Mushrooms - I can deliver a nice mushroom assortment of your choice, just let me know what you'd like.
Cultivated mushrooms, other than your common button and portabellas, include some very delicious and exotic varieties available year round such as:
Abalone Mushroom, aka bai ling - large, white and meaty average 4 oz @ $4, or $8.50# wholsale
Blewitts, aka Bluefoot - beautiful, low moisture mushroom with a floresent purplish-blue hue $2 oz retail, $22# Wholesale
Hen O' Woods, aka Maitake (my-tah-keh) - 4 oz @ $4 retail, $12# wholsale (also foraged wild in fall/winter)
King Trumpet Oyster, aka Eryng - 4 oz retail @ $3 or $7.50# wholsale
Oyster Mushrooms - retail @ $8#, 5# @ $24 wholsale
Pom-Poms - mid to late summer
Shimejii (shi-meh-jeh), aka Crab Mushroom or Beech Mushroom - small mushrooms that grow in tight clusters, may be all white or have a beige stem with brown caps...$1/oz retail, $9# wholsale (also found wild in the fall)
It's no coincidence that mushrooms have names like Abalone, Crab, Lobster, Oyster, Chicken or Hen...
I'll post additional varieties as they become available. Please ask if you don't see what you are looking for.
Wild Mushrooms have the most intense, earthy flavors of all mushrooms and are only available when in season. If I have them, or am about to get them then you'll see a price, otherwise I'll state the month they come into season. You'll usually see Domestic Morels and Boletes mid to late Spring,Chanterelles and Lobsters in summer then Truffles (domestic, Chinese and French or Italian) as well as Yellow Foot Chanterelles, Hedge Hogs and Black Trumpets from fall through winter. There are also many other delicious, less known varieties that I've included below.
Black Trumpets - fall/winter
Bears Head/Lions Mayne - fall
Bolete/Porcini - retail @ $22#, $18# wholsale in 5# case minimum
Cauliflower - may be found in summer through fall and even winter pending climate. call
Chanterelles/Gold- very soon...June/July through fall/winter pending weather
Chanterelles/Blue - brief season in fall
Chanterelle/Burgundy, aka pigs ears -
Chanterelles/White - winter, December, January, February
Chicken Of The Woods - June, July, August...call or e-mail for availability and price
Lobster Mushrooms - July/August into fall pending weather
Morels- retail @ $1.50 oz, $16# wholsale 5# minimum
Mousseron - imported from France April, May, June
Pioppini, aka Fried Chicken of the woods - a wild Shimejii or Beech Mushroon, fall through winter
Puff Ball - fall
St. Georges - imported from France April, May, June
Truffles - summer truffles are available from May through September. They are much more expensive than Domestic or Chinese truffles but they are also superior in flavor and shelf life. This mushroom is available with several days advance notice. I'll let you know what I have when I have them. Stay tuned
*How to prepare and cook most mushrooms (except truffles which are used like a spice or very delicate mushrooms like yellow foot chanterelles that are too tender for high heat and best when folded into sauces and soups or raw as a beautiful and delectable garnish)
1) assuming you'll rinse your shrooms (I seldom do) spread them out on a dry dish towel after rinsing and roll them up in it pressing gently as you roll. Let them stay rolled up in the towel for 5 or 10 minutes to dry.
2) leave them whole or chop/break into large bite size pieces, place in a bowl
3) coat them evenly with extra virgin olive oil, then salt and pepper them, all the while...
4) getting ready a dry, hot (too hot for oil or butter, that's why I say dry) sautee' pan
5) toss the shroomies evenly into the hot-ass pan and let them smoke for 1 minute then flip them a few times for the second and final minute. Count the minutes one, two, Take them off the heat and either:
serve as a side of seared mushrooms, or put back on reduced heat and add white wine, a little butter and maybe some cream, or back up...put the over reduced heat and add rissotto then begin ladling in your stock while stirring...you know the drill. Mushrooms need high heat as a catalyst for nutritive and flavor values. Raw mushrooms are fine sometimes. I have found this cooking technique the most delicious way to do them.