foraging
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Ready or Not, Morel Hunting Season Is Almost Upon Us!
The Morel may be my favorite mushroom (taste-wise), but the Spring season isn’t my favorite season. There are a few other mushrooms out there in the Spring, but not near as many as in the Fall. So Morels are definitely the focus. Continue reading
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Does the Design of Mushrooms Show a Divine Sense of Humor?
Okay, I promised I’d share my thoughts about Lycoperdon (Puffball mushrooms). Lycoperdon puffballs sliced and ready to prepare. Each fall we see clusters of these rimming the various trails through the forest areas where we hunt Chanterelles and other delicious shrooms. We’ve harvested them while they’re young (firm and white), but they are a lot of trouble Continue reading
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Have You Ever Had a Hedgehog?
Hedgehogs are a late fall/early winter mushroom that grows in damp, ferny areas, and in my mind it is one of the more savory and simple-to-cook shrooms. I love it as a side dish, or as a breakfast mushroom with scrambled eggs. Continue reading
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Preparing to Partake in the Putting Away of a Plateful of Palatable Puffballs
What do you do with Puffballs? (Other than the boyish delight of stomping on them and watching the little “wolf farts”* spew greenish-brown “smoke” comprised of billions of puffball spores into the air!) Most puffballs are indeed edible. I had never had them before, and this season we saw a goodly number of Lycoperdon* not… Continue reading
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How To Identify False Chanterelles
This time of year there are tons and tons of Chanterelles out there in the forests of Western Washington. And among them, false Chanterelles, hiding like wolves in sheep’s clothing! How can you spot them? Continue reading
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Boletes: The Bacon of the Mushroom World
PJ is a master chef and couldn’t wait for me to let him loose in my kitchen to see what he could do with those Boletes (mostly Admirable Boletes, and also some Slippery Jacks). Continue reading
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Bingo! Bountiful Baskets of Beautiful Boletes!
We were looking for Golden Chanterelles, but what we found were Boletes … bunches of beautiful Boletes! My chef friend was quite excited about this “bacon of the mushroom world.” Continue reading
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Chanterelles Shazam: A Base Mixture for Dry Saute’ing Chanterelle Mushrooms
There are two great ways to prepare Chanterelle mushrooms, in my opinion. One is Cream of Chanterelle Soup, and the other is a base mixture for dry saute’ing Chanterelles, which I call Chanterelle Shazam. Continue reading
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Resurrecting Frozen or Dehydrated Chanterelles
In this brief video, I talk about the process of rehydrating dehydrated Chanterelle mushrooms, and also the process of thawing whole Chanterelles that have been frozen in a block of ice. Continue reading
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The Big Problem With Chanterelles — and How To Solve It
Every year at this time I experience anew a key frustration shared by those who love to hunt … and eat … Chanterelle mushrooms. For they only appear for a brief window in the Fall, September and October, typically; and while they are wonderful while we have them, they are best eaten fresh and no… Continue reading
Mushroom Obsession 