Mushie for mushies

Mushroom madness

[Margin's Mushrooms growing in their disused cool room]

Mushrooms are fungi and are made up of 90% water and are virtually calorie-free.  They're also full of lean protein and fibre, so your body burns fat just breaking them down.  So magic mushies help to aid in fat loss. How good is that?

The vitamins C, B6 and B12 found in mushrooms assist in boosting your immune system and energy levels.  Marvellous mushrooms are also high in Vitamin D, Vitamin B6, protein, magnesium, iron, potassium and many other important minerals.  And we reckon they taste ah-may-zing.

When storing, place in a paper bag and keep refrigerated to keep them at prime freshness. DON’T STORE IN PLASTIC BAGS because they sweat and go slimy.

Did you know, when fully open the Swiss Browns are also known as Portobello Mushrooms? Swiss Brown Mushrooms are graded into 3 sizes: buttons (babies):

caps (half open):

and Portobello (fully open):

We love them on home made pizza and in pasta sauces with a little organic cream, parmesan and continental parsley and oven roasted with taleggio (a soft cheese).

Baked Mushrooms with fresh herbs & taleggio  

Ingredients

• 200g taleggio cheese, sliced, rind removed (replace with another soft cheese if you can't find taleggio)
• 75g butter (softened)
• 8 large Portabello mushrooms
• bunch (10g) fresh herbs of your choice
• freshly ground pepper, to taste

Method

Chop the herbs. In a bowl, mix together the herbs and butter.

Place the mushrooms onto a baking tray lined with foil or baking paper and divide the butter between the mushrooms, so that it sits in the open cups. Grind some black pepper onto the mushrooms.

Bake for about 15 minutes at 200 degrees C and baste the mushrooms halfway through with butter.

Once baked, place the sliced taleggio onto the mushrooms and bake for another 10-15 minutes until starting to brown.

Delicious served on some toasted Brasserie Bread.

Margins Mushrooms sell both white mushrooms and Swiss Browns and Rita's Farm Produce sells small amounts of Swiss Brown mushrooms at the Lane Cove Food & Farmers' Markets every Sunday.