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Tuesday, January 10, 2012

A mushroom forage on Saturday - gifts from the forest

Our chef friend, Barbara Bourke, visited last weekend. Saturday morning we headed out for wild mushrooms. We didn't have to go further than our own property. We found Black Trumpets, Bellybutton Hedgehogs, a lone Golden Chanterelle, Candy Caps and Shrimp Russulas.

Barb decided to use the Black Trumpets in a scalloped potato dish. She chopped them and layered them in with the potatoes. No need to cook them first as the dish takes an hour in the oven.
And here is the finished product. I can attest to the deliciousness of this dish!
What a treat. Thank you, Barb!

6 comments:

Maureen said...

I'm so glad they are still popping. I am coming up this weekend (and next too) and was worried our dry winter was going to foil my mushrooming.

Jeanne Jackson said...

Maureen, it should be beautiful this weekend. We found these mushrooms at the 600 foot elevation. We checked our neighbors property at about 300 feet and only found a few Hedgehogs and Black Trumpets. But there were lots of tiny Hedgehogs so good things are to come!

Maureen said...

Good to know. I am half way up Pacific Woods Road which I am guessing is closer to 300 feet. I'll head up!

Maureen said...

PS, I am dying to learn to identify the shrimp russula and I know you learned it earlier this year from the great David Arora himself. Have you seen them out and about lately?

Jeanne Jackson said...

Maureen, we found a fresh group of Shrimp Russulas on our property this week. What we learned from Arora is this mushroom is substantial, not flimsy or light. To confirm the ID bite a small piece of the cap, chew and then spit it out. If you taste pepper it is NOT the Shrimp. I will photograph the group that just bloomed and post on this blog. Good luck!

Maureen said...

Excellent. I can't wait to try and find it. Thanks Jeanne!