Rhapsody In Brown. The Fungus Among Us.

Mr. Hawthorne is stir frying tonight.

It's a rhapsody in brown.

We're using shiitaki mushrooms from our first harvest.

Instructions said the stems were tough and fibrous and not to use except maybe to add flavor to a stock.

Mr. Hawthorne chopped celery, onion, and green pepper.

And he thinly sliced some garlic.

Wok is on high heat. Heat a little peanut oil and throw in the garlic slices.

And the peppers.

And the onions.

And the celery. Stir fry about one minute.

Add in the shiitakes.

Stir fry about 1 minute.

Then Mr. Hawthorne added in a little water to steam everything.

Keep stir frying over high heat about 2 minutes.

Pour prepared cornstarch slurry down the sides of the pan, not directly on top of the veggies. You want the slurry to stay hot and thicken up. Cornstarch slurry: 1 TB cornstarch 1/4 cup water 2 TB soy sauce 1 heaping TB sugar Stir to dissolve.

Stir fry until thickened. Total time from start to finish - about 6 minutes. That's the beauty of stir frying.

Oooh.

Isn't this pretty?

Shiitake mushrooms are more robust than the little white button mushrooms. They're earthy. And meaty. And they're fungusy. It's win/win/win.

And the fact that we grew these ourselves always makes it taste better.

I can't wait to harvest the next batch.

Lentinula edodes. It's what's for dinner.