Period correct mushrooms

[wildman]

Last Sat. morning was the KY squirrel opener. I do some primitive demos with a local youth group, so I helped on their squirrel opener. As many of you have met my lil striped squirrel hunting curs at the Classic this year, I was asked to take them out and do a little history lesson on them. We had no luck on squirrels, but did score a nice take on some tasty fungus!!!! Later I did a flint and steel fire demo as well as explaining my .62 flinter musket and gear.

[JW_Halverson]

Aw man!  Those kids are gonna remember this for a long time to come!

[PrimitiveTim]

Awesome!  You're a surer man than I messin' with fungus.  Apparently down here in Florida only about 3% of the species we have are edible.  I don't like those odds.

[chamookman]

Nice - WAY cool ! Bob

[wildman]

Tim, it is hard to mistake these for anything else here. It is Laetiporus or chicken mushroom , or woods chicken, woods hen. I find it most often in the early fall around here. This has been a super year for them , as I have found them all summer. A older gentlemen and myself ounce found enough to fill a wash tub on one tree. The kids were a little unsure , but ate every last bit. I did tell them not to eat any mushrooms they found, and never take mushrooms from longhaired guys in tyedye.

[nclonghunter]

I have always heard them called "chicken of the woods", which is just another way of saying it. I have seen plenty of those but never collected any. How do you prepare those?

I have eaten many puffballs and morels and those are excellent.

[JW_Halverson]

Like nclonghunter, I too have eaten morels and puffballs.  Here in SD there are no false morels and all the puffballs around here are not only safe to eat but cause for gastronimic celebrations!  Easy call when you see one, it is always good to go!

I have always wanted to learn more about 'shrooming, but have yet to find a local shroomer that will share their expertise.  It's a good idea to be able to I.D. them thru at least two recently published guides and an experienced shroom picker. 

Do they dry well?  Or are they a "fresh only" kind of mushroom?

[wildman]

NC, they go by roughly the same name, just a little regional difference I guess. I cut the woody base off, and then cut into long strips and batter fry in your favorite mix. I like morels, but these will make you throw rocks at them. They also stir fry well.

JW, I have never tried drying them, but was pondering the same thing just today. They do however freeze very well ,and  I freeze a lot of them. I will have to try and keep a bag or so through the winter to share at the Classic next spring. I will try drying some, and report back!

[JW_Halverson]

just beware, drying them may cause the flavors to intensify!  It sure did that to some morels a few years ago.  I put half a dozen in a 5 qt crockpot of venison stew and all you could taste was mushrooms.

Not saying that was a bad thing....

[Zuma]

One day I came home with what I thought were "Chickens"
Oh my god, they were Jack o Lanterns.
Quite similar but gills up the gazoo.
Deer season I have porchinis here under the pines.
My dogs have all died so I have no one to test my fungus on.
No I never feed a dog a mushroom.
Zuma