Mushroom Hunting in Iowa. Hen of the Woods (aka: maitake or sheepshead)

5 pounds of edible mushroom!

Soaking in salt water to clean the giant, scary looking mushroom.

cut up and ready to cook in butter.

The posse and I went for a pleasant Autumn walk on Sunday.  Of course the pleasant walk ended up becoming a rigorous hike.  We were up and down hills, we tromped through poison ivy, trudged over corn stalks, jumped over puddles.  My back still hurts but all that painful exercise was worth it because of the end result.  At the end of the hike (i was so pooped at this point) I came face to face with a giant, Hen of the woods (aka maitake or sheepshead), mushroom.  And when I say "giant" mushroom I'm pushing it, this big guy was only 5 pounds.  Hen of the Woods mushrooms are known to grow as large as 100 pounds.  These highly prized mushrooms grow at the bottom of Oak trees during the fall...I'm no Dendrologist so I'll just assume the tree I came across was an Oak.  My plans for the mushroom?  They were cooked in butter last night so tonight I'm thinking omelets and maybe I'll look up some soup recipes. 

Happy Monday, friends.

Mushroom Hunting in Iowa.

This bad boy was growing on the Mulberry stump in the backyard.  If there's an oyster mushroom in the backyard then there are oyster mushrooms growing in the forest.  We suited up the dog, hopped in the truck, took a hike (literally), and found two more pounds of mushrooms.  And I found a lot of mosquitoes, sadly.

 Oyster mushrooms are an underrated delicacy and we ate them three different ways.

1. Floured, dipped in eggs, rolled in Ritz cracker crumbles, and then deep fried.  Oh god, salivating over here.

2. Simply cooked in butter.  You could really taste the mushroom.  So fresh.

3.  Lightly sauteed and then decorated with lemon, cocktail sauce, and horseradish.