Hen Of The Woods
I don't have any excuse or text to really go with this red-breasted nuthatch, I just thought it was cute, perched in the sun.
So, this morning I went to check on the shaggy mane mushrooms I found yesterday and they were well on their way to be coming an inky cap. Here's an up close shot of the inky:
Check it out, it kind of looks like blood, so that combined with the auto digestion just creeps me out and makes me not want to eat it. However, I took a walk with Non Birding Bill and not far from where we found the sulphur shelf tree, we found:
Hen of the Woods! Super Yummy! Mr. Neil found some last year and asked all of us to keep an eye open while he's been traveling so we could harvest and save it for him. Hen of the Woods is different than Chicken of the Woods (that's sulphur shelf) and as I understand it, gets its name from looking like a fluffed up chicken sitting on the ground. It's also known as maitake which you may find from time to time in grocery stores.
Check it out, mushrooms bigger than my head (now that is big). Usually when you find them, you find several pounds at a time. I called my buddy Stan to do a little bragging and find out what his favorite way is to preserve them. He highly recommended drying them. There was plenty to go around, so I decided to freeze some and to dry some so Mr. Neil could have some options when he gets home.
First thing I had to do was slice them up and make sure to get the bugs and dirt off them. The slices reminded me of coral.
Check out the cool patterns in the stem, kind of reminds me of a geode.
Even NBB couldn't wait to eat the mushrooms. I put some of the slices on a cookie sheet making sure they weren't touching and placed them in the deep freezer. Once they were rock solid, I put them in baggies and left them in the freezer.
Per Stan's instructions, I chopped some of the slices into one inch pieces and put them in the food dehydrator. Stan prefers this method because when you rehydrate them, you end up creating a very rich mushroom broth this is perfect for soups.
By the end of the day the pieces were dry and we placed them in mason jar for later use.
By the end of the day, the inky cap was very black and surprisingly dry. There are more popping up in the yard and in the woods.
Here's the inside of the inky cap, kinda freaky.
And now I realized that I am very tired and must get to sleep if I'm going to wake up in time for banding.
Labels: edible fungus
posted by birdchick at 11:29 PM
11 Comments:
That last picture is quite interesting.
Go for dried mushroom for indeed the rehydration water gets all mushroomy and is great for soup or risotto but I also find that the dried mushroom have more concentrated flavours.
Have you tried to eat a dried piece?
A friend of mine, whom I went with to hunt porcini in the woods, dried his and his kids were feasting on dried slices as if they were crisps... I had to try that and this proved to be the most amazing snack.
I love mushrooms. They are truly one of God's great gifts.
That's quite the operation you have for mushroom harvesting. There will be lots of good eats there throughout the winter.
I see Cabal the great white guard dog was on patrol too, looking out for bears and squirrels no doubt.
The inside of the inky cap photo is cool.
Do you ever do mushroom spore prints? It's where you place the cap on paper with the gills down and cover it with a bowl to protect the works from any slight breeze. Just let the cap sit for awhile until the spores fall down onto the paper. Then you carefully remove the cap and spray the print from a good distance with varnish or hairspray. Easy art!
http://www.theforagerpress.com/fieldguide/maitake/maitake-recipe-souphet.htm
This is the best recipe...Fabulous!!!
Informative post and comments! I love mushrooms.
You take the best nuthatch pictures. I love that little spread-eagled guy on the feeder, too, from a few posts back.
I'm mesmerised by the pattern on the inside of that hen-stem. Well, okay, that may be overstating it a little. But it's pretty cool! :)
Disapproving nuthatch?
Thanks for the informative post, chick. I have to find me some shrooms and put my dehydrator to use. Mushroom jerky?
What great pics! May I ask what camera you use? I assume it's a digital... Is it the same camera for the macro shots as well as the birds and others? Do you use any special lenses for getting close-ups of the birds? I apologize for being so nosy but I'll be getting a new camera soon and the pics you take would be about the same kind I'd take, so I figured it couldn't hurt to ask! ^_^ Thanks in advance!
wow that hen of the woods is cool! next time i go to my grandma's in michigan i'll have to look for that too! i'm still jazzed i saw the sulphur shelf while i was there!
HI stumbled upon your blog, looking for prep tips for the shaggy mane..found a few today and am looking to make a nice omellette tomorrow for brunch with the mushroom. Awesome blog with beautiful pictures of natures gifts and fine feathered friends. :) cheers from Ontario Canada!
bunnykissed
A majority of photos on the blog are taken with a Fuji FinePix E900. There are some shots--mostly with the bees where I use a Nikon Coolpix 4500. All the photos in this entry were taken with the Fuji camera.
I like both cameras for their ability to be used for both digiscoping and for their macro functions. Between the two, the Nikon's macro shots are better, but it's a futzier camera.
liz -
thanks for the recipe!!!!
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