Brian and I have been interested in edible plants and other wild edibles for awhile, but haven't really dug into the topic a whole lot. We bought the book
"Edibles Wild Plants" by Lee Allen Peterson while on our
National Parks Trip this May, and have been wanting to try some things ever since, but it's a little overwhelming. For one, you better be sure you're right when eating something you picked in the wild! It's not something you can guess at! It's also difficult to find what you learn about and/or learn about what you find (if that makes any sense). Identifying a plant is one thing, now you have to check the book and see if it's edible. On the other hand, you learn about an edible plant in your book, but where can you find it locally?
Well, yesterday became our first true adventure in wild edibles. I had seen what I believed to be a puffball mushroom at Kilen Woods State Park a week or two ago. Then, when we were there a few days ago, we found berries that I believed to be wild grapes at the same park. So we did our research on both of these wild edibles, then went back yesterday with the specific goal of identifying the grapes (more on this in another post) and finding a puffball.
What is a puffball mushroom, you ask? If you've ever thought to yourself "Woah! That's a huge mushroom!" or maybe "Is that a dinosaur egg?!?" while out on a walk somewhere, you've probably seen a puffball mushroom. When they're brown and more dried out, they are fun to kick or squish because they release spores everywhere! Before they get to that point, they look like this:
Through my research, I learned that as long as your puffball is large (this one is about the size of a cantaloupe), there really isn't anything else you can confuse it with (as far as poisonous mushrooms). Just to be sure, when you cut it open, it should be all white, and consistent in texture throughout (no gills, etc). The one above is actually past ready to eat - it was yellowish brown inside. This is not the one we brought home, but the picture is pretty sweet because it totally makes it look like a dinosaur egg, don't you think?
So the next part of wild edibles that is challenging... how do you prepare it? I found some good descriptions online, but nothing with pictures! So, here we go!
First, cut your puffball mushroom in half. This isn't completely necessary, but I figured it's good to be safe and make sure it is consistent all the way through. You're probably going to cut it up anyway, and this will make it easier to handle. I warn you: the texture of these things is crazy! It squeaks as you cut it, like styrofoam, but it's softer and kinda crumbly. Very strange!
Next, take off the outer layer of the mushroom. It's thin, but it's tough. You can definitely tell a difference in texture. Some say it's just tough to eat, others say it can upset your stomach. No reason to take a chance. This is also how you clean the mushroom, since it is like a sponge in water. By cutting off the outside, you take off all the dirt. I cut mine off with a paring knife, but I saw that some people said you can peel it off. Cutting it seemed just as easy to me!
Now, you have two clean halves of your mushroom, ready to go for whatever recipe you'd like to use! We tried ours two different ways - I'll show you both below!
We started with large slices for the first recipe. Many people just cut large "steaks" out of a puffball and fry it up with butter. We decided to start by trying it breaded... because everything is delicious breaded and fried, right?! I cut large slices, dipped them in flour, then egg, then seasoned breadcrumbs (use whatever breading recipe you'd like). Then I fried them up in a mixture of olive oil and butter - yum!
And then it was time for the moment of truth - try them! You can see how much these cooked down. They get very soft, almost like a melted marshmallow. The flavor is a little earthy and reminded me of eggs (I read multiple times that they go well with eggs - I see why!). They were pretty good, but I wouldn't go out of my way for them like this.
On to the next recipe! First, I chopped up all the remaining mushroom. That's a lot of mushroom....
You can see why some people call this mushroom the tofu of the woods. Notice how big these chunks are... they shrunk down a lot, so don't make them any smaller! Now, we knew we wouldn't finish all of these in one meal, so I set aside enough for the rest of our dinner and then sauteed the rest in a little olive oil, salt, and pepper. One thing I was not prepared for was the way these soak up the oil - they are like sponges in water, so why not in oil?! Add it sparingly, but a little at a time to coat as much as possible without saturating them.
After these started to get soft, I set them aside to cool, then put them in ziplock bags for the freezer. From what I read, it's good to cook them before freezing. I will update later on how these are out of the freezer!
Our final preparation was to include our mushrooms in a stir fry! I chopped up some zucchini, peppers, and onions, sauteed them for awhile, then added the cubed puffball I had set aside. When they were looking close to done (just use your best judgement), I added in a stir fry sauce (which I found
here). This. Was. Delicious.
We served this skillet of awesome over some cous cous, but you could also do it over rice or just eat it as is! The puffball got very soft, and it soaked up the sauce so it was flavored all the way through. Really, it just blended in with everything, but not in a way that you forget it's there. It really added to the dish!
So, here's to puffballs! Would you ever try this wild mushroom? Have you tried other wild edibles? I'd love to hear about your adventures in the comments!
