Mushrooms

Feb. 4th, 2010 10:21 am
pasithea: glowing girl (Default)
[personal profile] pasithea
I've been kind of gloomy about the move thing. Yesterday evening when Stacey and I were running errands, I spotted a bunch of largish mushrooms from the car that I couldn't instantly recognize so to cheer me up, she stopped and let me look.

They were very common it turned out but I haven't spent much time identifying the types of mushrooms that grow under pines and it was the first time I'd got to meet either in person.

There were two types, growing (as they frequently do) intermixed with one another. One was Chroogomphus vinicolor (Pine Spike) and the other was Suillus pungens (Pungent Slippery Jack) Both are edible (for certain degrees of edible)

The pungent slippery jack was described as 'fruity but harsh'... I would describe it as 'fruit loops and radishes mixed with pine pitch' .... It's kind of a fascinating combination of flavors. I'm still trying to figure out how I might be able to cook with it. I'm thinking I might be able to use it in a pesto.

The pine spikes on the other hand are more commonly collected. They don't have a lot of flavor but they are an interesting orange and purple color and when added to soups, they take on a texture not unlike an old bicycle innertube. Very chewy. They should make a great meat substitute. :)

*sigh* Why must I be in the middle of moving at the height of morel and chantrelle season? I could be out in the woods hunting for really delicious mushrooms. But ohwell. Most mushroom hunters don't seem very imaginative in their cooking. If something doesn't taste good sauteed in butter, they tend to not like it. Me on the other hand... I made a pretty tasty curry out of durian and thousand year eggs. These mushrooms should be easy. ^_^ The pine spikes, if I slice them very thin should be no different from woodears and should work great in hot and sour soup. The slippery jacks.... I'm going to have to think about a bit. The russians make pickles out of them but I think I can do better. :)

(no subject)

Date: 2010-02-05 06:55 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] paka.livejournal.com
That sounds like a great plan, though. I don't know much about composting, sadly. That'd be great if you could pull it off... and I like escargot a lot. Remind me to tell you the snail-feast story sometime.

February 2012

S M T W T F S
   1234
567891011
12 131415161718
19202122232425
26272829   

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Dec. 31st, 2025 01:58 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios