Mushrooms

What better way to start my Mushroom page than with a big juicy Chicken of the Woods.  My guess is this is Laetiporus sulphureus which is prevalent in the fall.  The cincinnatus subspecies is harvested in Spring and Summer.  This was found on a hardwood stump (I think, it was old and in an area with Live Oaks) in Wilmington, NC.  I ate about a pound of it last night sautéed in shallots and garlic and I feel fine! 

My second attempt at eating wild mushrooms that I foraged (I have eaten plenty that other people foraged), was of the famous Lion's Mane Mushroom.  I have found several of these tasty treats in places where I go bird watching in Wilmington.

They typically grow out of hardwoods that are dead or dying.  In Wilmington that usually means Oaks.

This huge one that I foraged a couple years ago required some equipment to get to it.  Once I did cut it down, I had enough Lion's Mane to make 10 or so "crab cakes".  Lion's Mane has a flesh that shreds easily  into little chunks that look like lump crab meat so it works great in any recipe that calls for crab meat.

The third species of mushroom I have foraged and eaten are Oysters!

The above Oyster Mushrooms were growing off the side of a birding trail.  Like Chicken, Oysters are Saporbic, meaning they feed on a dead or dying tree.  They don't usually contribute to killing of the tree, they just take advantage of the fact that they are already dying.  I believe I ate these sautéed in butter and with some pasta.

The following pics are of a group of mushrooms that fall into the genus Amanita within a section called Caesareae stirps Hemibapha.  The Aminita genus is a huge genus with some very toxic mushrooms like the Death Cap (Aminita Phalloides) so it is necessary to be certain of what you are picking.  I initially thought I had Aminita Jacksonii which is a choice edible, but I checked with the NC Facebook Group for mushrooms and the experts said that although they probably are not Jacksonii, they are in the same section and they are all edible.  In order to be certain before eating these, you need to check all the boxes for ID:

1. Cap red or orange with striations near the rim.

2. Yellow or orange stem - Jacksonii has rusty stipling too and mine did not have much

3. Partial veil on the stem 

4. Yellow or orange gills under the cap - other poisonous Aminitas have white gills

5. Most importantly a well defined Vulva or egg-like white sac which the mushroom erupted out of

6. Growing out of leaf litter in hardwoods forest.

7. Lack of warts on the cap - Amanita Muscaria and some other toxic ones have warts - although you need to be careful because warts can rub off.

Mine checked all these boxes so I felt confident and prepared mine as suggested, raw with some olive oil, salt/pepper and some lemon.  Delicious!

Don't eat wild mushrooms especially from this genus unless you are sure of the ID!