Get a load of this Mushroom!

[AllenOK]

It's getting to be that time of year again here in southern Michigan. One of my MIL's former neighbors brought over this the other day:

The salt is just for scale. The giant puffball mushroom is about the size of a soccerball.

I know my MIL will want to cut it up, bread it, and fry it. The only problem is, I don't like the taste or texture of her product. She doesn't season it much, if at all, and it ressembles a flavorless sponge.

Maybe I should take some of the Drake's mix I have laying around, and make a beer batter and deep-fry them myself. I know that works good for button mushrooms.

A couple days ago, I killed some time before going to work by exploring a patch of woods I've never walked through. I saw several more giant puffball mushrooms. One was similar in size to this one, but was "gone to spore" and not edible. The others looked good, but were slightly smaller. I didn't pick any other them.

 

[urmaniac13]

OMG, this is a mushroom!!??

I thought it to be a giant potato!!
I love just about any kind of shrooms, I would love to have a taste... how about slicing it up and grilling it? That may bring out a flavour.

 

[lulu]

I am a litle envious. I have always wanted to try puffball. My mother is fairly good at IDing local shrooms at home, but more by good luck than skill I think. I daren't risk ever having wild mushrooms picked by her or me.

I would definitely not miss the chance to boost it full of flavour though, please let us know what you do! (photos of the end product would be good too!)

 

[Chef_Jimmy]

Geez....I remember when you had those friggin enormous morel mushrooms....I need to start buying my shrooms from you Allen!

 

[FryBoy]

I did a quick Google search of "puffball mushroom" and found quite a bit of information. This site included one caution about certain varieties that are poisonous: http://www.wildflowers-and-weeds.com/mushrooms/Lycoperdaceae.htm

It also has some suggestions for cooking them, but notes that they aren't very flavorful.

Here are a couple of other interesting links:

http://www.und.nodak.edu/org/ndwild/puff.html

http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Mushrooms.Folder/Giant%20Puffball.html

The last one has some great photos.

 

[AllenOK]

Chef Jimmy, I didn't pick the morels, someone else did, and my Chef bought them from that person.

Did I post my Chantarelle pics on this website? Here is is again, just in case:

About a month ago, I found a small patch of Chantarelles sprouting up in the woods. Then, it freaking dried out for 3 weeks with no rain. As soon as the rain returned, so did the Chantarelles. Unfortunately, it's only like a dozen or so at a time, enough for personal consumption.

The Chantarelles were in the same park as the puffballs, but about a mile away, as the crow flies. This is a huge park. I've been told that you can find some Morels in there during April, but I'm usually to busy doing something else at that time.

 

[sparrowgrass]

Puffballs are kind of the tofu or chicken breast of the mushroom world--no flavor. My son says they are like marshmallows without the sugar.

 

[VeraBlue]

Have you checked the vicinity of these 'puffball mushrooms' for telltale signs of pod people escaping? Is your mother in law acting normal or does she seem 'off' to you?


I don't know about you, but a mushroom of this size scares the 'pip' out of me.

 

[sattie]

Holy cow!!!! That is one big mushroom!!!!

 

[AllenOK]

Have you checked the vicinity of these 'puffball mushrooms' for telltale signs of pod people escaping? Is your mother in law acting normal or does she seem 'off' to you?


I don't know about you, but a mushroom of this size scares the 'pip' out of me.

ROFL! My MIL has never seemed "right" to me. Anyone who LIKES breaded meat "simmered" in oil instead of properly fried just ain't right.

 

[QSis]

Please tell us what you end up doing with the puffball, Allen!

I found a giant Chicken of the Woods one time and was thrilled. I tried slicing it and sauteeing it in butter, but it not only did NOT taste like chicken, it had no flavor at all. Was like chewing a tasteless sponge, so I tossed it.

I love to go mushrooming! My Polish relatives taught me to pick 5 kinds so I stick with those. Clean them, dry them, store them in cheesecloth and rehydrate for pot roasts, borscht, cabbage pierogi, golumpki.

I've never found a morel, though. I go mushrooming in the woods, and morels are found mostly in grassy areas in the spring, right?

Lee

 

[rdcast]

ew, miller

Milwaukee rules !!!!!!!!!

 

[rdcast]

Allen, what da heck is it

A Great-O-Big Kumquat ??? You better salt her down before she takes root !!!

 

[goboenomo]

you could use that in alot of stroganoff

 

[rdcast]

ew, I was raised on beef stroganoff . That is some rich slop

 

[goboenomo]

I love it!
Haha, for some reason I like the sidekicks stroganoff over the real thing.

 

[rdcast]

I've ingested soooo much sour cream in stroganoff, just the thought of it makes mah tummy growl !

 

[goboenomo]

Heh
I think I don't like original stroganoff because the pieces of mushroom are real and much bigger.
I dont taste the mushroom in the sidekick

I hate mushrooms

 

[rdcast]

yea, thanx for reminding me. It always had those little canned mushrooms. ew
And I love mushrooms but not those. They just soaked up the sour cream and added their own mushroomy taste and smell. *Tummy churns again* But I must say, it reheats real well. And I would eat beef stroganoff for days = (
But it kept me alive. And when you're hungry, everything tastes great. But we really had it pretty good. You never know you're poor when you're young.

 

[goboenomo]

yea, thanx for reminding me. It always had those little canned mushrooms. ew
And I love mushrooms but not those. They just soaked up the sour cream and added their own mushroomy taste and smell. *Tummy churns again* But I must say, it reheats real well. And I would eat beef stroganoff for days = (
But it kept me alive. And when you're hungry, everything tastes great. But we really had it pretty good. You never know you're poor when you're young.

well i think i might not have to know about that
cause my dad makes alot of money... so he's paying for all my school as long as i stay in it. Ive been working half of my life so I have alot of money myself.. and when im done school ill be working paid accounting internships


I'll be eating stroganoff everyday
Maybe sometime ill make it from scratch without the mushrooms