Recipe of the Week: Pan Fried Morel Mushrooms (Indiana Truffles)

Zach and I have never had morel mushrooms before. So when we saw bags of morels for sale at the grocery store, we were so tempted to try some we splurged on the smallest bag they had. The lady behind the counter told us morel mushrooms are also called "Indiana truffles." I was certain anything called a truffle can only be delicious.

Here's how we prepped our mushrooms ...

Ingredients

1/2 lb morel mushrooms, soak in salt water to get rid of debris and bugs and then slice lengthwise
1/4 cup rice flour
1/4 cup all purpose flour
a pinch of paprika
1 egg, gently beaten
2 tbsp coconut oil
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
In a shallow bowl, combine all the dry ingredients.
Dip mushrooms in egg, then coat with flour mixture. Tap off excess.
Heat oil in skillet.
Pan fry mushrooms until golden brown and the flour coating is crisp, about 5-8 minutes.
Blot off excess grease on a paper towel.

Enjoy!

from the studio: 4.16

between the installation in crawfordsville and the mural in lafayette i've been mostly working on random things.  i was in the middle of working on an assemblage linoprint of the courthouse for an upcoming local show and instead decided i needed to add to the junk village i built last year.  so i made a church with a huge steeple and a courthouse out of stuff lying around the studio.  i finished out the church, but still have many of the details to do on the courthouse.  check out the terrible iPhone photos on my studio floor, tables and shelves.

church and courthouse.  the painting in the background belongs to my mother.
she asked me to rework a boring painting i'd done a long time ago.

the courthouse has mindy's friend's rice cooker and some kind of old oil can for its dome top.  the church is topped with some catholic icon i picked up at an antique shop somewhere some years ago.  it is an interesting process to dig through limited materials lying around the studio and come up with building parts.  some of these things take a while to build because i can't find the right piece.  but eventually i compromise for something that will work and i end up with these absurd looking constructions.  i dress them up with a few stencils and surface treatments.  and gradually i am building an entire village.  these will be included with the larger city block that i built early last month.  

city block i built last month.  this is one side.  it has building fronts on all four sides.

this is all still a very incomplete idea and i still don't know what the hell i'm going to do with these things, but they sure are making a fun little junk village.  the problem is that they are damn big.  and i'm running out of space to store damn big things in my studio.

the church with completed roof and stained glass.  the courthouse is waiting for me to
find some appropriate sized clocks.

Monday wishes

This song came on my iPod during my morning walk. I haven't heard it in so long I've almost forgotten how much I love it. 

For Zach.

Sunday afternoon snack

Played a real life game of Fruit Ninja! I chopped up some apples, pears, muscat grapes, strawberries, bananas, mandarin and blood oranges and doused the entire salad in lemon juice. Yums.

a really cool write-up!

(via Wabash College, http://wabash.edu/news/9885)

Opening Reception tonight!

And here's a little stop motion video from the installation of the gallery mural ...

Guide to Sprouting

Lately, the warmer weather has led to a profusion of little seedings in our garden. Nothing is ready to be transplanted yet, so we have turned to sprouting instead to satisfy our craving for some greens. Sprouting is a quick and easy way to harvest some nutrient-rich food. Sprouted alfalfa, for example, is rich in B vitamins, vitamins C, E, and K. It is also high in protein, helps with digestion, lowers bad cholesterol levels, detoxifies the blood and liver and regulates blood sugar levels. But you only want to eat organically-grown sprouts. Conventionally-grown and genetically modified sprouts are very likely to be contaminated and eating them can make you seriously ill. Stay away from store-bought sprouts!

Sprouting at home is fun and easy. And there are so many varieties of seeds and beans to choose from if you don't fancy alfalfa. We're sharing the simplest way to sprout. If you would like to learn more, a great online resource is sproutpeople.org.

Here we go ...

Day 1 - Measure out 2 tablespoons of seeds. Soak for 8-10 hours.
(To keep things simple, we used a mix of alfalfa and red clover seeds and a sterilized mason jar for sprouting)

Day 2 through Day 4 - Rinse and drain every 12 hours. 
Keep jar in a dark spot (out of direct sunlight) in the kitchen. You want to avoid putting your sprouts in cupboards because they have to be in a well-ventilated space.

Draining is an important step in the process. You want to make sure there is very little water left in the jar so your sprouts don't grow moldy. You can use a piece of cheesecloth secured with rubber bands around the lip of the jar, or you can buy these really handy sprouting jar lids (that fit most standard canning jars).

Day 5 - Your sprouts are ready for the sun!
Drain and rinse as usual, but instead of hiding them in a dark corner, set your jar in a sunny spot. The little leaves will start turning green!

Day 6 (last day) - Your sprouts are ready to eat!
Drain and rinse in the morning. De-hull in the evening.

To de-hull, loosen your sprouts in a large bowl of cold water. The hulls should rise to the surface, and you can then skim them off. Repeat this step a few times.

sprouts are even good for cats!

You can store your sprouts in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Just make sure they are really dry when you put them away. To do that, we use a simple salad spinner and dry the sprouts on some paper towels before we store them.

Next up in our sprouting jars, broccoli sprouts!