Puffball Schnitzel

What could be more 100-mile-diet than a freshly picked puffball, breaded with crumbs, fried up and served topped with just-picked tomatoes and peppers that were quickly cooked together. A scrape of local cheddar and a few basil leaves to top it all off. Great lunch!

Frozen Fungi

Some interestingly shaped mushrooms growing on the trunk of a tree. They kind of look like coral growing under the sea.


These mushrooms are actually growing from a stump submerged in the snow.

Puffball Parmesan

Remember the puffball schnitzel I made a few weeks back? I froze some of the slices and decided to thaw them and make Puffball Parmesan.


I layered the thawed mushrooms (that were previously breaded and fried) and added tomato sauce on top, then cheese over that and then repeated that three times.


It baked up nicely and looked great plated.


Even better? The taste! Three layers of delicate mushrooms with tomatoes and cheese. A keeper for sure.

Puffball Schnitzel

Yesterday, my doorbell rang and there was my neighbour Percy with a large bag. He said, "I heard you like these." Inside the bag was a soccer ball-sized puffball mushroom. Thanks Percy!


It was gorgeous and fresh and big!


After posing it on cake stands and plates, I decided I'd better cook it up while it was still fresh. There are many recipes on the web for making schnitzel with puffballs so I thought I'd give it a try.


First of all the mushroom has to be pure white inside, which means it's very fresh.


Remove the peel and cut the mushroom into 1/2" slices.


Coat on both sides with beaten egg.


Mix breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese with salt, pepper and whatever dried herbs you have and coat the slice...


...on both sides.


Place in a hot frying pan with oil...


...and brown on both sides, about 2 minutes a side. This is UNBELIEVABLY delicious. The inside is like warm, velvety mushroom--very mild in flavour and the outside is crunchy and delicious. I can't wait for the doorbell to ring again!


Postscript: Today I went out into the woods and lookie lookie what I found. Twelve more puffballs! Schnitzel anyone?

Morel Spotting

It's that time of year again...


...morel season, that is!


Our usual spot didn't disappoint...



...and in five minutes we had nabbed a good pound and a half of these delicious mushrooms.


Just a quick rinse and cut 'em in half...


...and then fry 'em up in a little butter. Oh, yum-oh!!

Wild Things Redux

I received some photos from the nature walk that Peggi and I participated in a few weeks back and thought I'd share them.


We walked and talked about weeds and stuff...


...Peggi gave a talk about wild edibles.


It was a pretty big crowd of close to 20 folks.


After the talk, I did my morel soup demo.


Everyone had to gather around my little electric frying pan.


The mushrooms were a real hit.


The soup came out great and everyone loved it. Luckily I had made an extra batch the night before when I did a run-through, so there was enough for everyone.


Too bad I didn't think to grab this guy along the way. Frog legs anyone?

Tame Mushrooms

My friend Susan is growing Shitake mushrooms on logs in her basement.


She has four logs hanging from the ceiling and in five days, she gets mature, edible mushrooms.


She gave me a few to take home.


I cooked chicken breasts in white wine, soy sauce, garlic, brown sugar, fresh ginger root and shitake mushrooms. Very yummy.

Wild Mushrooms

This autumn, the strangest things have been popping out of the lawn. Something I'd never seen before.


I thought this was a cool mushroom and NO, I did NOT eat it...


...but instead spore-printed it to try to identify it.


I am thinking it is a Slippery Jill (Suillus salmonicolor, also known as Suillus subluteus) from the Bolete family. My books say it's edible but I bet it tastes pretty yucky. It was slimy and left a stain on my fingers. No way was I going to try that! Sometime "edible" doesn't necessarily mean "tasty."


Then I came across a regular fall lawn mushroom: the Shaggy Mane (Coprinus comatus). You are supposed to pick them as fresh as possible when they look like this...


...and not like this, on day two...


...and especially not like this on day three when it's all black and inky. I don't eat these mushrooms and don't recommend them either. They are edible and yes, I tried them once but wasn't mad for them.


Okay now, this IS edible and was given to me by a friend. When he can find them, he picks at least one large Hen of the Woods (Grifola frondosa) every year. This weighed 10 pounds when picked and I got half of it.


It kind of looks like it's made up of feathers, sort of like a hen.


To eat it, you pull it apart, like a caulifower or broccoli and clean each part to make sure there's no dirt in each segment...


...and then put them in the dehydrator to use in soup for another day...


...or fry them up in butter for immediate consumption. Very delicious!

NB. Never, ever eat a mushroom you "think" you've identified as edible! You must be 100% sure. Always best to go mushrooming with an expert. If you don't know anyone like that, just enjoy looking at them!!

More More More Morels

I couldn't help myself. I went back into the woods yesterday on the search for more morels...


...and I found two more pounds of them!


So that meant open-faced grilled cheese and morel sandwiches for lunch.


Creamed morels with peas and peppers on pasta for supper.


And a morel omelette for breakfast this morning.


Richard tasted the omelette...


...and gave it a thumbs up.


As for me, I have morels coming out of my ears!