it would be nice if i could find a guide to what different mushrooms taste like

i found a good website with instructions on how to grow your own from a spore print

 

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This may get you started:

http://www.foodreference.com/html/artmushroomfri.html

For more information and a bazillion mushroom recipes (and other great recipes) pick up a copy of "Joy of Cooking". It's about the best all-in-one food recipe, tips, and technical manual available.

 

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I was lucky enough to grow up in one of the mushroom capitols, the oregon coast. I worked in a mushroom shed buying mushrooms to put myself through college.


just off hand we picked and I also bought

chanterelles (white black and yellow) The black ones are sometimes referred to as black trumpets.


Boletes: chop and add raw to tomato based dishes was my favorite for the stems, the caps grilled whole and put on a burger.

little feet: best dry sauted with real butter and garlic, top a steak with them (preferably venison)

chicken of the woods: batter and deep fry

Black truffles we never ate these they sold for big bucks and are very rare

hedge hogs very mild flavor almost I want to say sweet, excellent in omeletes

Lobsters Never ate one could not get past the smell of them for some reason.

Pines (Matsutake)didnt really care for them and the price made it more profitable to just sell them.

Pigs ears very woody tasting best cooked down in a broth.


Hands down for versatality and taste I would go with yellow chanterelles. Too bad they cannot be commercially grown.


we would get so many chanties that I would dry them, grind em up and then add garlic powder salt pepper and use it to add flavor to gravies or mix with flour and dredge beef/venison before frying. The whole dried ones we would reconstitute in broth or a littel bit of hot water.


remember NEVER EVER wash a mushroom. brush it clean with a dry brush. you can do a qucik wash if you are going to be cooking them in a few minutes but never allow them to soak in water.


I cannot handle what I call the 'fake' mushrooms that they sell in the grocery store those white tasteless bland things. If you ever get a chance go to a fresh market and try out some of the wild varities you will not be dissapointed.


When you pick them out they should be totally dry and not feel slippery. if you have any questions about mushrooms in general feel free to ask I think I lived breathed and dreamt about mushrooms for years LOL!

 

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Ayla,

you are my new hero ... i think my first attempt at mushrooms are going to be portobellos since i can get them from the supermarket and get a spore print to grow them.

i might be able to order matsutake online and maybe even shiitake .... but most of the rest i think i would have to go hunting for --- Texas Gulf Coast will make it really tough to find some --- but i think i might be able to find some bolettes a little bit farther north.

thank you so much for the information.

 

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Ever see where Alton Brown does the rinsing mushrooms with water experiment?

Seems that unless you soak em, they don't really absorb cold water.

 

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you can wash them if you plan on cooking them immediately, if you are going to store them you never wash them, they will turn into a slimey mess. It is not that they absorb the water it washes off some kind of natural protectant and makes them go bad fast.


oops just realized I messed up Chicken of the woods are big yellow mushrooms that grow on the sides of trees like conks these you do not want to batter and deep fry. rather you take a knife and when it will slip through like a hot knife through butter, you keep those parts toss the rest. use the tender parts like you would any other mushroom. They also have a sweet earthy taste and are good with eggs.


The one you batter and deep fry is called a cauliflower mushroom. and they can grow up to 20 pounds, They are white and leafy looking. They remind me of a big ball of cooked egg noodles.


Remember if you ever go picking mushrooms to use a knife to cut them off at ground level. This is especially true of chantrelles. They grow from a very fine netting of tiny roots called mycillium, and when you pull them up you disturb the mycellium which basically ruins the chance of more mushrooms growing back in that spot. If you take care of your mushroom patch you can pick in the same spot every 4-5 days for the duration of the season.


we used a small paring knife with a paint brush taped to the other end to clean as we picked. If you are careful you can bring home almost perfectly clean mushrooms. if you do accidently pull one up try to pat down the ground where you disturbed the soil.

 

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in Dallas we have FM 1410 run by Tom Spicer and you can get any type of wild mushroom for $20/pound - love Chantarelles, Morels, Maitake, etc...

Mushroom Risotto is to die for

 

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