![Mushrooms emerging](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/fionasfavourites/AJoJHo5mJrpd1qTPYX8ce9nyPRemF8YkA7PPscsqHTTMQQi9XQETQ9GdmRKM89j.jpg)
Search Hive using the key word, mushrooms and my account name and you'll find a bizillian lot of posts in which they're either the hero or mentioned. Except for last year when I posted very little and, I honestly cannot remember whether we had any.
Any wot? You mean ate any or from your garden?
Well, yes, we - and I - ate mushrooms but for the life of me, I could remember whether we had harvested or eaten any of our own. Another search for amkhowe confirmed that we did. A mere thirteen days before The Husband went into hospital.
It's less than a month until that day was a year ago. It's weighing on me, I admit. However. Finding mushrooms popping up reminds me of the delight that The Husband took in both coming to tell me, harvesting and eating them. So, supper on Sunday was bittersweet.
![](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/fionasfavourites/AL1f4xkwqLob1kiNG6oAfozo3oaAF4yCurVZmbnAXRUEzFkqXXWnVryoyRKJL9b.jpg)
Garden foraged khowe (beefsteak) mushrooms, garlic and thyme: a magical combination for a risotto. Served with pan-fried hake and minted peas. Perfect cool autumnal comfort food.
I'm learning to not just cook - just for me - but to do it properly. Before I met The Husband, I used to cook on a Sunday evening with the week's meals in mind. I'm kinda going back to that pattern, but only kinda. I say that because my cooking skills and my diet and what I want to eat are - twenty five years later - quite different.
Anyway, for reasons unimportant now, I have fish in the deep freeze. And it's been a while. Also, Sunday was a taste of autumn and I had a hankering for something other than salad and more comforting. I decided on fish and I would also have peas. Also, because those mushrooms don't keep, I decided to make a risotto.
![Pan-fried hake on a bed of risotto with peas and parsley](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/fionasfavourites/AL7PiN8nERsTCRcmf5CJEn5Twz3va4ChUTHSC2QnSLp5rVQmxQUPjGcDa7Yowaq.jpg)
Before starting the risotto, I gave the mushrooms the long-cook treatment with garlic, thyme and white wine to develop the flavour. At the same time I reconstituted a dried vegetable stock and let it steep before starting the risotto.
![The risotto](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/fionasfavourites/AKGb2cJiDWMrtnq9PijTrmpSNWXNnWjF7Zk3WwAWx1mn1utzXtatqHiHSVVBQJL.jpg)
Confession: I am not a fan of rice and this - a risotto - is one of the very few ways I will eat it, let alone cook it for myself.
Oh, and half a cup of arborio rice made three (me-sized) portions, so two more meals. What better way to both stretch and savour the flavour of those marvelous mushrooms?
Until next time
Fiona
The Sandbag House
McGregor, South Africa
Photo: Selma
Post script
If this post might seem familiar, it's because I'm still re-vamping old recipes. As I do this, I am adding them in a file format that you can download and print. If you download recipes, buy me a coffee. Or better yet, a glass of wine....?
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Original artwork: @artywink
I create graphics using partly my own photographs as well as images available freely available on @hive.blog and Canva.