Shaggy Parasol Mushrrooms

A few months back my coworkers and I got into a conversation about foraging for wild mushrooms, I found this discussion fascinating because I am a mushroom lover. I also might add, I don’t know a safe, edible mushroom from a poison one. But made it one of my future adventures that I want to do with friends that know what they are looking for, hopefully this coming spring. My friend brought me in two bags of dried mushrooms that she picked and bagged herself. I put them in my pantry and quickly forgot they were there. But today I was taking inventory of my pantry and found the two bags of dried mushrooms and decided I would try the Shaggy Parasol Mushroom. Maggie gave me written instructions on how to rehydrate the mushrooms, letting them soak for 15 minutes in boiling water. I re-hydrated them and tried to bite into the mushroom and it reminded me of a rubber band. So I thought, okay the rest of her instructions suggest sautéing them and adding them to soups. I decided I was going to give this experiment my “all” and this is the recipe I came up with, after I cooked them I was sorry I didn’t wait until Thanksgiving to add them to my feast, they were absolutely delicious and not rubbery at all. They cooked up “perfect.” If you have the fortune to purchase or pick your own mushrooms, give this a try. Here is a link I found to harvesting your own Shaggy Parasol Mushrooms, http://jpwaldron.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/the-shaggy-parasol/ but I would still suggest every novice hunt with an experienced mushroom picker.

Ingredients:

• About a cup of dried Shaggy Parasol Mushrooms re-hydrated, and dried on a paper towel
• ¼ cup of real butter
• ¼ cup minced fresh sweet onion
• 1 clove of grated garlic
• 3 fresh sage leaves, chopped
• ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt

Directions

1. Melt butter in a heavy skillet on medium high heat (don’t let butter brown)
2. Add onions and stir for about a minute
3. Add dried, re-hydrated mushrooms
4. Let mushrooms brown about 4 minutes, turn over and let brown on other side
5. Add garlic, and sage and stir letting the garlic cook until fragrant
6. Add about ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt
7. Turn off heat
8. Let sit for about 5 minutes and enjoy with a meal or as a meal in itself

*Note, do not use oil or margarine to brown mushrooms, do not crowd mushrooms, butter should be hot but do not allow the butter to brown, turn the heat down if you see it browning. Eventually the mushrooms and onions will absorb the butter.