Mushroom stir-fry

Photo taken after I’d had a couple of bowls.

I had a box of Lion’s Mane Mushroom Crumble and I wanted to use it, so I made up this recipe, which turned out to be quite tasty. I used my 4-qt sauté pan, which worked, though until the veggies cooked down a little I had to be careful. I also used my Zyliss manual food processor/chopper on the garlic and ginger.

I prepped everything before starting to cook

• about 1.5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil in the pan
• 2 Cambray onions, chopped including leaves
• 4 large domestic white mushrooms, sliced thick (using them up)
• about 3″ large ginger root, sliced thin then minced in the Zyliss
• 1 head of Russian red garlic, cloves peeled then minced in the Zyliss
• about 6″ of a bunch of celery, sliced thin (finishing the bunch)
• 1/2 block tofu that I had pressed in the Tofubud, diced
• about 1.25 cups cooked Kamut
• 1 medium broccoli crown, chopped
• 1 box Big Mountain Lion’s Mane Mushroom Crumble
• about 2 tablespoons Tuscan seasoning
• about 1.5 tablespoons chipotle-garlic paste (finished it)
• about 1.5 tablespoons Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
• about 3 tablespoons vinegar (Braggs and also brown rice vinegar)

I put the first five ingredients into the pan, down through garlic, and sautéed them for a few minutes on medium-high heat (5 on the induction burner), stirring often.

I added the remaining ingredients and continued to cook for a couple of minutes, stirring carefully (full pan). Then I added a little water (about 1/3 cup), covered the pan, and set the burner to 250ºF for 8 minutes.

When the timer went off, I stirred it, covered the pan, and set the burner to 225ªF for 8 minutes more.

At that point I decided it was done enough for me, though of course you could cook it longer.

I like the Lion’s Mane Mushroom Crumbles — good in a stir-fry. I’ll get those again.

Redskin-potato ferment complete

Back on February 20, I started a ferment that was mostly raw redskin potatoes. Yesterday, three weeks later, I called it done and put them into the refrigerator. 

At right, you can see the result. The brine level has dropped (in part because the fermentation weight has been removed), and the potatoes and onions are now paler.

I would say the fermentation is a success. The potatoes have good crunch and some tartness and certainly taste better than a plain raw potato. They have zero net carbs — all the starch in them, uncooked, is resistant starch, which acts as a dietary fiber.

I use these in bowls, perhaps with some stir-fry or cooked vegetables on top, and they are also good in salads as a kind of vegetable crouton.

Potatoes are a good source of potassium, which resides mostly in the skin.

How Long (Will Interest Rates Stay Low)?

Trains are not for playing

This should have won an Oscar pic.twitter.com/EIEmjGHiC7

— Swedish House Furniture (@UkuleleKev) March 13, 2023

The Razor Company’s stainless steel razor and 345 Soap Company’s Aces Over 8s.

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Aces over 8s, the dead man’s hand, is (legend would have it) the poker hand held by Wild Bill Hickok, pictured at the right, when he was shot dead in the back of his head in Deadwood, Dakota Territory, in 1876. The actual hand he held is not actually known, but tradition has generally settled on it being two pairs, the black Aces and the black 8s, with the hole card being the Queen of Clubs in the accounts that have the game being five-card stud. Other accounts say the game was five-card draw. 

Be that as may — and we’ll never actually know — the 345 Soap Co. Aces over 8s shaving soap is extremely nice. I ordered mine from The Razor Company along with the razor I used today. The fragrance I like a lot: “Tobacco, Mint, Rose, Sandalwood, Vanilla, Cedar, Patchouli, Vetiver, Tonka bean.” And the soap made a really excellent lather — unusually good. I don’t know that I’ve previously used a soap that has camel milk among the ingredients:

Stearic Acid, Beef Tallow, Milks of Donkey, Camel, & Goat, Shea butter, Coconut oil, Palm oil, Potassium hydroxide, Distilled water, Castor oil, Sodium hydroxide, Glycerin, Grapeseed oil, Cocoa butter, Yogurt, Lanolin, Jojoba oil, Capuaça butter, Murumuru butter, Kokum butter, Panthenol, Allantoin, Hydrolyzed Silk Protein, Fragrance.

This soap wasn’t on my radar before, but I rate it as top-tier — really worth a try. 

Now, the razor. It’s stainless steel with a bead-blasted finish. The handle is fluted at the top, which offers a comfortable and secure grip with an interesting feel. The head design reminded me in profile a bit of the Henson razor head, but the feel on the face is not the same. The Razor Company’s razor feels more like an extremely comfortable traditional head — unthreatening and smooth in action — while at the same time, it is extremely efficient at removing stubble. I got a perfect BBS result with no real effort. It is the sort of razor I like — mild in feel on the face but aggressive in removing stubble. This is a first-rate razor at a reasonable price for stainless steel. Highly recommended. (It’s currently sold out, but you can enter your email to be notified when it’s back in stock.)

A splash of 345 Soap Company’s Aces over 8s aftershave, and I’m ready for what the day offers. The aftershave, like the soap, has excellent ingredients:

Alcohol, Witch Hazel, Distilled water, Hydrovance, Rose Hydrosol, Jojoba oil, Panthenol, Allantoin, Hydrolyzed Silk, Aloe Vera, Vitamin E, Fragrance.

The caffeine this morning is Mariage Frères Smoky Sakura: “A sensory journey. This large tea is smoked in Japanese cherry wood according to an artisanal method. Its soft liquor floods the palate with its wooded notes enriched with a fragrant veil evoking incense and licorice. Coming from a family garden in the shizuoka region, close to Mount Fuji, this tea is cultivated according to a method registered in the ingenious system of the world agricultural heritage, respectful of the biodiversity of plants and animals.”

This tea is like an oolong, brewed at a lower temperature (I went with 180ºF) and for a slightly longer time (5 minutes). Extremely nice.