MUSHROOM-STUFFED MUSHROOMS
Lightly trim ends of 2 pounds of cremini mushrooms, separate stems from caps, and mince the stems and half the caps. Reserve the remaining caps to stuff.
Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat, and add one large (4-ounce) minced shallot and 1 teaspoon minced thyme leaves. Cook, stirring until tender, about 2 minutes. Add minced mushrooms and cook, stirring until water evaporates and mushrooms thicken and darken, about 15 minutes. Stir in cup panko bread crumbs and season with salt and pepper. Toss remaining caps lightly in olive oil and salt, stuff with cooked mushroom mixture, and arrange on rimmed sheet. Cook at 450°F until mushrooms are tender, about 20 minutes. Sprinkle grated cheddar cheese on each mushroom, return to oven, and cook until cheese is melted and beginning to brown. Serve.
not true. Go ahead and wash me; just make sure to dry me well so that I brown properly.
Wild mushrooms—chanterelles, morels, truffles (an anomaly because
they grow underground)—really can be intoxicatingly tasty, but they are hard to find and therefore more pricey than their cultivated cousins. (Conversely, if a restaurant touts a “wild” oyster, shiitake, or cremini special, beware; those varieties are farmed.) Lore abounds about mushroom hunters who sneak out early in the morning and park their cars stealthily for fear of being followed to their shroomy stashes in the woods.
Perhaps most valued is the white truffle from Alba, in the Piedmont region of Italy, whose musty aroma shouts when it’s shaved raw over buttered fresh pasta or a fried egg. In 2007, a Hong Kong–macao casino magnate spent $330,000 on a threepounder—a sign that my prestige has overtaken any rational appraisal of value. (Another sign: the premium price shoppers pay for “truffle” oil, almost always made from synthetic flavors and not truffles at all.)
I continue to be credited with health benefits, some more legit than others. Most of the varieties you eat have an array of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals, including all-important vitamin B and selenium. The maitake mushroom, also called hen-of-thewoods, is remarkably high in vitamin D. But caveat emptor on those hyped “adaptogenic” mushroom teas; they’re perfectly fine for you but unlikely to provide the benefits listed on the label.
In Northern California in 2017, heavy rainfall led to a bigger than usual crop of the death cap, a mild-tasting little thing that is responsible for 90 percent of human deaths-by-mushroom worldwide. That year, more than a dozen people got disastrously sick, sustaining neurological damage and requiring liver transplants. Another shroom craze afoot is decidedly more fun: “Magic mushrooms” that contain psilocybin are again all the rage. Several species of me come with this not entirely legal hallucinogenic included. Their surprisingly middle-aged users are often less interested in the trip than they are drawn to the promise of reducing anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Can I do all that? The research suggests yes. Would you expect anything less from something as magical as me?
Kate Lowenstein is a health journalist and the editor-in-chief at Vice; Daniel Gritzer is the culinary director of the cooking site Serious Eats.
Officers don’t like to lose. Exhibit A: One naval officer’s write-up in the base newspaper of our unit’s lunchtime softball game: “In a spirited end-of-season finale, the Khaki Special (officers/chiefs) team fought hard but finished the season in second place. Meanwhile, the enlisted personnel (the Blues) won their last game but finished next to last in the standings.”
What he failed to mention about the season ... the two teams played only one game, against each other.
—J. Kirby Spencer Bremerton, Washington
During basic training at Fort Dix, New Jersey, I was sent to the firing range to qualify as a marksman. After taking a few shots, I asked my sergeant how I’d done.
“Son,” he told me, “you better learn to use a bayonet real good.” —Edmond Krysz Wood-ridge, New Jersey
While in paratrooper training school, I asked the instructor, “What happens if the parachute doesn’t open?”
October 2020 | rd.com
“It’s guaranteed,” he reassured me. “If it doesn’t open, just bring it back.” —Richard Hoffman Toledo, Ohio
Got a funny story about the military or your military family? It could be worth $$$. For details, see page 4 or go to rd.com/submit.
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