Candied mushrooms? Like, with sugar?? Hard pass. Candied mushrooms are the sort of frou-frou B.S. I’d expect 15 year old me to try making, or a young cook still trying to figure out what a palette is. Honestly, I found the idea so annoying it was nearly offensive. These are mushrooms we’re talking about, I…
Fresh Mushroom Recipes
Lobster Mushroom Rolls
Lobster mushroom rolls are a solid way to enjoy your harvest. Lobster rolls are usually a pretty simple thing: really fresh lobster, mayonnaise, and maybe some chives or celery, since it’s all about the lobster. But lobster mushroom rolls, if they’re going to taste like anything, need some extra attention, lobster mushrooms having a much…
Braised Lobster Mushrooms with Tomato and Leek
Way back, a long time ago, I wrote a recipe for braising a lobster mushroom whole, and, while it was an ok way to cook them, as the years past, the recipe has been on my list to update, so here you go. The original recipe was a simple stewed mushroom cooked whole, and while…
Lobster Mushroom Confit
I’d struggle to think of anything that wouldn’t be good seasoned and cooked covered in fat with herbs, and lobster mushroom confit is no exception. Even though mushrooms will never get fork tender like a pheasant thigh, or a goose leg, they’re still great candidates for confit, but especially chunky, ones like lobster mushrooms. Lobster…
Salted Wild Mushrooms in Brine
Once I started reading about traditional ways to preserve mushrooms around the world, one of the first ones I came across was salted wild mushrooms, an old stand-by used in plenty of places, but most notably Eastern Europe. It’s not that popular in America, but one trip to a market with an Eastern European ownership…
Sicilian Chicken of the Woods
Think eating chicken of the woods is strictly an American thing? The continents separated a long time ago, but we still share many of the same mushrooms, at least as far as culinary purposes are concerned (specific species are another story). Doing research with Jesse for The Wild Harvest show as we planned Episode 3…
French Lentils with Sauteed Wild Mushrooms
When I got back from hunting with a bag full of fresh Gyroporus cyanescens, one of the only boletes I prefer fresh to dried, this is what I made. It’s super simple, and just a snapshot of the simple European food I usually cook at home. First you make a soffrito by finely chopping some…
Pheasant Back Fermented Soy Sauce
Prime pheasant back season is usually about over after the spring chicken of the woods pop, but just because they’re big and tough as nails doesn’t mean you can’t do anything with them, and pheasant back shoyu is a great example, especially if you like edible science projects. Shoyu and it’s cousin tamari (soy sauces…
Cooking Wild Mushrooms with the Wet Saute
A while ago a video on cooking mushrooms started circulating in the online community that turned a lot of heads, at least in my world. In a nutshell, the video discussed the benefits in depth (see the video) of adding water to mushrooms before they’re sautéed. At first, I thought l “ok science guy, the…
Gnocchi with Chicken of the Woods Lemon Cream
In the world of wild mushrooms, chicken of the woods is pretty special. It’s striking, bright orange, and easy to ID, sure, but the flavor might the most unique thing about it. I’ve cut large, young chickens off a tree and had them gush orange juice down my arms as I cut–not the average experience…
Burdock Flower Stalk and Mushroom Vegetable Soup
Burdock flower stalks have an interesting, grassy flavor that has a tendency to meld into the background–it’s just not as flavor-forward as the roots. For me, the texture is really where this easily harvested part of the vegetable shines, as it’s tender and takes only a few minutes to cook, where burdock roots take digging,…
Roasted Chicken or Hen of the Woods Stock
One of the best parts about hunting mushrooms (and other things) is that, not only do you get to bear witness to the incredible volume of nature’s bounty, you get to take it home, too, and when the mushroom patch is bumpin, or when the blueberries are fruiting heavy, you’ll find yourself, at the end…
Baked Oyster Mushroom Croutons
At the tail end of morel season, we’ll start to see others coming up, especially if we get some rain in the Midwest like we did last week–it poured, and poured. My favorite are the first flushes of young chicken of the woods that come up, sometimes even while I’m out hunting morels, if I’m…