts?).


The tips were delicately crunchy & the stem juicy & tender.  I ate this alone as my dinner but you can bet the next time a grill a steak, this will be with it.