It's the mushroom season!
Yesterday, as you already know, was #mushroommonday and after my post I was out working in the yard when I found some edible mushrooms!!! About time!
Common Puffball just moments before I picked it.
I found a handful of these guys growing right on the edge of our forest and I knew right away what they were, Puffballs.
In this post I will share with you a few identification tips as well as how I prepare them.
Puffballs aren’t the favorite wild mushroom for consumption but they are easy to identify and taste pretty good if you prepare them correctly.
There aren’t many species that are easy to confuse this mushroom with the only one really is an earthball, which by the way is poisonous! Earth balls are not pure white and lack a stem and are hollow inside. Their skin is smooth with nobs not spikes like a puffball.
The puffballs I found were very young and fresh and that is exactly what you want. They have a though and spiky skin that some people leave on for texture, but I like to remove it. This is also a good identifying characteristic of the puffballs.
Once you have the mushrooms collected you want to slice them in half to ensure they are fresh and the spores haven't begun to mature, this will leave a bitter tasting mushroom. When the spores mature they will turn the inside of the mushroom a brownish color, so what you are looking for are pure white insides. Don't even mess with the others.
Next, take a knife and remove the skin (if you want). It's kind of a hassle but some of them are easier than others!
It was a little messy!
Here they are all ready to be cooked!
I chose to saute mine with some onions for flavor. You can put them in soup, on pizza, make an omlet, basically anything you would with store-bought mushrooms.
Make sure the butter is heated up before you put them in the pan or they will get soggy. It should sizzle when you put them in. Also, make sure they have enough room to avoid sogginess.
The finished product! Very tasty and I hope to find some more!!
Happy hunting!
@balticbadger