Cooking with Cannabis: Wild Mushroom + Ricotta Toast

Returning home to the warmth of the kitchen after a full day's foray deep into the lush local forest to hunt for those elusive wild mushrooms is most often as rewarding as winning the lottery. And if you were lucky enough for some of those wild fungus to have found their way into your basket, your next meal just might be fit for a king.

Here in the Pacific Northwest, the usual wild mushroom suspects are morels, chanterelles, oyster mushrooms, lobster mushrooms, King Boletes, Zellers Boletes, cauliflower mushrooms, lion’s mane, matsutakes, saffron milk caps, and pig’s ears to name a few. The hunt is always an adventure, driving to a very remote, mostly clandestine location, parking the car backwards so no one can tell you’re a forager, sneaking off in the opposite direction you intend to pick. Then and only then do you make your way over fallen trees, through the underbrush and bramble thickets.

Read also: How to Grow Oyster Mushrooms at Home

Scraped and scratched, your eyes darting around the damp, dark leaf-covered ground, suddenly your eye catches the color, shape and size you're after. Your hands move fast while your eyes are moving even faster and you rapidly fill your basket before heading home with a container full of forest floor food finds.

For most, thoughts quickly shift to what they're going to make that will let this basket of mushrooms shine like the bright stars they are. Generally, the simplest of food favorites comes to mind, and for me that's wild mushroom and cheese toasts.

Cast iron skillet-sauteed wild mushrooms over buttered peasant bread toast, smeared with whole milk ricotta cheese and some cannabis butter frizzled rosemary… yum. As a devout forager this is one of my go-to recipes for showcasing the subtle flavors of some of these just-foraged wild mushrooms. Mountain herbs like rosemary and thyme round out the freshness and complexity of the dank wild mushrooms. Foraging for your food is rewarding on so many levels. This recipe can be done in a skillet over a campfire and enjoyed any time of year, and the type of mushroom is entirely up to you. Enjoy the wild mushroom season in your neck of the woods.

Read also: How To Make Cannabis-Infused Butter

Recipe

• Prep time: 15 – 20 minutes
• Cook time: 15 – 20 minutes
• Yield: 6-8 toasts
• Total THC/CDB: 20 mg THC / 100 mg CBD
  
  

Equipment Needed

• Cutting board
• Chefs knife
• Serrated bread knife
• Tongs
• Stainless mixing bowl
• Large sauté pan

Ingredients

• 2½ lbs misc wild mushrooms (e.g. chanterelles and morels)
• 8 tbsp salted cannabis butter
• 3 tbsp bacon fat
• 5 garlic cloves (peeled, crushed and rough chopped)
• 1 tbsp + 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1½ tsp fresh cracked black pepper
• ¼ cup marsala, red wine vinegar, or balsamic vinegar
• 16 oz ricotta cheese
• ½ cup grated parmesan
• 1 bottle CBD tincture (100mg cbd / 20mg thc per bottle)
• 2 drops beta caryophyllene terpene
• 1 loaf white bread (unsliced pullman loaf or choose your favorite white bread)
• ¼ cup nasturtium leaves (size of dime or nickels)
• ¼ cup rosemary flowers (from the flowering rosemary)
• 3 rosemary sprigs (about 3” long)

Instructions

• Sauté the mushrooms and garlic in 2 tbsp butter and the bacon fat over medium heat in a cast iron skillet, about 8-10 minutes or until golden brown and crispy on the edges.
• Deglaze pan with 2 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp thyme leaves. Let butter brown and add rosemary sprigs. Add marsala (or vinegar of your choice) and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
• In a stainless mixing bowl, combine the ricotta, ½ tsp cracked pepper, 1 tsp thyme, terpenes, and CBD tincture.
• Slice bread into ¾ “-1” thick pieces, toast to desired crispness and butter.
• Top each piece of toast with a thick spread of ricotta and pile with the warm mushrooms.
• Drizzle with some pan juices, sprinkle with rosemary flowers and nasturtium leaves and serve.