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Foraging for MUSHROOMS!!!!

KevinKohler

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It's that time of year, folks! Especially in the north east. Any of you do it?


I've got a large sugar maple trunk in my back yard, and I've had my eye on a cluster of oyster mushrooms growing on it for a week or so, now. Plucked them after work today, gonna make a nice woodland mushroom pasta dish with it for dinner tonight. Bon apetite!:2razz:
 
It's that time of year, folks! Especially in the north east. Any of you do it?


I've got a large sugar maple trunk in my back yard, and I've had my eye on a cluster of oyster mushrooms growing on it for a week or so, now. Plucked them after work today, gonna make a nice woodland mushroom pasta dish with it for dinner tonight. Bon apetite!:2razz:

Be damn sure you know what you are doing. There are many poisonings from foraging for fungi.
 
Be damn sure you know what you are doing. There are many poisonings from foraging for fungi.

That's why I like oyster mushrooms. They are great for beginners, because they are very specific looking, and have no poisonous look alikes. All of their look alikes are in the same family, and all are edible. And they taste good.
 
They also sell them at certain grocery stores, like trader joes, but they are very expensive. I used to buy them from time to time (there is nothing else that tastes quite like them, and in a good cream sauce, MAN!), till a buddy saw me, and turned me on to just going out and finding them for myself.
 
My parents and grandparents did know how to choose mushrooms but that skill alas is lost on my generation and those that came after me. I would certainly send myself to the emergency room so I stick with what I can buy in the store.
 
Oh, and a good method to determine if a mushroom is poisonous or not is to take a silver coin, and put it in a glass of water with the mushroom, and check back in an hour. If the silver is turned, or starting to turn black...poisonous.

I've actually tried this with a mushroom I new to be poisonous, and it actually works. Personally, I thought it was an old wives tale. For my money, unless I was 100% certain of the ID, tested or not, I ain't eating it, lol.


Any experiences from others doing this, or other sorts of foraging?
 
My parents and grandparents did know how to choose mushrooms but that skill alas is lost on my generation and those that came after me. I would certainly send myself to the emergency room so I stick with what I can buy in the store.

My wife's grand parents and her uncle (all from Sicily) are avid mushroomers and general foragers. I think it's becoming sort of a lost art, as we, as a society, gain ever greater distances from our food and it's sources. People who come from places that still have that connection, tend to have these skills and this knowledge.

And I get it. We all live busy lives. Sicily? That's an entirely different world. No one there is doing a 9-5, or as is the case with many americans, 7-6. They have a very slow pace of life, which allows for, and in some cases, requires the gaining of this sort of knowledge. Old worlders, we call them. But when the chips are down, I think their way of life might well outlast our own.
 
OK, verdict on the pasta sauce....




****ING AWESOME.




If I say so myself. Why I don't own a restaurant is beyond me....oh wait, it's because working in a restaurant SUCKS, lol.


So, simple as pie, as long as you have some decent woodlands mushrooms (they're key). I took about 3/4 of a stick of butter, salted, and tossed that in a pan to melt. Added 1/2-3/4 cup of half and half...how much is up to how thick you want your sauce...less = more thick. If you add too much, simply reduce it on a low simmer. I added about 1 clove worth of garlic, finely minced. One full table spoon of knorr beef base. Chicken and beef base (NOT boulion) is key. If you don't have those, stop cooking...ever....and get some. One heaping table spoon of grated parm. 1/4 of finely ground feta...don't use large chunks...feta doesn't really melt, but if it's relatively finely ground (not a complete powder, but not chunky), it blends really nice. I shaved off about 1 heaping table spoon of Cabot Alpine Cheddar (specific, no other will do, it has a very nutty flavor). And last, I cut about 2 full cups worth of oyster mushrooms after cleaning them into thin strips, and added them. They cook down a LOT, so don't be afraid. Let that sit on med heat till it's all blended smooth, and the shrooms have cooked down, and voila.


One very delicious sauce. Add to pasta of your choice, that I suggest ziti of some sort.
 
MMM...MORELS!

My Dad used to hunt them. He'd slice them in half lengthwise, flour them and pan fry them. When I was a kid, he tried and tried to get me to taste those nasty looking things. When he finally convinced me, he regretted it. I'd stand by the stove and eat them as they came out of the pan! :lol:
 
MMM...MORELS!

My Dad used to hunt them. He'd slice them in half lengthwise, flour them and pan fry them. When I was a kid, he tried and tried to get me to taste those nasty looking things. When he finally convinced me, he regretted it. I'd stand by the stove and eat them as they came out of the pan! :lol:


Yeah, they're delicious, but a tad more dangerous. They have some poisonous look alikes. The trick to them is to cut them open, to properly ID.

I haven't seen a single one in CT. I'm told they grow everywhere, but I only ever see them in stores from time to time.
 
Yeah, they're delicious, but a tad more dangerous. They have some poisonous look alikes. The trick to them is to cut them open, to properly ID.

I haven't seen a single one in CT. I'm told they grow everywhere, but I only ever see them in stores from time to time.


Well, I guess Dad knew the difference - we all survived. Morels are finicky about their growing conditions - everything has to be just right. We were in the midwest and even there, they aren't common. Morel hunters closely guard their secret mushroom spots.
 
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