Mushroom Harvest

[tam91]

Yay - my Hen of the Woods mushrooms are back this year. Not the bounty I had last year, I guess it's been too dry. But I am excited to have the nonetheless. Yumm!

My fingers are crossed for the appearance of the Giant Puffballs. Had several last year, but no sign yet this year.

Now, if only morels would pop up here, but no luck so far.

[kygreg]

Great looking harvest. Wish I had enough knowledge to identify the safe ones. Do you grow them or just harvest them from nature.

[cottonpicker]

yeah... I too am afraid to gather them. Just DON"T know which ones are SAFE.
DO KNOW some are deadly..............arrrgh!

LarryD

[kygreg]

Just remember the old saying "if you eat a mushroom and die, you know it was a toadstool."

[tjg911]

nice looking harvest. how long do they keep? do you have to eat them all in a fews days or a week? i doubt you can freeze them.

tom

[tam91]

These just appeared in my yard, and I seem to find them in new places each year. I have an old oak tree stump that I can't remove now, as it has a great harvest of these. The giant puffballs just appeared too, last year.

I don't really know how to identify mushrooms - it's just that Hen of the Woods and Giant Puffball are pretty much unmistakable. These can be HUGE, and are ruffled - there aren't any poisonous ones like that. And the giant puffballs can grow to the size of a soccer ball - again, nothing else like them. Any other mushrooms - I leave alone.

These keep very well, I've kept them in the fridge for quite a while last year. Plus, I often share with friends. They are sturdy, and do freeze quite well. I'm told that they can also be dried.

[ScottinAtlanta]

I have some of these in my yard. How do you eat them?

[tam91]

Of course, little disclaimer from me - first look up the mushroom identification websites and make sure you don't have some horrible lookalike down south that I don't know about Just search "Hen of the Woods mushroom" and you'll find tons of info.

They should be nice and moist - if the ruffles are dry and hard, they are past their prime. They might rehydrate in that case, I don't know.

I just use them pretty much like standard mushrooms - cut them up, and just cook them a bit longer than regular mushrooms. I use mostly the ruffled part.

One favorite - I saute them in butter and a bit of garlic, a bit of thyme, then maybe add a touch of brandy and cook it off. Then add some heavy cream to taste, salt & pepper.

They also make a nice mushroom soup.

I make a german dish of pretzel dumplings with a mushroom sauce - similar to the above, but with shallots, cognac or sherry, with the addition of vegetable broth and a bit less cream - not quite as thick as the creamed mushrooms above.

Pretty much anything you like - just keep in mind that they are sturdy and cook longer, and have a more intense flavor then white mushrooms.

[ScottinAtlanta]

Thanks, Tracy. I am sure I have the same thing - enormous ruffled ugly things coming up in the yard.

[tam91]

They should be at the base of/on oak trees usually. If they're just around the yard, and aren't on a tree root, I would be suspicious that they aren't the same. Hopefully yours are though, they are delicious.

[ScottinAtlanta]

How about magnolia trees?

[tam91]

I don't know. My magnolia tree doesn't have any, but I think our magnolias are different from yours. Here's a site on identification, see if that helps:

http://americanmushrooms.com/edibles1.htm

I'm no mushroom expert, I only know the two kinds. But there are lots of pictures online, so hopefully you can be sure. For some mushroom once, I phoned someone from a mushroom hunting club, and they were able to give me advice.

[ScottinAtlanta]

Now I think have the Black-staining polypore! Thanks for the link.

[tam91]

You're welcome. I'm sorry if they didn't turn out right, bummer.