Puff Balls

[H20fwler]

I’ve got a couple dozen of these in the orchard baseball size.
Dozens more on the mowed trails in the pasture from tennis ball size to dodgeball size. Some brownish skin some cream colored.
I know some people like them…I think they taste like dirt. Have tried to cook them a lot of ways the still tasted like dirt.

 

[hunts_with_stick]

Agreed, don’t like chicken of the woods either. Oysters, chanterelles and shaggy manes are good

 

[b116757]

I tried them once and I agree with your comment they tasted like dirt.

 

[SD51555]

Agreed, don’t like chicken of the woods either. Oysters, chanterelles and shaggy manes are good

I’ve had chickens a couple times. I liked them enough I’d eat them again if I found them.

Don’t ever eat pheasant backs raw. Few people here know my story. It was explosive.


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[b116757]

I had king Boulet mushrooms in Colorado elk hunting one year that where excellent we didn’t kill an elk but we stuffed ourselves for a week on those mushrooms.

 

[Catscratch]

Never could bring myself to try a puffball. After kicking about a million of the things around the pastures as a kid I just never saw them as appetizing.

Chants are good, but I really have to be in the mood for them to go fight the ticks.

Hen of the woods are pretty good.

Oysters are worth looking for.

Morels are KING!

 

[Lucky_P]

Catscratch - you gotta harvest puffballs before they get to the 'puff' stage. That said - and I've eaten a bunch - there's not a lot of flavor... they pretty much take on whatever you cook them in... here, that would be butter or bacon grease.

Caught a really nice Chicken of the Woods a month or so back, but have not found any more.
Had a big old elm split its top out in a wind event last year... top finally detached and fell into the woods road. Cut it into short enough sections that I could shove them out of the road... now supporting a nice flush of 'summer' oysters (P.pulmonarius).
Morels have gotten harder and harder to find in my woods. That said, I'd rather have CotW, anyway.

 

[swat1018]

At best, they don't taste like anything. Like everyone, I prefer morels. Chicken of the Woods is 2nd place for me.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Morels are insanely good. Best beef meal I ever had was 40 years ago - medallions of beef tenderloin sauteed in a CIS with morels and butter. The chef poured the pan butter drippings over the medallions and morels on the plate. O - M - G was it good!!!!! That was the first time I ever had morels ........ made a fan of me for sure.

 

[Telemark]

I've tried to like puffballs, but I never did manage. I don't think they taste like dirt, but they sure do taste weird. The best recipe I ever did basically drowned out the flavor of the mushroom. That made me realize I was wasting my time. Same with pheasant backs.

The best Spring mushrooms are morels and Spring agaric. Mica caps are decent as well.

In Europe we go for fall mushrooms, and in Norway we are spoiled for choice. I love hedgehog and porcini mushrooms. Chanterelles and their cousins are dynamite too. When I can be bothered to taste test russulas, the good ones are phenomenal.

Jeez that reminds me, I need to hit my spots before a hard frost kills everything off.

 

[Catscratch]

I've tried to like puffballs, but I never did manage. I don't think they taste like dirt, but they sure do taste weird. The best recipe I ever did basically drowned out the flavor of the mushroom. That made me realize I was wasting my time. Same with pheasant backs.

The best Spring mushrooms are morels and Spring agaric. Mica caps are decent as well.

In Europe we go for fall mushrooms, and in Norway we are spoiled for choice. I love hedgehog and porcini mushrooms. Chanterelles and their cousins are dynamite too. When I can be bothered to taste test russulas, the good ones are phenomenal.

Jeez that reminds me, I need to hit my spots before a hard frost kills everything off.

Jerk!

Lol, good luck and post pics in the "dinner" thread.

 

[SD51555]

Agreed, don’t like chicken of the woods either. Oysters, chanterelles and shaggy manes are good

How do you know you've got a shaggy mane? I'm half certain i get them on my lawn like crazy, but I'm not positive I can ID them.

 

[H20fwler]

Catscratch - you gotta harvest puffballs before they get to the 'puff' stage. That said - and I've eaten a bunch - there's not a lot of flavor... they pretty much take on whatever you cook them in... here, that would be butter or bacon grease.

Caught a really nice Chicken of the Woods a month or so back, but have not found any more.
Had a big old elm split its top out in a wind event last year... top finally detached and fell into the woods road. Cut it into short enough sections that I could shove them out of the road... now supporting a nice flush of 'summer' oysters (P.pulmonarius).
Morels have gotten harder and harder to find in my woods. That said, I'd rather have CotW, anyway.

That's the way pheasant back is for us, cooked by itself very bland, sliced and cooked in with morels they soak up that flavor.

On the puffball thing, this fall was a bumper crop, I saw them everywhere and different types...from cream colored smooth skin ones to darker rough skinned ones. Biggest were basket ball size, smallest quarter size.

 

[ruskbucks]

How do you know you've got a shaggy mane? I'm half certain i get them on my lawn like crazy, but I'm not positive I can ID them.

Love shaggy manes. I just picked a bunch last week. They are pretty easy to identify. They are egg shaped and have " shag" on them . Usually a hint of purple/light blue or pink. If you pick them they have to be cooked soon otherwise they turn to a black ink. Thats another way to help identify them. It's best to find shaggy mane look alikes. There is a alcohol inky cap listed as a look alike but doesn't to me. Edible but don't drink alcohol after eating them you will get sick. The ones to watch in your yards that are bad are destroying angles and green spored lepotia, those usually are summer not fall. Compare your shaggy manes to them. If you are in doubt throw them out. Do a little research , don't like telling people this but they are one of the easier mushrooms to identify.

 

[SwampCat]

The oysters are out pretty good right now - they are my favorite if harvested when they are young. They actually taste like mushrooms to me. Also finding a few chickens - they look - and taste like scrambled eggs to me. I leave them alone