MarxFoods.com Mushroom Challenge! Lobster Mushroom and Brie Pizza

Okay--so this was way, way more difficult than I thought it would be. You know how many recipes I tried? Too many! I'm only going to show you my faves ;)

Here is the situation: Justin, from MarxFoods.com, wrote us to join a dried mushroom recipe challenge, and sent us a pile of mushrooms. Now, I love, love, love mushrooms. So I had to try all these different mushrooms in different recipes. Look at what he sent us. (how cool!!)

So, I tried quite a few, but both Tavo and I liked the pizza best. Here's the dough, recipe follows:

We soaked the lobster mushrooms (a few trumpets to throw in omelets in the morning and save all the water for broth) in warm water for an hour or so (would have been fine for 20 minutes, but we had friends come by for a beer...so maybe 2 hours?)
Brie and pepperoncini for a bit of salt

All together now--we just used plain crushed tomatoes for sauce

A taste of honey is *better* than none at all... (Sorry Smokey Robinson!)

Recipe: Brie, Lobster Mushroom and Pepperoncini Pizza

Dough:

1 1/4 c. water

1 T. olive oil

1 t. kosher salt

1 T. sugar

2 c. white flour (I use White Lily)

1 c. wheat flour (I use King Arthur)

2 t. rapid rise yeast (I use Fleischmann's)

Put in bread machine to dough cycle or mix traditionally.

When done, pull your section out and let rise. Throw the rest in a tupperware in the fridge with a bit of olive oil. When you want to use the next batch for pizza, just pull out that section of the dough and let it rest at room temp for 20 minutes or so, then toss or stretch it.

Preheat oven to 500. Chop your hydrated mushrooms and brie. Open a can of crushed tomatoes. If you have some fresh or dried basil, this is good too. Spread dough with toppings, keeping it fairly light. Bake in oven for 10 minutes and serve!

Kansas City introduced me to honey on pizza. There are honey bears on all the tables of a now defunct pizza place in Westport. Joe's pizza, (the back part of Kelly's Westport Inn) still has the honey. Oh man, its so good. Especially when you are using savory toppings and a very minimal sauce like we are. Regular "pizza sauce" you buy in the store has corn syrup, preservatives, tons of sodium and unnecessary ingredients. Just used canned crushed tomatoes--anything that has one ingredient is usually better. I like Kroger, because their store brand has a no salt version, but any will do.

Tell me about a taste of honey...

Recipes that didn't make the cut? Roasted Vegetable and Porcini/Chanterelle Mushroom Soup with Barley
I think I blended it too much.

Not bad, not my fave. I need to rework recipe before posting...this was just a bit bland.

This, actually, I loved. It was just too boring ;) Black Beans and Porcini with Brown Rice.
Cook down an onion until translucent; add cumin, ginger, paprika and cayenne. Add a drained and rinsed can of beans, half can of water, and dried porcinis. Cook down for 45 minutes on low, adding liquid as needed. I like mine a bit dry, but that is personal preference.

Meanwhile, throw 1 cup of brown rice, 1-2 boullion cubes, dollop of oil and 2 cups water into rice maker or saucepan. Cook down for 45 minutes.

Mix. Eat. Add hot sauce ;)

I used the leftover beans for nachos. That was also tasty, but not noteworthy.

This next dish was the actual worst I made--but with a better basic recipe, I really think it could be the best. I made a corn chowder and put chantarelle mushrooms in, black trumpet garnish.

My soup was again too....mushy. And thick--but that's an easy fix. Overall, I needed more texture. So, it gets last place.

Overall, though, I really wish to thank MarxFoods.com for the opportunity to try their mushrooms and have a lot of fun :)