I was looking for mushrooms awhile back and found this nice specimen.
This one is known as the Snowbank False Morel, (Gyromitra gigas) and is said to be edible, but I have been advised to not eat it. I think mostly because it is easily confused with other false morels that should not be eaten. A great find either way and I have been to forays where others have found this beautiful mushroom, but this was a first for me!
I bought the The Giant Morel Mushroom Patch™ as a gift for my dad last October. The kit is available at fungi.com (link on homepage) and is one of many mushroom kits and products available. Dad lives in Oregon now and I was curious how the kit would grow. He also loves morels and is living in a new area, so homegrown mushrooms in his backyard seemed like a good idea.
Dad followed the instructions and his mushroom bed was ready before the end of October. The kit can take up to 2 years to produce mushrooms, and morels are one of the tougher fungi to grow. Report from Oregon last week was the patch has produced its first morel. There won’t probably be many mushrooms to eat this year, but we know the fungus is established and growing underground.
Quite a feat for a first time mushroom farmer, and when the conditions are right there will be gourmet food.
I have ordered another outdoor kit and some inoculated plugs from fungi perfecti and will report on their progress. I was so impressed with the results of the The Giant Morel Mushroom Patch™ that I just ordered another one as a gift. I will report on it’s progress also as it will live in Montana!
A true mycophile like myself listens to mushroom music.
Larry Evans has done it again! Music about mushrooms that is mycologically correct and fun to listen to.
I have purchased Fungal Boogie and found it interesting and I learn something new each time I listen to it
The cd covers songs about Boletes, Morels and others. There is a song about the Fly Agaric that is funny and thought provoking.The songs describe different identification tips, and the Latin names are taxonomically correct.
The newest cd out is the Fungal Boogieman.
I have not purchased this one yet, but will be soon. In listening to the sample tracks, it sounds like another fun one to have and listen to. The setup and context seems similar to the last one.
The link on the homepage will get you to the Fungal Jungal, with some samples of the cds as well as the lyrics to the songs. 10% of the purchase price goes to the WMMA, a worthy cause indeed!The WMMA and Larry maintain the Fungal Jungal website that is loaded with mushroom information and links.
So get yourself some mushroom music and learn more about mycology while you are at it!
Dried mushrooms are a great way to store your bounty, and eat mushrooms through the off season.
I have always dried morels through the years. It seams like you could never get too many, but when they are flushing, you usually can’t eat everything that is picked fresh. Even with the help of friends, there is usually lots left over after getting your fill. That is if you get a good flush, and can get them before everyone else does.
Now that I eat a lot more types of mushrooms than before, I have learned to dry several of them for later use. The ones in my pantry right now are mostly Boletes, Morels, and a couple types of Agaricus. It is important to make sure they are properly dried and stored in an air tight jar. We use a dehydrator most of the time.
Dried mushrooms are great to use in the winter when all you can do is dream about picking. Surprising to me was that the ones I have dryed are stronger flavored than when fresh, and are easier to use than you might think. You also know where they have been. Be very careful about buying dryed mushrooms from the supermarket. If you look carefully at the nation of origin, you will see, “A product of North America, Russia or China”. Even though they are marked organic, I don’t want to eat mushrooms grown in Russia or China! Chernobel comes to mind, and don’t get me started about China’s environment.
To prepare large mushrooms clean them delicately. I don’t use water unless absolutely necessary. Slice them about 1/4 to 1/2 inch. Agaricus mushrooms should be sliced unless they are small and then dryed whole. Boletes are usually large, and removing the gills (actually tubes) improves them when rehydrated. Save the gills and dry for soups or gravy stock. Morels are usually dryed whole and I have used the dehydrator, but in my younger days we strung them up on white thread leaving space in between, and hung them up wherever we could. They also were put in airtight jars when dry.
To rehydrate delicate dryed mushrooms like the morel, put them between damp paper towels and they will come right back to life. This works for the others also depending what you are going to use them for. An important note on morels, make sure they are fully cooked. Morels uncooked or partially cooked, digest in your colon instead of your stomach and can be very painful. You can also cover them in a bowl with boiling water, cover the bowl, and save or use the broth. The easiest way to use them is to throw them into soups, stews or soups dry.
The flavor of dried mushrooms is stronger than fresh, and the texture is so so. They make great gravies and soups. As a note, do not feed wild mushrooms to fungiphobes, or anyone who questions them. They don’t deserve them and will usually find something wrong with them.I used to be offended by the general publics reluctance to eat my hard found bounties, but now I think more for me and my fungal friends!
So…when you pick more than you can eat…dry them for another day.