Maitake mushrooms have a spicy kick and can be re-hydrated by soaking for about 30 minutes

Maitake Rice Pilaf
Sautéed Maitake
Mushroom Bread Pudding
Maitake Tea
Mushroom Gravy with Noodles
Chicken and Cauliflower in Cream sauce
Sausage and Mushroom Ragout with Polenta

Maitake Rice Pilaf: top

2 cups washed, uncooked long grain white/brown rice (a little wild rice mixed in is good too)
4 cups chicken or bean stock
1 cup lentils, cooked
2 - 3 cups chopped Maitake mushrooms
1 cup coarsely chopped onions
1 cup coarsely chopped celery
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chopped peanuts or almonds
1 tbsp. parsley
1 tbsp. allspice
3 tbsp. olive oil
Salt, pepper, cayenne pepper to taste

In a large saucepan, sauté Maitake mushrooms and garlic in olive oil over medium-high heat for 15 minutes, adding parsley, onions, celery and pepper after 10 minutes. Add rice and stir for another 3 minutes, then add stock, lentils, allspice and salt. Stir again, then let sit until mixture is boiling gently. Reduce heat and cover. Let simmer for 20 minutes, then check mixture. If all of the liquid has cooked out by that time, add 1/2 cup extra liquid (extra stock, some sherry, some soy sauce, etc.), salt, cayenne pepper to taste, peanuts/almonds, and cook for 15 more minutes. Let cool uncovered for 5 minutes and serve with a dollop of plain yogurt on top.

Sautéed Maitake: top

In the fall, in NH, I hunt this mushroom with great enthusiasm. I pick the young ones, before they become powdery or bleached. I bring them home, trim the leaflets with some of the stems. Then I put them in a bowl of water and salt to rid them of the insects (cold water). They are then drained, patted dry with paper towel and cut up into smaller pieces. I then dice up a Vidalia onion and cover the bottom of an iron skillet with them, put the mushroom on top, then add a full crushed garlic bulb on top of the mushrooms, cover and slowly cook them down until most of the moisture is gone. Then I add a cup or so of burgundy wine and a stick of butter, occasionally some sesame seed oil or other flavorings, and cook it down again. When they are cooked down, I cool them, and package them in (small portions) small zip lock sandwich bags. I roll them up and put the date & contents on the bag with a Sharpie marker and then put them in my freezer. When I want a nice moose or venison steak, I take out a package, thaw it and add to the dish. They are also awesome in an omelet.

Mushroom Bread Pudding: top

This recipe is from Jefferey Wright, via the Internet
A savory delight! This is based on the Italian tradition of fresh bolletes, recycling of yesterday’s bread and strong full flavored stocks. Not to be missed as side dish for a special occasion or as a main dish when it is cold and rainy outside.
Filling:
Half pound of mushrooms (fresh bolletes or shiitakes or dried maitake mushrooms can be substituted)
garlic - one clove
one half onion
2 tbsp. olive oil
Bread Pudding:
half loaf of bread
3 eggs - beaten
half cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tablespoon of minced Italian parsley
salt approx half teaspoon
pepper (lots)
half cube of butter
two cups homemade stock (chicken, vegetable or beef)
Step One:Sauté onions and garlic until transparent and then add mushrooms. Continue until mushrooms are golden brown. Salt and pepper to taste. Let cool.
Step Two: Butter the inside of a soufflé pan. Slice the half loaf of bread. Butter both sides of each slice of bread and put an even layer on the bottom of the pan. Put the cooked mushroom over the first bread layer. Combine the eggs, cheese, salt, pepper and parsley. Pour one half the mixture over the mushroom and bread layers. Cover the mushroom layer with one more layer of buttered and sliced bread. Pour the remaining eggs cheese mixture over the top bread layer. Pour approx. two cups of stock (you could even use mushroom stock) over the bread mushroom mixture. It should just come to the top layer of bread.
Let the mixture absorb the stock for at least one half hour. It could even hold overnight in the refrigerator. Bake fifteen minutes at 400 degrees. The pudding will puff up and get a beautiful golden brown crust on top. Carefully run a knife around the inside of soufflé pan, and invert on a plate to unmold this beauty. Serve with a small amount of Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Maitake Tea: top

Use 2-4 grams daily prepared as a tea. The daily amount, taken as tea, should be split between morning and evening.
The dried mushroom can easily be ground to a powder in a coffee grinder.

Bring the tea to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. For maximum benefit you can simmer the tea from 2-4 hours, although a fairly strong tea can be made in 20-30 minutes. The grounds can be re-heated with benefit, discard the grounds when they no longer produce color in the tea.
Filter the tea through a coffee filter before drinking. As mentioned the grounds can be re-used as long as they produce color in the tea. Any un-used portion of the Maitake tea can be refrigerated and used up to two days later. Shake the stored tea before using it.

Mushroom Gravy with Noodles: top

From George Egger, via the Internet
1 lb. fresh mushrooms (I usually use a mixture of oysters and maitake, but pretty much whatever you have works fine), coarsely chopped
1 large onion, chopped
about a cup each of dry wine and stock (again, whatever kinds you have is fine)
1 tbsp of brown sugar (or use a sweet wine and leave out the sugar)
several tbsp. oyster sauce
1/4 cup flour
1 tbsp. each butter and olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Heat a tablespoon each butter and olive oil in a large non-stick skillet (or a wok) over high heat. Add onion and cook until it begins to brown. Add mushrooms and keep stirring until they just begin to cook (the volume in the skillet will decrease quite a bit) but BEFORE a lot of juice begins coming off. Add flour, and immediately mix well. Continue cooking until the mushrooms are done—the flour will coat the mushrooms and get pretty pasty but it works out—trust me on this! Add dry wine and stock, brown sugar and oyster sauce. Stir well—the mixture will thicken. Add more stock if needed (probably!) to produce a gravy consistency. Reduce heat to simmer, taste and add salt/pepper if needed. Simmer for another ten minutes, stirring frequently to prevent burning. Serve over noodles, toast, potato pancakes, or whatever you might need a gravy for. This gravy freezes extremely well—I put it up in pint freezer containers whenever I have surplus mushrooms, and pull one out for all kinds of quick meals. In particular, whenever a recipe calls for (heaven help us!) a can of mushroom soup!!! Or, while the mixture is simmering, you can add a generous shot of Worcestershire sauce and about four cakes of cream cheese (I use the fat-free version, and defy you to tell from the taste) and stir well until it melts in. Cool, and you have a truly wonderful mushroom spread.

Chicken and Cauliflower in Cream Sauce: top

Ingredients (4 servings):
2 chicken, inner breast fillets
200g cauliflower
100g Maitake mushrooms
6 asparagus, canned
1-2 green onions
ginger, as required
vinegar, as required
salt, as required
salad oil, as required

Chicken Fillet Marinade:
1 TBSP sake rice wine
a dash of salt
a dash of pepper
1 TSP powdered starch

Seasonings (to be heated):
300cc water
150cc milk
2 TBSP fresh cream
1 TBSP sake rice wine
2/3 TSP salt
a dash of pepper
powdered starch dissolved in water, as required
1 TBSP salad oil

Recipe:
1. Cut and separate the cauliflower into bite-sized pieces. With your hands, tear the Maitake mushrooms at random. Cut the asparagus in halves. Cut the green onions at random, and the ginger into thin strips.
2. Take out the chicken tendons and cut the fillets into thin strips. Add the seasonings to the chicken fillet strips and pour the marinade over it.
3. In boiling water, add a dash each of vinegar, salad oil and salt. Boil the cauliflower, remove and set aside.
4. Boil the Maitake mushrooms briefly, remove and set aside.
5. Add the chicken strips one at a time, and briefly boil. Remove and set aside.
6. In a wok, heat 2 TBSP of salad oil. Fry the green onions and ginger. When you can smell the aroma, add the water, cauliflower, Maitake mushrooms, and chicken fillet strips. Add sake, salt and pepper to taste. Heat once again. Then add the asparagus, milk, and fresh cream and heat briefly. Thicken with powdered starch dissolved in water, and stir in salad oil. Transfer to a serving dish.

Sausage and Mushroom Ragout with Polenta: top

Ingredients (4 servings):
8 sausages
30g onion
250g Japanese mushrooms (maitake, shimeji)
50cc white wine
200cc tomato paste
150cc bouillion
3 Tbsp. parsley, finely chopped
Pinch of oregano
1 clove garlic
1 small dried red chilli
10g Parmesan cheese
Olive oil as required

Polenta:
100g polenta (ground maize)
800cc water
30cc olive oil
20g butter
Pinch of salt

Recipe:
1. To cook the polenta, bring the water to a boil and add the olive oil, butter, salt and polenta one by one. Simmer over low heat for 30 minutes stirring occasionally.
2. Separate the mushrooms into small clusters, finely chop the onion and seed the chili. Chop the garlic clove in half, peel and crush.
3. In a frying pan stir-fry the olive oil, garlic and chilli pepper over low heat until fragrant. Add the sausage and stir-fry. Add the onion and mushrooms and stir-fry further. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Add the white wine and bring to the boil. When most of the liquid has evaporated, add the tomato paste, bouillon, parsley and oregano and simmer gently. 5. Transfer the polenta, the sausage and mushrooms onto a serving dish and sprinkle with olive oil, parsley.