Close Enough For Jazz

I joined the local mycological society in the spring, but they evidently had some staff shake-up and never contacted me due to lack of organization. Since I was hardly around this summer, it's probably no great loss. But next year I hope to go on some of the walks. And a mycologist friend of ours is coming for the weekend, so with any luck we can go hunting. In the meantime, one of our local stores sells wild-foraged mushrooms from the local woods.

Christine got some maitake there, and some salmon, so I made a quick dinner that was gloriously autumnal in color and flavor. A huge sweet potato got peeled, steamed, and mashed, and I turned some frisée into a flourescent green mash. The mushrooms, which had a fair amount of dirt in their nooks and crannies, needed to be chopped fine as a result of all the dirt-removal surgery. I sautéed them with a little guanciale, garlic, and parsley. I baked the salmon dusted with salt, 5-spice, pepper, dried sudachi zest, garlic, and ginger. And that was it; in a perfect world I would have made a little more of the sumac sauce, or a little red wine-soy reduction, but as it was pretty great even without it. Green mash is as much of a condiment as most meals need- especially those centered around a piece of animal.