Showing posts with label Laetiporus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Laetiporus. Show all posts

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Laetiporus sulphureus


Pickings are still slim in and around the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Lack of significant rain has reduced the mushroom harvest to almost nothing. I did find the showy Chicken of the Woods, Laetiporus sulphureus. A good edible when fresh, soft and moist, the above was pass its prime. It had reached inedible maturity, dry and tough. This species of Laetiporus is characterized by a sulfur-yellow fertile surface seen on the underside in the photo.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Home Fried Laetiporus for Breakfast



I have lots of Laetiporus cincinnatus in the 'fridge. Some of it was "dirty" with dirt and plant material included into the mushroom as it grew. I marinated the dirty batch, and include it on salads and linguine w/clams. The "clean" portion is exactly that; clean, only pure mushroom.

This morning for breakfast, I decided to fry the clean Laetiporus with onions in olive oil. I did not go light with the oil. I liberally coated the bottom of the small iron skillet, knowing the mushrooms would soak up most of it. The home fry consisted of equal parts onion, mushroom and potato. We ran out of table salt, so I drizzled a small amount of soy sauce over the batch.

Eaten while still very warm, the dish was beyond scrumptious. The onions were allowed to cook for awhile before adding the mushrooms. The mushrooms soaked up the sweet, onion-flavored oil. Medium-high heat gave everything a delicious brown glaze. This dish was so good, I'll make some for the wife this evening. I know she'll love it.