Warm Wild Mushroom Farro Bowl + new site!
with king oyster bacon. and pistachio pesto.
I did it, guys. I finally gave my site a new look. In fact, it even has a new domain: I’ve been asked so many times why I named my blog “le jus d’orange”, which was mostly an impulsive, sentimental reason due to drinking my mom’s freshly squeezed orange juice all my life, but let’s be honest – who can pronounce this? I still remember when I met Yossy on location on a shoot, and she asked if I had a blog. I barely squeaked it out – “um, le jus d’orange???” My face turned red and I berated myself mentally for having such an obscure, weird name. Well, that’s all in the past – and now, my blog name is still le jus d’orange!!! Why? More sentimental reasons. I feel like you all know me by le jus d’orange, and there’s something special about continuity. I’ll just have to learn how to pronounce it, and pronounce it with confidence. However, you’ll notice that the domain name changed. I’ve decided to put everything under the umbrella of “bettysliu.com”. I’m a professional wedding photographer by trade, and from the beginning my blog has always been visually focused. There’s a certain elegance in photographing food that I can’t turn away from. I joke with my blogging friends that sometimes the photography motivates and inspires me more than the food does. Well, now on my homepage you can see my personally curated selection of food documentation. Redirect is in full effect, so previous links to lejubdorangeblog.com should automatically redirect – if you see any broken links, please let me know!!! Please update your readers, RSS feeds, etc. And if you have any feedback – I’d love to hear it :).
WordPress followers / subscribers: I’m not sure you were all imported to my new mailing list – please take the time to enter in your email address so that you don’t miss any recipes. You’ll have received an email for this post because I posted on my previous domain as well, but moving forward an email will only go out to my mailing list. Sorry about that!
It’s August. I feel like on cusp of every new month, I’m always taken by surprise that the previous month was already over. August begins to whisper at the end of summer, the end of sumptuous ripe berries or glistening figs. When did the strawberry season end? How are they looking sad already at the market? I still recall a trip in mid-June, when strawberries literally burst in my mouth, juice dribbling down as if it were a peach. I feel almost guilty for the little mental dance I’m doing, because with the end of summer means the start of fall. My favorite season. When I first starting learning harp, I played this almost mystical piece by Hasselmans – Feuilles d’Automne. It was lovely and brought me images of shadowy woods, wood nymphs, and fireflies floating around, lighting a path of fallen leaves both treacherous and exciting. I know summer’s not over yet (over a month left) and I’m going to buy out all the stone fruits and tomatoes I see, but I can’t help but feel giddy with anticipation. So I made a warm mushroom bowl. Light enough that I can consume it comfortably now, but with enough comfort and substance to bring me in the frame of mind of fall.
Remember that time I went to an amazing mushroom farm in New Hampshire and stumbled away holding a box of beautiful mushrooms?
That same place we’re going to visit and learn about foraging mushrooms in my upcoming workshop? Well, I took all of the mushrooms I brought back from that trip and sautéed them in for a delicious farro bowl. On the advice of Eric, I sliced up my king oysters thinly and then sautéed them with smoked salt and some paprika, let it dry and crisp up – and there you are! BACON. It’s crispy and undeniably similar in taste to bacon. Because it is so thin, king oyster bacon doesn’t have the thick texture of real bacon, but this means it’s lighter and perfect for topping a salad or a bowl of grains.
In this bowl, I’ve got: lion’s mane sautéed like pieces of steak, blue oyster mushrooms, tiny juicy elm mushrooms, and king oysters. You can see what I did with yellow oyster mushrooms here. I whipped up an easy pistachio pesto and topped the grains and mushrooms with fresh scallions (always) and king oyster bacon. Simple, delicious meal. I brought it over to a dinner party and it was a hit 🙂
Mushrooms are amazing. There are so many different varieties and flavors – did you know there are lobster mushrooms that taste like lobster? I’m going to try to get my hand on some and make a lobster mushroom mac and cheese. Doesn’t that sound so good? I wish I had enough expertise to be able to venture out in the woods to forage mushrooms, but I don’t – so I’m excited to go on a mushroom foraging adventure and learn about edible mushrooms this fall! Those interest – we have only two spots available. If you’re interested, send me an email or register here.
RECIPE: Warm Mushroom Farro Bowl with Pistachio Pesto and King Oyster Bacon
Pistachio-basil pesto
1/2 cup minced thai basil
1/2 cup pistachios, lightly toasted
½ cup olive oil
1 tbsp lime juice
zest of half a lime
1/2 tsp salt, to taste
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ cup parmesan cheese to taste
1| Food processer: Place all ingredients except parmesan and oil in food processor and process. Stream in oil at a steady pace.
2| Mortar and pestle: grind up garlic, salt, zest. Add basil leaves and grind. Add pistachios and grind. Tip into a bowl. Add in half the parmesan cheese and lime juice. Gently stir in oil until it is thick in consistency. Add in remaining cheese, to taste.
King Oyster Bacon
king oyster mushrooms, sliced very thinly
smoked salt
paprika
1| Heat up a cast-iron pan with some vegetable oil. Sprinkle salt and paprika on mushroom slices.
2| When vegetable oil is sufficiently heated, add pieces of mushroom in one layer, not touching. Fry for about 1 minute, then flip and cook until golden brown. Set aside on a paper towel lined plate and let dry – about 30 seconds. It will crisp up.
*Note – there is also a method using the oven that produces thicker versions – see here.
Mushrooms
Varied mushrooms (1.5 cups)
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 fresh scallions, chopped finely
cooked farro
1| Melt butter in olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.
2| When butter begins to foam and brown, add mushrooms and cook, covered, until juices begin to release, approximately 3 minutes.
3| Uncover and cook until mushrooms are deeply browned. Add in 1tbsp light soy sauce. Place mushrooms over faro and top with pesto and fresh scallions.
Bowls: ogusky ceramics / wooden board: michael’s woodcraft
I’m a creep and needed to check this post out as soon as it popped up in my email (yay still on the mailing list!). Sooo I LOVE IT, your new design is so clean and crisp and these photos are as gorgeous as ever. Ah!
p.s. Whenever I tell people my blog name, they make a confused face and than I have to say “it’s fork–*makes eating motion*–not pork to belly”. I feel ya.
You’re definitely NOT a creep – thank you so much for the sweet words!!! I’m glad it still showed up – but I did publish this on the old domain too to let all my wordpress readers know… we’ll see when the next one comes out yeah? <3
p.s. - right??? Only other bloggers can fully appreciate blog names.
Oh wow, LOVE the new site Betty! Fall is my favorite season, too, so the end of summer is always a mixed bag. These bowls look delicious and the photos – how do you do it?! <3 <3 <3
Yay thank you Alanna!!!! Your words mean much to me <3.
YAY!!! Everything is gorgeous, Betty. Congrats. And double triple yay for professional integration. So happy we get to be with all of YOU.
Hehe thank you Lily!!! Finally launching it was a big load off of my shoulders!
Yay yay yay! I love the new look!!!
Thanks Michelle!!!!! Your support means the world to me!
Where is that bowl from??
I’m so excited to see these lobster mushrooms! foods that sneakily taste like other foods are so fun. have you tried lucuma?
Hey jessica! Aren’t these bowls gorgeous? They’re from Ogusky Ceramics in Boston – I put in the source links at the bottom of the post 🙂
I absolutely LOVE the new website! It looks amazing. I love the clean and minimalist look. Your gorgeous photos really stand out.
And this dish sounds absolutely heavenly! King oyster bacon?! I need to try this! Such a lovely post and recipe.
Sophie!!! Thank you so much :).
Oooh I’m updating my feedly! Love the new site and shroom photos woo! lol when they ask for your email at the department stores and you dig up some old email so you don’t get spammed. it’s like um… painful LUV or angel dust or imajeenyus and it’s on hotmail or yahoo or aol. haha now that’s embarrassing.
Thanks Mabel!!!! Haha I totally get it :).
Betty, your new website is looking fantastic. Actually, le jus d’orange for me stuck perfectly in my head when I first found your blog, maybe it’s because it’s in French and I like French things?! I dunno! I also find it a bit awkward having to tell people my blog name, even though I like it and it is easily pronounced!
Ps my Feedly updated/redirected seamlessly to the new domain name! I love the crazy variety of mushrooms you have used here… and that king oyster bacon… O_o
Thank you Hannah!! Glad to hear the name stuck with you :). I have heard it’s so “different” that it really associated ME with le jus d’orange, which is always good!!! I’m so glad to hear feedly updated seamlessly!!! woohoo! Big weight off my chest 🙂
Your new site is beautiful – gives maximum attention to your gorgeous photos! And speaking of, this farro mushroom bowl looks amazing – I had something similar at a cafe recently so now I will be able to try and recreate it with your recipe! Love all the different mushroom varieties too 🙂
Thank you Claudia!!!!!!! I hope you do try it 🙂 It’s pretty simple to whip up!
Love this new look look, Betty! Just read your About Me and couldn’t stop smiling! I’m so glad you’re keeping the name Le Jus d’orange!! <3
Aww thanks Connie!!!!
Love love love the new site Betty. And beautiful post too. Such a hearty vegetarian meal that I will be creating for myself this week.. thanks.
thank you Thalia!!!!! That’s the word I couldn’t find – HEARTY. It perfectly describes this dish – thank you!
I discovered your blog only in this moment, therefore I don’t know how the design looked before, btw this is one of the most beautiful graphic I’ve ever seen! And your recipes seems amazing too, I’m gonna read your blog from cover to cover ^_^
Hi Valentina!! So happy you found my little corner of the internet :). Thank you so much for your kind words!!!
oh my gosh love, love the new design! the photos really do shine more and it feels more reader friendly to me as well. and as always, love the recipe – you can never go wrong with mushrooms on mushrooms 🙂
Thanks Vicky!!!!!! I’m so happy to hear that 🙂 And seriously – I don’t understand people who hate mushrooms!
LOVE THE REDESIGN!! And this wild mushroom bowl sounds BOMB.
Thanks Alana!!!!!
I just discovered your blog and wanted to give a quick hi and say that your photos are absolutely stunning!! Lovely lovely!
Thank you Sarah!! <3
Love the new look! Simple and elegant! I will have to try the lobster mushroom but wouldn’t even know where to look. I doubt the Asian supermarkets I frequent would even have them. And I’m still crossing my fingers that you’ll do a workshop in SF one day!
Thank you so much Vy!! I don’t know where to find those lobster mushrooms either but I’m dying to try them!!! I’ve only found like, enoki shiitake oyster and king oyster at the local asian supermarket, bah. I really hope I do get to do one in SF one day – that would be amazing :).
first of all: love your new design, looks great!!
and then the mushrooms – thoose look so pretty and photogenic and i bet they tasted delcious!!
You two are so sweet!! Thank you 🙂 (they WERE delicious! I’m never going back to button mushrooms.
These mushrooms look GORGEOUS. And so does this dish. AND your new site design! Just love it all Betty. Congrats xo
Thanks Jessie!!! You’re the best 🙂
Hi Betty! Love the new site design, especially the homepage, it looks like something halfway in between a photography portfolio and a food blog, <3 <3 <3. Also this mushroom bowl, yum! Seriously, I want it so bad.
Also I want to go mushroom foraging with you guys so bad! But I'm low on funds right now since I graduated recently and am now on the job hunt :(. You think you'll still have space in a few weeks? I'm hoping to have landed something by the end of August!
<3 So excited.
Love the new site, Betty! I’ve been waiting for these bacon mushrooms for a few weeks since you shared them on IG. YUM! I can’t wait to try my hand at those.
Ah thank you Sonja!! Try those bacon mushrooms – seriously so good.
GIRL the new site is amazing! And I LOL’d when I read the bit about how you chose your blog name, etc. I feel the same way about my own blog name choice haha. For what it’s worth I still love the LJdO blog name, though I totally understand the need for your site to grow bigger since you do so much more than just blog. Congrats on moving forward and doing it in style, lady.
Hahahaha after posting this I’m reading comments/emails and I realize so many people have a similar feeling about their blog name!!!! I have to say, I love this shared experience :). I’m glad you love the LDJO blog name – I am keeping it as of now!!
Love the new look! 😀 Keep it up– you and your creations make a lot of people happy ^__^
Thanks so much for following along Wendy 🙂
Ohhhh i’m gonna echo everyone else and say your new blog look rocks -because it absolutely does!!! I think when people find out what my blog name is, they think it’s stuff with probably a whole lot of sodium, but it actually originated because I kept on forgetting to put salt in stuff -so it ended up on top :/
This sounds absolutely amazing!! Mushrooms are a definite fave. 😀
Annie! Thank you so much – and LOL about your title!! I love it – especially now knowing the story.
LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT YESSSS
I’m seriously loving the new site and layout!!! It’s gorgeous and so inviting 😀
Can’t wait to see each new recipie