Thursday 26 September 2013

Patience is rewarded.




For the past week or so I've spent about 30 mins of each day plodding around in the woods (with the dogs) looking for the world's finest mushroom; today I was finally successful.

I was fortunate to spot this young, but reasonably slug-eaten, tête noire (Boletus Aereus), half hidden atop a small mossy mound. The tête noire  is the tastiest of the Boletus family (Cèpes), being just slightly more aromatic that its sister, the more famous Boletus Edulis.

Luckily the underneath of the cap was still perfectly white, and the stem solid and worm-free. It made a wonderful lunchtime omelet.

I just hope this won't be my only find this autumn. I have run-out of dried Cèpes, and my winter risottos just wouldn't be the same without them. 
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17 comments:

  1. Mushrooms, magical things. Even the more domestic varieties are splendid. I'd never have the confidence to wander around and pick my own though, no matter how hard I'd studied or how long I'd been doing so - hats off to you sir!

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  2. Impressed at your confidence with identification. I wish I had it, though I'm the only one in the household that likes them!

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  3. I returned in the afternoon and found just a few more. At least we'll have one more omelet!

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  4. Nice. I've had a load of field mushrooms so far, but I've yet to go into the woods.

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  5. What a glorious treasure of a find! Well found and well 'et'!

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  6. As a boy, my husband would go mushroom hunting with his family and is very good in identifying them. I prefer to go to the grocery store where they are all labeled.

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  7. I love mushrooms and hate the dull store rubbers sold here. When I visit, perhaps in 2025, I expect to be taught how to find real mushrooms. In the meantime I'll just eat vicariously through you

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  8. What a woodsie looking mushroom.

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  9. Re your comment on the apples on my blog header Cro. Wish they were Bramleys! Unfortunately they are crabs and do not make good jelly either.
    Re what to do with them. I made a rather good cake this morning with fallen apples from one of our eater trees:

    One and a quarter pounds of eaters peeled and sliced
    thinly; six ounces self raising mixed with one teaspoon of baking powder; three ounces sugar; four ounces sultanas; two ounces chopped walnuts; two eggs beaten with three fluid ounces of rapeseed (or similar) oil; eight ounces of crumbly cheese crumbled.

    Mix all together - grease and line a 23cm/5cndeep tin and put in half of the mixture. Crumble all of the cheese over and then add the other half of the mixture.
    Cook. In the Aga it takes about fifty minutes and if it begins to get too brown, cover the top.

    To be eaten warm with cream. If you like it that should take care of a few of your apples. If you wish to use Bramleys then I suppose you could increase the sugar a bit.

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    1. Thanks Weaver, that sounds wonderful. I shall pass the recipe to Lady M. Maybe we'll have one this weekend.

      Our Bramleys become sweeter here than back in the UK, probably because of that little extra sunshine, so maybe we'll use the same 3 oz. Our poor tree is GROANING.

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  10. Love how mushrooms smell like the forest. What a great find!

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  11. I'm not sure but may have something like that under the birch grove...but I would need someone to make that a certainty before having a go at omelette...lucky you...

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    1. The Boletus family is quite big. Often the caps look similar but not the rest. Don't eat anything you're not absolutely sure about.

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  12. do you dry them for winter risotto?

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