Mushrooms

We have been eating this mushroom for the last three nights. My wife, who generally doesn’t like mushrooms, thinks this is one of the best things she has ever eaten. I had to put my foot down, last night and tell her I was not cooking any more for a couple of days. Look below for the recipe I use to cook them.

Let me tell you a story about my encounter with them a couple of days ago. Almost a week ago I decided to cut a place through a large tree that had fallen across the bottom of a gully completely blocking it. The tree was an old beech that had to be 80 feet tall. The trunk is about 36” in diameter. The way the tree had fallen it was supported by the root ball on one end and had pushed over another tree and the other end of the trunk was laying on its root ball so the trunk was about 2 feet off the ground. The portion of the trunk that was supported thus is about 50 feet long. Like I said it blocked the entire stream bed area and made it difficult to get through. So I cut about a 4 foot section out of the trunk. I won’t tell about getting the chainsaw stuck and having to get another bar and chain to cut the first one out. Suffice it to say there was a big thud when the trunk finally fell. The next day I came back and admired my handy work and the next day when I came back the log had sprouted Oyster mushrooms. I don’t know whether the thud shook something loose it was just coincidence. Like many mushrooms the speed with which they can grow is amazing. I picked a good batch the first day and when I came the next day there were even more than before I had picked them the day before. Other places around the property I have seen one or two but not a batch like this.

These mushrooms are delicate but firm. When you pick them up they appear to be wet like jelly but do not leave anything on your hands. The stem is offset and the gills run all the way down the stem. If you smell them they have a pleasant mushroom smell. The taste is also mild and both my son and wife think the consistency of the flesh when cooked is like fresh fish. Unlike many mushrooms, I like the taste and texture of the larger/older mushrooms best. The size of course varies with the larger ones being the size of my palm. Keep in mind when looking at the pictures of the log at right it is about 50” in diameter.

My Oyster Mushroom Recipe
I like to bread the mushrooms and batter them and fry them in oil flavored with garlic.
I make a breading out of crushed crackers and seasonings – I usually add onion flakes, celery salt, parsley, salt, pepper, oregano. I dip the mushrooms in an egg beaten with a dash of Tabasco sauce added. I tried corn meal breading and don’t like it as well. To fry the mushrooms I heat some oil in a pan and drop some fresh garlic in. When the garlic turns brown, the oil is hot enough. I remove the garlic and fry the mushrooms, turning them once and putting them on a paper towel to drain. Eat em while they are hot – delicious.

Edit 9-13-2008 I found several fresh patches of Oyster Mushrooms after a rain

Links

• Mushroom Expert
• Roger’s Mushrooms

Pleurotus ostreatus