Mushroom Weirdos

I never really stop thinking about hunting for mushrooms, but when winter starts to melt into Spring, I get obsessed. I pull out my notes about where I’ve found which kinds, and I look at my calendar to plan Mushroom Dates with my husband Dan (thank goodness he is such a good sport and loves a fun mushroom hunt!).

“Mushroom Weirdo” could very well be a term for those of us who obsess about hiking all over creation to pick strange-looking stuff off the forest floor and eat it. (You know who you are…..). But I think of “Mushroom Weirdos” as being the fungi that don’t look like the classic cap-and-stem mushrooms. They are my favorite kind to hunt and eat, because they tend to be so distinctive looking, and have few, if any, poisonous look-alikes.

Here are some of my Very Favorites, in no particular order.

Pheasantback is a nice consolation prize when I’m out hunting for Morels. I find them exclusively on dead hardwood trees, particularly Elm. Isn’t it pretty? It really looks like it has feathers, doesn’t it? Slice this one thin, fry it crisp and enjoy. The texture holds up nicely in soups, too.

Underside of Pheasantback. See the large pores? That means this one’s going to be tough – you can still use it for mushroom stock, but it’ll be too tough to eat. Small pores = tender and pleasant.

Oyster Mushrooms are so yummy! No, they don’t taste like oysters, but I guess they are named that because they look like oysters. I find them on dead hardwoods. They smell faintly of anise, and the flavor is nice and meaty. I like pretty much all of my mushrooms fried in butter and seasoned with salt, this one’s no exception.

Underside of Oyster. See how the gills go all the way across?

Bear’s Head Tooth is a really interesting looking mushroom, with it’s longish soft ‘spikes’ hanging down off of a solid core. The one on the left is at a perfect stage for harvesting, the one on the right is a newly budding one. I find them on Dead wood, both hardwood and conifers. Lion’s Mane, Comb Tooth and Pom Pom Mushrooms are other common names.

The first time I saw this mushroom, I thought it was moldy dog poop. Seriously, who was the first person to see this on the forest floor and think “Hey, I think I’ll try eating that!”?? Fortunately for us, someone DID, and now I love me some Shrimp Mushrooms. They don’t taste like shrimp, but they kinda/sorta look shrimpy, and the texture is VERY shrimp-like. If you cook these up and throw them in a seafood chowder, you could totally make yourself (and your friends) believe you are eating shrimp. They usually grow in clusters, right on the forest floor near a dead tree.

Hen of the Woods looks like a large fleshy flower to me. Those ‘petals’ have pores underneath rather than gills, and are attached to a solid core. I usually find these on the ground at the base of a live oak tree, and sometimes on dead oak stumps. This mushroom is nice and firm, and holds it’s texture really well even after being dehydrated/rehydrated or thawed out after freezing.

There are so many more Weirdo Mushrooms that I love……and I will save them for another post. In the meantime, Happy Hunting!!

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