Morel Mushrooms...

[Bacardi1]

I'm fond of morels, but must say, I truly love Hen of the Woods. They're one of the only fall wild mushrooms, and there are no poisonous lookalikes. Huge meaty deliciousness.

When I last cooked morels, I saved and froze the leftover butter I cooked them in. Nice added to "domestic" mushroom soup.

Are you talking about "Hen of the Woods" (aka "Maitake") mushrooms, which resemble fluffy feathery balls? (Thus, the name "Hen".) Or are you talking about "Chicken of the Woods", which are large, meaty, yellowish orange slabs? (And that do look like chicken when sliced up.)

I only ask because I've seen the names frequently interchanged, & while I've never seen Maitakes wild around here, we do frequently find "Chicken of the Woods".

 

[Skittle68]

I just love mushrooms and think it would be fun to get into hunting ANY kind I plan to take an ultrasound tech course next year so maybe I'll see if there are any classes that teach about identifying wild mushrooms. That would be a fun hobby.

 

[CWS4322]

Are you talking about "Hen of the Woods" (aka "Maitake") mushrooms, which resemble fluffy feathery balls? (Thus, the name "Hen".) Or are you talking about "Chicken of the Woods", which are large, meaty, yellowish orange slabs? (And that do look like chicken when sliced up.)

I only ask because I've seen the names frequently interchanged, & while I've never seen Maitakes wild around here, we do frequently find "Chicken of the Woods".

Chicken of the woods would be what we call sulfur shelves. They are wonderful! I bring frozen ones back when I go to MN in the late summer (along with the dried morels I sneak out of the pantry when my dad's not looking). Both are wonderful.

 

[Dawgluver]

Are you talking about "Hen of the Woods" (aka "Maitake") mushrooms, which resemble fluffy feathery balls? (Thus, the name "Hen".) Or are you talking about "Chicken of the Woods", which are large, meaty, yellowish orange slabs? (And that do look like chicken when sliced up.)

I only ask because I've seen the names frequently interchanged, & while I've never seen Maitakes wild around here, we do frequently find "Chicken of the Woods".

Yes, Hen of the Woods. The pieces freeze and dry wonderfully. The one we got was found by a friend at the base of a dying elm tree. Around 8 pounds.

 

[sparrowgrass]

Oyster mushrooms are my personal favorites. They grow on trees, and are really easy to identify. As are sulphur shelf mushrooms--nothing else is bright orange and yellow, growing on dead wood.

 

[GLC]

Well, doing some more research, it seems that chanterelles are also good prospects for my area. Hunters around here say they appear under mixed pine and hardwood, and I have extensive areas like that where the "Lost pines" mix in with coastal plains oaks. And they have a fruiting window different from morels, which means you can concentrate on different kinds of terrain at different seasons.

 

[CharlieD]

I've been hunting mushrooms in the woods since I was 8 or 9. My mother used to can anywhere between 100 and 200 liters per summer. depending on the year. Not as much here in the states, not enough time to go every weekend, but still my father and I go every so often. I love wild mushrooms.

I stll want to know what happened to our posts. I think if they were deleted i at least would like to know why.

 

[Steve Kroll]

I always miss morel season in MN (I don't usually go out in May or June), but I'm usually there for sulpher (sp) shelves in August...and those I really like, too.

I've been hunting mushrooms (and asparagus and ramps and berries) since I was a little kid. There are only three mushroom species that I'm fully comfortable identifying and eating: morels, chicken-of-the-woods (sulfur shelves), and puffballs. Puffballs are kind of interesting, though you can only eat them when they are young and haven't yet developed the smoky spores. I've heard of people in Wisconsin who hunt Chanterelles, but I don't think I've ever seen one in the wild myself.

My favorite way to eat morels is in wild mushroom soup.

 

[sparrowgrass]

I am just not too crazy about puffballs--they taste like marshmallows without the sugar. Or tofu.

The oysters are foolproof. Look up a picture, and I will bet that you will recognize them. You might also find them in your local grocery store--cultivated ones--and that will help you ID them in the woods.

Here, you can find them anytime it is damp and the temperature is above freezing. In Ely, we found them around mid June, and sometimes in very large quantities. I used to spot them along the roads, in trees that had been damaged by road construction. Lots easier to spot than morels--you can't see morels from a car going 60 miles an hour!

 

[CWS4322]

I am just not too crazy about puffballs--they taste like marshmallows without the sugar. Or tofu.

The oysters are foolproof. Look up a picture, and I will bet that you will recognize them. You might also find them in your local grocery store--cultivated ones--and that will help you ID them in the woods.

Here, you can find them anytime it is damp and the temperature is above freezing. In Ely, we found them around mid June, and sometimes in very large quantities. I used to spot them along the roads, in trees that had been damaged by road construction. Lots easier to spot than morels--you can't see morels from a car going 60 miles an hour!

Or asparagus unless you are red-green color-blind. My brother could spot asparagus at 60 mph, ditto wild asparagus.

Steve--can you post a photo of wild ramps? I am not sure I remember what they look like.

 

[Steve Kroll]

Steve--can you post a photo of wild ramps? I am not sure I remember what they look like.

If you know anyone who has wooded property near water, you will likely find ramps. They are easy to identify by the red stems. If you break off part of a leaf, it will smell like onion/garlic.

The hardest part about harvesting ramps is cleaning them. They really hold onto the dirt!

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Common field mushrooms look like Portabello mushrooms, but with an off-white to light brown cap, and pink gills. There are no poisonous look alikes that you have to worry about. They can be found in any fertile field, such as cow pastures, golf courses, cemeteries, etc. As they age, the gills begin to turn dark brown.

Stay away from white gilled mushrooms as the amanita family of mushrooms (death cap, destroying angel) belong to that group. Also, all LBM's (little brown mushrooms) are poisonous in the U.S. Many Asian immigrants have found that out the hard way as the LBM's look like the Asian straw mushroom.

Boletes are easy to identify and choice. They have a spongy looking underside as they disperse their spores from thousands of tiny tubes that stack together and point downward like microscopic drinking straws. There is one variety of Bolete that lives in California that can make you sick. Again, check your reference books, and experienced mycologists.



Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[CWS4322]

If you know anyone who has wooded property near water, you will likely find ramps. They are easy to identify by the red stems. If you break off part of a leaf, it will smell like onion/garlic.

The hardest part about harvesting ramps is cleaning them. They really hold onto the dirt!

Thanks, Steve.Leeks can be kind of a pain to clean too.. I'm going to go look in the bush this weekend. It is wet, wooded, but not on a lake.

 

[Dawgluver]

I had to order this: Edible Wild Mushrooms of Illinois and Surrounding States: A Field-to-Kitchen Guide (Field-To-Kitchen Guides)"
McFarland, Joe.

Along with a foragers guide. This whole thread has been inspiring!

Amazon, free shipping.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

I got a pound of ramps from a company in Oregon (thanks Frank and Kathleen) and they were so good roasted and mixed in with potatoes.

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

I liked the idea of finding wild asparagus until I looked it up on Wikipedia and apparently it's an Old World plant and not commonly found wild in the US. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

I know where three patches of it are within 50 miles of my house. I can get fresh wild asparagus anytime I like in the summer. Most patches are guarded jealousy and tresspassers will be shot.

 

[Skittle68]

I liked the idea of finding wild asparagus until I looked it up on Wikipedia and apparently it's an Old World plant and not commonly found wild in the US. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

It's possible it's found in the wild now due to spreading from people's gardens. My mom had an asparagus patch that would spread like crazy if she let it!

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

Thanks for the responses! I guess it's safe to say that asparagus is not native to the US but that feral asparagus can be found when domestic asparagus has spread to the wild.

I guess my best bet is to plant some when I get a garden, and shoot asparagusnappers!

 

[CWS4322]

I liked the idea of finding wild asparagus until I looked it up on Wikipedia and apparently it's an Old World plant and not commonly found wild in the US. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Oh--I doubt that. We used to get three brown grocery bags every 10 days between May 15 and July 4 about 5-10 miles from our house when I was growing up and my dad still gets LOTS every 10 days from the same area--I don't think he picks all of it because it is just my mom and dad now. We used to get sick of asparagus (and peed green from May until July 4th--okay, TMI). Fence lines, where there were old churches (the ferns were used in wedding bouquets), open fields, there are lots of places to find wild asparagus, maybe not in TX, but I know where I can find it in Northern MN and Ontario <g>. Wild asparagus, (I think parsnip is the other vegetable that is the same wild or cultivated) is actually the same as the cultivated product. When you find it where it has gone to seed, if the plant has red berries on it, I think, if I recall, that is the female plant. What I do at the farm is mark where I find "ferns" after July 4 and then come back in early May and raid the spot!

There is one plant we've been harvesting forever--it is now almost the diameter of a golf ball. It must be a very, very old root.