Wild mushrooms

[Bob-66]

I picked chanterelles and boletes for the first time yesterday. Had some sauted chanterelles this evening with pork. I'm looking forward to cooking the boletes soon. Any ideas out there on what to do with rhem?

[Dawgluver]

Mushroom soup!

I freeze or dehydrate Hen of the Woods. They last a long time that way, should work with your mushrooms too.

[CharlieD]

Love chanterelles fried or marinaded.And boletes are even more versatile. They can also be fried, marinaded, pickled, made into mushroom spread, dried. There tons of recipes.

Where do you live? Next time take me with you. I love wild mushrooms.

[Bob-66]

I live in Atlantic Canada. There were tons of boletes. Picking mushrooms is new to me so I'm being cautious, relying on a friend who is more rxperienced, but I can imagine I could enoy it a lot.

[taxlady]

Welcome to DC Bob, from your neighbour of Quebec.

[Addie]

Welcome to DC Bob. Sounds like you come from one of the Maritimes. I have a special affinity for N.S. and P.E.I. You have come to a fun place where you will meet lots of friends.

[CWS4322]

Welcome to DC, Bob. I recently made a cream of mushroom soup that included some wild mushrooms. Dry them and you can enjoy them all year around. We freeze sulfur shelf mushrooms and add those to egg dishes.

[CharlieD]

Dried boletes are a staple in vegetarian Red Ukranian Borscht. It is exelent meat replacement.
And the marinaded ones is a great chser to some frozen cold vodka before the borscht.

[Kylie1969]

Welcome Bob

I would go with a stuffed mushroom, always tasty and you can fill it with whatever you like

[Bob-66]

The boletes I used to make a pasta dish which I didn't quite get right because i smothered the mushroom flavour with too much cheese.

The chanterelles I used to make a nice omelette with roasted garlic and fennel leaves. That dish ended up being quite good.

[taxlady]

Sautéed, chopped mushrooms mixed into room temperature cream cheese or quark makes a nice dip/sandwich spread. It also lets you really taste the 'shrooms, so you can get a good idea of what boletes taste like.

[Kylie1969]

Originally Posted by Bob-66

The chanterelles I used to make a nice omelette with roasted garlic and fennel leaves. That dish ended up being quite good.

Sounds nice!

[Aunt Bea]

When I was a kid we used to pick field mushrooms and puffballs.

We fried the field mushrooms and ate them for breakfast or my Mother would scrape the gills and fry them then make a cream sauce in the pan and serve them over cornbread or baked potatoes.

The puffballs were sliced dipped in egg then flour and fried.

[Raspberrymocha55]

My Dad's family picked puffballs and several other kinds of mushrooms. Alas, he never taught us kids. Where he grew up they wouldn't pick morels as they were considered junk mushrooms. Here in west central Illinois morels are the mushroom of choice. So, I learned to cook them in the local style. We love them.

Split morels in half. Soak in salt water to remove ants/bugs. Rinse. Pat dry. Dip in egg wash. Roll or shake in a bag to bread: corn meal, flour, cracker crumbs (I use all three, but it is whatever one's family uses.). Pan fry til brown in real butter mixed with a bit of oil to stop burning the butter. Drain on paper towels and try not to eat before serving the family! I fry up 5 lbs at a time, and the family ignores the rest of supper.

My Dad is probably rolling in his grave over this! but after moving south to this part of Illinois, I am learning a bit about the semi-southern cooking in this area. i.e. Chicken and noodles is always served with or over mashed potatoes. (my Mom cringes at this!) Nevertheless, I love the "junk" morel mushrooms.

[Addie]

Originally Posted by Raspberrymocha55

My Dad's family picked puffballs and several other kinds of mushrooms. Alas, he never taught us kids. Where he grew up they wouldn't pick morels as they were considered junk mushrooms. Here in west central Illinois morels are the mushroom of choice. So, I learned to cook them in the local style. We love them.

Split morels in half. Soak in salt water to remove ants/bugs. Rinse. Pat dry. Dip in egg wash. Roll or shake in a bag to bread: corn meal, flour, cracker crumbs (I use all three, but it is whatever one's family uses.). Pan fry til brown in real butter mixed with a bit of oil to stop burning the butter. Drain on paper towels and try not to eat before serving the family! I fry up 5 lbs at a time, and the family ignores the rest of supper.

My Dad is probably rolling in his grave over this! but after moving south to this part of Illinois, I am learning a bit about the semi-southern cooking in this area. i.e. Chicken and noodles is always served with or over mashed potatoes. (my Mom cringes at this!) Nevertheless, I love the "junk" morel mushrooms.

I have the same problem when I am frying eggplant. It has been years since I have made eggplant parm. Only because there is no eggplant left after slicing and frying up two large ones. The food gremlins eat them all up and I can't yell at them with a burnt tongue.

[Dawgluver]

Originally Posted by Raspberrymocha55

My Dad's family picked puffballs and several other kinds of mushrooms. Alas, he never taught us kids. Where he grew up they wouldn't pick morels as they were considered junk mushrooms. Here in west central Illinois morels are the mushroom of choice. So, I learned to cook them in the local style. We love them.

Split morels in half. Soak in salt water to remove ants/bugs. Rinse. Pat dry. Dip in egg wash. Roll or shake in a bag to bread: corn meal, flour, cracker crumbs (I use all three, but it is whatever one's family uses.). Pan fry til brown in real butter mixed with a bit of oil to stop burning the butter. Drain on paper towels and try not to eat before serving the family! I fry up 5 lbs at a time, and the family ignores the rest of supper.

My Dad is probably rolling in his grave over this! but after moving south to this part of Illinois, I am learning a bit about the semi-southern cooking in this area. i.e. Chicken and noodles is always served with or over mashed potatoes. (my Mom cringes at this!) Nevertheless, I love the "junk" morel mushrooms.

Oh lordy, here, morels are more precious than gold. I have not yet found a patch to closely guard.

Our Hen of the Woods source tree is no more, cut down in its decaying prime, and the house next to it has been sold Hopefully our source guy can find us another HOTW.

[Raspberrymocha55]

I don't pick the morels, but I have friends who closely guard their picking sites. They both bring us their extras, often 5 or more pounds!! And of course I feel obligated to take their castoffs! LOL!!

[taxlady]

Originally Posted by Raspberrymocha55

My Dad's family picked puffballs and several other kinds of mushrooms. Alas, he never taught us kids. Where he grew up they wouldn't pick morels as they were considered junk mushrooms. Here in west central Illinois morels are the mushroom of choice. So, I learned to cook them in the local style. We love them.
...

They were probably common where your dad grew up. I lived up north in Quebec for a few years. The locals wouldn't eat partridge because they were easy to shoot. I had a Jamaican friend who loved conch, but when she grew up in Jamaica, no one would admit to eating it. That's what poor folks would go get out of the ocean for free.

I love morels, but haven't had many opportunities to eat them. I once found three.

[Addie]

Originally Posted by taxlady

They were probably common where your dad grew up. I lived up north in Quebec for a few years. The locals wouldn't eat partridge because they were easy to shoot. I had a Jamaican friend who loved conch, but when she grew up in Jamaica, no one would admit to eating it. That's what poor folks would go get out of the ocean for free.

I love morels, but haven't had many opportunities to eat them. I once found three.

When I was a kid, after a Nor'easter me and my friends would head for the beach to gather the lobsters and other shellfish that had been washed ashore. In my neighborhood, it wasn't a delicacy, it was food on the table. Rich folks didn't know what they were missing. Some of the best tasting foods come from the peasant population.

[goodfood]

I pick a ton of chanterelles each year and usually DRY them. BUT - the result is the dried mushrooms will then be bitter - and this is known to be a fact by many. The solution (pun) is to soak and THROW out the water.

But I still wonder - as does everyone I've spoken to - what's going on here? The same is NOT found with 'winter mushroom' (Cantharellus tubaeformis) which are collected from the same places at the same time - and in the same 'family.'

Anyone know?