Mushroom Recipe Challenge: Introduction

I have to admit that I'm very intimidated by cooking contests and recipe competitions.

I'm much more of a food fan than I am a gourmet and I consider myself a better cook than chef. In fact, I probably would have been a great line cook in somebody's kitchen had I not become a freelance marketing consultant and web entrepreneur. If I've learned anything about myself over the years it's that there are some situations where I'm good at flexing my creativity and there are some at which I'm not (or don't feel very comfortable).

For me, the kitchen is a place where I don't feel at home freelancing. I tend to follow recipes if not to the letter at the very least close to the spirit in which they were intended. Chris is much more of an experimenter when it comes to recipes and her adventurousness has paid off with handfuls of ribbons in the baking competition at the Maryland State Fair.

But I was admittedly intrigued when I read about the Marx Foods Blogger Mushroom Recipe Challenge. The concept was pretty simple. The fine foods purveyor would provide participants with samples of various dried mushrooms hand-foraged from the woods of the Pacific Northwest. All they asked was that each participant prepare at least one recipe and post it on their blog. The winner would receive shipments of the dried mushrooms of their choosing throughout the season.

A wrinkle that made this challenge a little tough is my wife's aversion to the main ingredient. In the decade we've been together I've always counted on her as an excellent culinary sounding board, taster and critic. Considering the "something in here smells bad" face she makes if I even mention the word "mushrooms" I knew I was sorta on my own as far as recipe development and cooking was concerned.

I ended up developing three recipes for the challenge and I just read that the company has extended the deadline from October 11 to October 14. Hmmmm, maybe I'll develop another recipe or two with what I have left.

In the meantime I hope you're intrigued with what I put together so far...