Monday, March 3, 2014

Cooking With Wild Mushrooms

While hiking into a 5000 acre lowland forest I cam across some shelf mushrooms. Not just some but a lot! All of them were young making them extra scrumptious! Of course leaving them be to mature is a good option too. And that is what I choose. Well at least until I can find the rules about harvesting forage from the state parks!

And find the rules about forging wild mushrooms! I was pretty certain these were ok to eat. Then I thought, "Let me double check myself and find some data. "

I found some awesome data!

Field Guide to Common Macrofungi in Eastern Forests and their Ecosystem Functions (PDF) 

The Field Guide to Common Macrofungi in Eastern Forests and their Ecosystem Functions, (whee that is a mouthful!) is 90 pages chalked full of useful information and great photos. 

But what it did make me do was doubt what I had found!

I needed more information. I needed more data! 

I found an what seems to be a pretty nifty guy, Steve Brill. He has a tweeter so Let's ask him there and see what he has to say! Plan A
I also emailed a mushroom club with the question of , What the heck is it and can I eat it?" who knew there was such thing as a mushroom club? Plan B

And we wait! 

In the mean time, here is an awesome recipe I am planning to cook these fungi in! 
 
White Mushroom Gravy
Created by AndrewM, Thursday, 17 October 2013

  • 1/4 C. butter or vegetable oil
  • 1 lb. chopped or sliced mushrooms
  • 1 small onion, minced (optional)
  • One shallot or 1-2 cloves garlic, minced (optional)
  • 1/2 C. flour
  • 1/2 t. salt
  • 1/4 t. fresh ground pepper
  • 1 t. dried thyme, tarragon, dill or poultry seasoning
  • 3 C. chicken or vegetable stock
  • 1 C. cream
  • 1/4 C. white wine, sherry or dry vermouth (optional)

  1. Saute mushrooms, onion and garlic in butter over medium heat until dry without browning until dry.
  2. Add flour, herbs, salt and pepper. Saute stirring frequently 5 minutes.
  3. Add broth, cream and wine. Bring to a simmer, and continue cooking and stirring 10-15 minutes until thickened.
  4. Adjust seasonings and consistency.
  5. Serve warm.



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