Indiana Shrooming
| There are several kinds of mushrooms out there in the fields and forests of Indiana, and many of them are edible. A lot of them aren't. This will not be an article about how to tell the difference between edible and poisonous mushrooms. This will be more about the three kinds of mushrooms that draws the attention of many mushroom fans across the state. Those would be the morel mushroom, the stump mushroom, and the cauliflower mushroom. Let's start off first with the one mushroom that has a very passionate and loyal following of fans. That would be the morel. Also known as a sponge mushroom, the Morchella esculenta, grows in a wide variety of locations. We have found them under apple trees, in a cow pasture, along fence rows, under cottonwood trees, under dead elm trees, and the list goes on and on. I once pulled into my cousin's driveway, got out of my car, and right there next to the driveway was a morel. The most searched areas has to be along ditch banks. A lot of them are found out in the forests as well, but the conditions need to be right. If you listen to the people who talk a lot about morels, you should focus on the banks of streams that face south and west first, as these get the most sunlight. I have had my best luck on banks facing east. When you gather your morels, you want to pinch or slice the morel just above the level of the ground. Never, under any circumstances should you pull up the morel. When should you go morel hunting? About the best answer I can give to that question is springtime. It is all dependent on getting the right amount of moisture and the right amount of heat. This could happen in April, May, or June. The cauliflower mushroom, also known as the Hen of the Woods, or Sheepshead, is usually found around the base of oak trees or stumps. The Sparassis crispa could be best described as looking like coral from a coral reef. These mushrooms grow to rather large sizes, with 5-10 pounders being the typical size. With all the different layers of petals, they make cleaning one a challenge. I find most of mine during the October part of bow season for deer. The ones I found last year was after I took a small walk through the oak forest after I shot my deer. There were three in the corner of the woods not 50 feet from my tree stand. These can be frozen and used in any dish that calls for mushrooms. I like to slice the petals thin and then bread and deep fry them. After freezing I have found that you need to place the petals in between sheets of paper toweling and press out the excess water that they have in them. They are a stronger tasting mushroom than you may be used to. They do go well on top of a nice ribeye steak. Just sauté them up with some onions. The stump, or button mushroom is one of my favorites. These too are found growing around stumps and mostly dead oak trees. They grow in groups of several mushrooms. When you pick these, you want to cut the cap off at the stem and then look at the end of the cut to see if there is a hole in the stem. If there is, you can rest assured that there is a worm in the cap. It is best to get these mushrooms soon after they come out of the ground. My favorite way of cooking these is to just bread them and then pan fry them up like breaded tenderloin. They go very well as sandwiches with a little mayo. Morels Buttons Cauliflower |
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