Category Vegetarian

LifeCykel


OYSTER MUSHROOMS

Late July we were contacted by Julian from LifeCykel who asked if we would like to visit their mushroom farm. We booked in a date and in mid August, got the chance to visit LifeCykel’s little operation out in South Fremantle. Once we arrived we were escorted around the property and shown into three different sea containers. The first sea container we viewed through a clear sliding door as this one is pumped with low levels of CO2 mimicking that of the bottom of a rainforest.

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Cluster Starting

Along some racking installed throughout were some large long bags full of hay and little holes  punctured in just the right spots to be maximum mushrooms. Normally these are filled with coffee grinds from all the cafes around Fremantle (Nic and Kolo, Balthazar, Vans, Flour Factory, May St Larder and Don Tapa) but due to the colder weather during winter hay seems to be the better choice.

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The second container had a humidifier and this real pungent mushroom smell. All the bags in this container had just started to shoot and seeing them just start to form the little clusters and in the third was the next sequence and had the larger mushrooms some ready to be picked and the others only a few days away. I was lucky enough to receive a big bag full and a home grow kit. The next day I set off on making a Mushroom Terrine which I had been given as an idea by a good friend of mine. This recipe is featured below, I make small terrines so double the recipe to make a standard sized one.

OYSTER MUSHROOM TERRINE

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INGREDIENTS

– 550g LifeCykel Oyster Mushrooms, Sliced

– 4 Cups Vegetable Stock

– 10 Dried Shiitake Mushrooms

– 25g Butter

– ½ Tsp Thyme

– 3 Egg Whites

– 1 Leek, Thinly Sliced

– 1 Stick of Celery, Thinly Sliced

– 1 Carrot, Thinly Sliced

– 7g Powdered Gelatin

– 1 Large Crêpe with Chopped Dill

– Sea Salt Flakes

METHOD

1. Bring the stock to a boil in a large saucepan, add a generous amount of salt and the dried mushrooms for 15 minutes remove from the pan and discard.

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2. Cook the LifeCykel oyster mushrooms in batches for 3 minutes at a time in the stock then transfer the mushrooms to a colander and let them drain.

LifeCykle Mushrooms in the Stock

LifeCykel Mushrooms in the Stock

3. When all the mushrooms are cooked and removed, bring the stock to a boil and reduce by one-third. Allow the stock to cool.

Stock Vegetables

Stock Vegetables

4. Melt the butter in a large frypan and Sauté the mushrooms with the thyme and leave to cool completely.

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Sautéed Mushrooms

5. To clarify the reduced stock, put the egg whites and vegetables into a bowl and whisk. Tip in the cold stock. Bring it to a boil, making sure you are stirring continuously with a whisk. Once at a boil, turn the heat to very low and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Strain the stock through a fine sieve or cheesecloth lined sieve into a bowl and measure the quantity.

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Bringing to a Boil

6. Allow 14g of unflavored powdered gelatine per 2 cups of stock. Sprinkle powdered gelatin over ¼ cup cold stock (or water) to soften. Add this to the stock, stirring with a spoon until completely dissolved. Leave until cold, and then adjust the seasoning.

7. Prep your terrine mold by lining it with plastic wrap and let it overhang the top edges. Next trim the crêpes so that they fit nicely inside your terrine mould. leaving plenty of overhang at both ends and the sides leaving plenty of overhang at both ends and the sides to fold over.

8. To assemble the terrine, you want to do this in layers. Place one third of each the mushrooms and the stock at a time until the mould is full. Fold the small sides of the crêpes first followed by the larger sides and place into a vacpack bag.

Vacpacked

Vacpacked

9. Vacuum the bag at full strength and place into the fridge to set. How long to leave in the fridge is completely up to you, the longer you leave it the better it will taste however I would not leave it more than five days.

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Terrine

10. To serve, unmold onto a chopping board and peel off the plastic wrap. Using your sharpest knife, cut the terrine into slices about 2cm thick. Lay a slice on each plate, arrange with some micro-greens on one side and enjoy!

Slice :D

Slice 😀

The boys down at Mane Liquor recommend a Liefmans Goudenband Sour

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Recipe adapted for the guys at LifeCykel from http://artdefete.com/mushroom-terrine/

Gin & Tonic Marshmallows


GIN & TONIC MARSHMALLOWS

In my household we are huge lovers of gin. So I thought I would make us something different, Gin & Tonic Marshmallows (alcoholic too). This recipe is from an awesome chef Mr Eddie Shepherd. I have two of his eBooks and they are incredible. It didn’t seem like a hard recipe reading in on my iPad but once I got started soon figured out it was quite involved. I reckon you would definitely be able to find a simpler recipe and substitute ingredients, but this recipe for marshmallows is vegetarian!

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INGREDIENTS 1

GIN & Tonic Syrup

– 250g Tonic Wanter

– 50g Dry Gin

– Zest of One Lime

– 250g Caster Sugar

– 40g Juniper Berries

– 10g Coriander Seeds

MARSHMALLOW COATING

– 50g Icing-Sugar

– 50g Corn Flour

METHOD 1

I am doing the Sousvide version so make sure you get it ready and set it to 64°C. Combine all the gin and tonic ingredients and seal in a vacuum bag. Place into the Sousvide for 1 hour. Strain and chill the syrup until ready to use. For the marshmallow coating mix the two ingredients together and sieve into an air tight container for later use. Lastly, grab a small baking tray with high sides and lightly oil and dust with the icing-sugar mix. Set aside.

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INGREDIENTS 2

MARSHMALLOW BASE

– 80g Gin and Tonic Syrup (From Above)

– 65g Caster Sugar

– 50g Methylcellulose Slurry

– 20g Dry Gin

– 2g Ascorbic Acid

– 1g Xanthan Gum

– 1g Vanilla Essence

– 0.5g Rose Water

SYRUP INGREDIENTS

– 200g Caster Sugar

– 60ml Water

GELLING INGREDIENTS

– 150ml Water

– 3.5g Kappa Carageenan

– 2.2g Locus Bean Gum

METHOD 2

First in a large bowl place all the marshmallow base ingredients. Begin to whip the ingredients in the bowl whilst slowly adding the caster sugar. Beat this mixture until you start to get stiff peaks. then set to one side. For the Syrup, Combine the water and caster sugar into a small sauce pan and slowly heat to 125°C. Hold the syrup at this temperature in preparation for adding the gelling ingredients.

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Gelling, stir the water into the 125°C syrup. It will seize up, but continue to heat it and it will quickly become a fluid syrup again. Now whisk the locus bean gum and the kappa carageenan into the hot liquid. Stir this well for 2 minutes then pour the hot syrup into the marshmallow base while beating. as soon as it has combined pour the marshmallow mixture out into your prepared baking tray and allow to set in the fridge for at least an hour.

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INGREDIENTS 3

CUCUMBER SUGAR

– 10g Cucumber Peel

– 2g Ascorbic Acid

– 200g Caster Sugar

METHOD 3

In a small food processor, blend the cucumber peel with 100g of the caster sugar and the ascorbic acid. Stir the other 100g of caster sugar into an airtight container.

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To serve, slice the set marshmallow mixture into equal sized cubes then remove from the baking tray. Grab the marshmallow coating and toss the gin and tonic marshmallow cubes. Finally, top each of the marshmallows with a pinch of cucumber sugar and a little lime zest, ENJOY!!

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Full credit to Eddie Shepherd and this will be the last recipe I do from his Edible Cocktail eBook. If you wish to purchase his eBook for $6.99 AU click on his name above.