Roasting Chestnut Mushrooms Over the Open Fryer

by Mary Ellen Kozak

Chestnuts ready for harvest and roasting!

As a transplant from Michigan to Eastern Wisconsin, I learned quickly that the big, wet, living ditch of Lake Michigan changes more than just interstate traffic patterns. There are also dialect differences. A drinking fountain here is called a bubbler. A pop is soda,  and a grill is a fryer. A fryer is something you use all year, rain, snow or mosquitoes, and it resides just outside your back door for the easiest access.

A culinary feature of the Chestnut mushroom is that it can be grilled en-masse. The grilling of large, individual portabellas and shiitake is standard cooking procedure, but the relatively miniature Chestnut mushrooms cook in large handfuls, like enoki mushrooms or asparagus.  A preheated cast iron pan or grill pan  is a great cooking surface because the mushroom size is generally small and can cook to perfection without stewing them as will happen in a pan that is too small and too cold. Toss the mushrooms (including the long, crunchy stem) in a bit of oil or melt some butter in a pan and throw the mushrooms into the pan on the fryer. Stir. When they are crisped to your liking, sprinkle with salt and serve. 

One last comment about the Chestnut Mushroom. It is possibly the most beautiful mushroom you will ever grow indoors. Grow your own with one of our Table Top Farms.

Welcome winter with all the wonder that mushrooms bring. Happy Holidays!