Student's Hand-book of Mushrooms of America, Edible and Poisonous Part 21

_To Pot Mushrooms._--The small open mushrooms suit best for potting.

Trim and rub them; put into a stewpan a quart of mushrooms, 3 ounces of b.u.t.ter, 2 teaspoonfuls of salt, and half a teaspoonful of cayenne and mace, mixed, and stew for ten or fifteen minutes, or till the mushrooms are tender; take them carefully out and drain them perfectly on a sloping dish, and when cold press them into small pots and pour clarified b.u.t.ter over them, in which state they will keep for a week or two. Writing-paper placed over the b.u.t.ter, and over that melted suet, will effectually preserve them for weeks in a dry, cool place.

_To Pickle Mushrooms._--Select a number of sound, small pasture mushrooms, as nearly alike as possible in size. Throw them for a few minutes into cold water, then drain them, cut off the stalks, and gently rub off the outer skin with a moist flannel dipped in salt; then boil the vinegar, adding to each quart two ounces of salt, half a nutmeg grated, a dram of mace, and an ounce of white pepper corns. Put the mushrooms into the vinegar for ten minutes over the fire; then pour the whole into small jars, taking care that the spices are equally divided; let them stand a day, then cover them.

_Baked Mushrooms._--Peel the tops of twenty mushrooms; cut off a portion of the stalks and wipe them carefully with a piece of flannel dipped in salt. Lay the mushrooms in a tin dish, put a small piece of b.u.t.ter on the top of each, and season with pepper and salt. Set the dish in the oven and bake them from twenty minutes to half an hour. When done, arrange them high in the centre of a very hot dish, pour the sauce around them, and serve quickly and as hot as you possibly can.

_Mushrooms with Bacon._--Take some full-grown mushrooms, and, having cleaned them, procure a few rashers of nice streaky bacon and fry them in the usual manner. When nearly done add a dozen or so of mushrooms and fry them slowly until they are cooked. In this process they will absorb all the fat of the bacon, and with the addition of a little salt and pepper will form a most appetizing breakfast relish.

_Mushroom Pie._--A very good mushroom pie is made in the following manner: Chop a quart of mushrooms into small pieces, season to taste, and add one pound of round steak chopped fine and seasoned with a small piece of onion. If the steak is lean, add a small piece of suet, unless b.u.t.ter is preferred to give flavor. Put the chopped steak and mushrooms in deep saucepan with cover, and stew slowly until tender. Make a crust as for beefsteak pie and put in a deep earthern dish, lightly browning the under crust before adding the stew, and cover with a crust lightly punctured.

In some parts of Russia mushrooms form an important part of the diet of the people, especially during the Lenten season, when the fast of the Greek church is very strictly kept, and meat, fish, eggs, and b.u.t.ter are forbidden.

Provision is made for this season in the securing of quant.i.ties of dried and salted mushrooms, which are cut up in strips and made into salads with a dressing of olive oil and vinegar. The poorer cla.s.ses to whom the olive oil is unattainable use the rape seed and other vegetable oils in the cooking of their mushrooms.

The following recipes are translated from a recently published Russian work on the subject of mushrooms, cultivated and wild:

Select fresh, sound Boleti, cut off the caps, and, after wiping clean with a napkin, place them in a sieve, pouring over them scalding water; when thoroughly drained, leave them where there is a free current of air until perfectly dry. Next string them upon stout twine, leaving s.p.a.ces between to allow of free circulation of air. If convenient, they can be dried artificially by placing in a not too hot oven with the door open.

Dried by either method, they can be kept all winter. Before using, they should be soaked in water or milk until soft. In this condition they make very good flavoring for soup or gravy, and can also be used as filling for pies.

_Mushrooms Cooked in b.u.t.ter._--Wipe the mushrooms clean and dip in dry flour. Heat a quant.i.ty of b.u.t.ter to boiling temperature in a saucepan, seasoning with a small piece of onion. Drop the flour-covered mushrooms into the boiling b.u.t.ter, shaking the pan constantly over the fire. When the mushrooms are cooked add sour cream to taste. Before serving, sprinkle with grated muscat nut.

_Mushroom Pickle._--Select only young b.u.t.ton mushrooms. Put them for a few moments in boiling water lightly salted and vinegared. Boil vinegar (only the best should be used), spicing it according to taste. Allow the vinegar to cool. Put the mushrooms in layers in a jar and pour over them enough spiced vinegar to cover. Seal tightly.

_Salted Piperites._--Only the caps are taken of the Lactarius piperites.

They are placed first in salted scalding water for several minutes. The water is then gently pressed out with a napkin, the mushrooms are placed on sieves and cold water poured over them. They are then placed in layers in a jar, each layer sprinkled with salt, and whole pepper and minced onion scattered over the layer. When the jar is full a thin round board is placed upon the top layer and pressed down with weights, and as the ma.s.s gives way mushrooms are added until the jar is compactly filled. The jar is then covered with parchment or otherwise tightly sealed. Eight gallons of mushrooms require from one to one and a half gla.s.ses of salt. This makes a good salad when treated with oil.

NOTE.--L. piperites is an extremely acrid mushroom when in the raw state, and the Russians do not stew it, but prepare it in the above way, taking the precaution to scald thoroughly with salted water before putting away. The precaution of scalding through several waters is a wise one to use in the preparation of all mushrooms inasmuch as the poisonous principle of most mushrooms is soluble in scalding water.

Dilute vinegar is frequently used in the same manner. Vinegar should not be used in metal vessels unless porcelain-lined.

LIST OF THE GENERA OF HYMENOMYCETES.

The following list of the genera of Hymenomycetes, summarized from Kellerman's Synopsis of Saccardo's Sylloge Fungorum, will be found useful for reference:

I.--AGARICACEae.

_Leucosporeae._ (Spores white or slightly tinted yellowish.)

GENERA.

Amanita Pers.

Amanitopsis Roze.

Lepiota Fries.

Schulzeria Bres.

Armillaria Fries.

Tricholoma Fries.

c.l.i.tocybe Fries.

Collybia Fries.

Mycena Fries.

Hiatula Fries.

Omphalia Fries.

Pleurotus Fries.

Hygrophorus Fries.

Lactarius Fries.

Russula Pers.

Cantharellus Adans.

Arrhenia Fries.

Nyctalis Fries.

Stylobates Fries.

Marasmius Fries.

Heliomyces Lev.

Lentinus Fries.

Pa.n.u.s Fries.

Xerotus Fries.

Trogia Fries.

Lenzites Fries.

Tilotus Kalch.

Hymenogramme B. & Mont.

Oudemansiella Speg.

Pterophyllus Lev.

Rachophyllus Berk.

Schizophyllum Fries.

_Rhodosporae_ (spores pink or salmon color), corresponding to the Hyporhodii of Fries.

GENERA.

Volvaria Fr.

Annularia Schulz.

Pluteus Fries.

Entoloma Fries.

c.l.i.topilus Fries.

Leptonia Fries.

Nolanea Fries.

Eccilia Fries.

Claudopus Worth. Smith.

_Ochrosporae_ (spores tawny ochraceous, or light rusty tint of brown), corresponding to the Dermini of Fries.

GENERA.

Pholiota Fries.

Locillina Gill.