Mushroom Hunting 🍄
Happy Monday all the foodies out there!
Is there anything better than being able to go into the woods and pick your own food for FREE?
Seeking for mushrooms in the forest isn’t always that successful, but it’s also something that makes the process so much more interesting and rewarding. This time we were lucky. We found 4 gigantic ceps (Boletus edulis), some chanterelles, funnel chanterelles and a few other mushrooms whose names I cannot remember (my boyfriend convinced me that they’re edible, and hey, I’m alive after eating them). Bad joke, NEVER pick and eat any mushrooms you’re not recognizing with confidence!
How to cook mushrooms?
I have a very simple and easy way for you to prepare mushrooms which don’t have to be parboiled. First you’ll have to wash and chop the mushroom into smaller chunks. Then fry them in vegetable oil for 5-10 minutes so that most of the water in them will evaporate. You don’t have to move them around all the time, stirring every two minutes is enough. Season with soy sauce, sweet chili sauce and ground pepper. Quick and delicious! Remember one thing with frying mushrooms, don’t overfill the pan so that all the mushrooms will cook nicely!
Why mushrooms are so great for you?
Besides taste, there are other great things about mushrooms! Did you know that mushrooms contain a lot of protein? When I say there’s more than 3 grams of protein in 100 grams of fresh mushrooms, you may think that it’s not alot. However, there’s only 30 kcals in 100 grams of fresh mushrooms. When you cook them and get rid of the excess water, they’re a true protein bomb!
Another great thing about mushrooms, vitamin D! Vitamin D in our diet mostly comes from fortified groceries such as plant milks or dairy products if you’re not vegan. Fatty fish and eggs also contain vitamin D, but as a vegan basically only natural dietary source of vitamin D is mushrooms. So indulge yourself!
As well as many other Steemians, I took a few days off the Steemit world to be less frustrated about being unable to communicate with anyone. I believe things are getting better around here, so let start this new week with Fruits and Veggies Monday organized by the lovely host @lenasveganliving. I hope people have returned to Steemit, and we'll see some great entries this week!
How many mushrooms can you recognize? Which one is your favorite?
-Jasmin ❤
I love how you make the most out of your local environment! So inspiring to see what you bring to the table each week. My boyfriend's aunt and uncle just sold their property here in the northern part of the state, but they used to forage chanterelle's from their woods every year. His mom and aunt would pickle a lot of them to be able to eat for months after! I hope the people who bought the property do the same. :)
I hope so too, chanterelles are too delicious to just leave to the forest! Since in Finland we have the freedom to roam, we can go to the woods are forage these goodies. My boyfriend's mom and uncle love to forage mushrooms, so now we know all the good spots to go to look for them as well. :)
Wow, Jasmin you're awesome! I love shroomies so much and those are the only types I can be sure of...
Don't know why you picked the Amanitas ?! ;) Are you going to dry them? :P
Thanks @trayan! They really look like Amanitas! But now I had to google what they really were, they're Russula paludosa, 100 % edible! ;)
Also, thank you for the resteem, I appreciate it! :)
Really... hearing for the first time of edible fly-agaric look alike....
thanks!
I was going to ask the same question. That's awesome! I know Russulas are a bit of a strange group, but those are cool. I need to go to Finland!
I've harvested/used about a dozen types of wild mushrooms now, but five years ago, I hadn't tried even one.
You're always welcome here @viking-venturess! It's great to hear that you've been experimenting with different wild mushrooms, there are so many new things we can find and taste from the store, but also from the nature! How have you liked your wild mushrooms?
I'm fairly boring with my mushrooms, I tend to sauté them with bacon and rice. :-)
Most of them seem to handle that treatment very well, so I'm good. (My girls don't seem to like them, so maybe in a few years.
Now, I'm in the Rockies and the mushrooms I prefer are several hundred miles away from me, so it's something I miss from being on the coast.
I fell in love with Finland a few years ago when doing some armchair research. I've never been there, but Finnish influence was strong in my hometown. When I studied the Finns, I began to understand myself better. I do have one Finn in my family tree from about 1700 before he moved to Sweden, but I don't know where in Finland he was from. I just say I'm half Scandinavian by ancestry. If someone asks "which country" the answer is "yes."
Kiitos! (One of my few Finnish words.)
I didn't like mushrooms as a child, but now I love them, so perhaps your girls will fall in love with mushrooms one day as well! :)
It's really interesting to hear that you have a Finn in your family tree! My mom did some family tree searching when I was little, and found out nothing interesting, lol. It's really different for you living in North America, you all have great stories to tell about your ancestry!
Family tree research is so much easier now than it was years ago. So much of it is online with more being added all the time. Have you been acquainted with the TV shows being shown in Norway, Sweden and Denmark about family research? "Allt for Sverige" (and similar for the other countries) is a show where they bring Americans over to experience the culture and to learn about their family history. It's a fascinating program which I can sometimes find on YouTube. It taught me that people over there (probably Finland too) miss their American descendants and cousins just as much as we miss our ancestors and cousins!
I love that I can talk to my Swedish 3rd cousins via Facebook. I have first cousins whose father is the son of Finnish immigrants - he was from the north somewhere though I don't have much information on them. Anyway, when I lived in England, I found this educational puzzle with a map of Scandinavia and I looked at this image of a Saami and knew it looked just like my Uncle! So maybe there's some Saami blood there - I don't see it on my Swedish side though - we're in the very south there.
Genealogy is fun. I plan to do a little mini-series on Steemit about it and all the fun things I've found and learned along the way!
I haven't heard about that "Allt för Sverige" -show, but I'll have to look it up, it seems really interesting, and I suppose I get to practice my Swedish comprehension while watching it, haha!
If you really have some Saami blood in you, that's really interesting and special, they're a very small minority here! I've never even met anyone of them, probably because I've never traveled to North Finland (shame on me...) but this is definitely fascinating!
Please do that mini-series about genealogy, it would be really interesting to hear about everything you've learned and found out! :)
You forgot the coolest thing about mushrooms...they are beautiful! Nice pics. I don't forage for mushrooms so I don't know the varieties or maybe the other way around. I don't know mushroom varieties so I don't forage haha
That's true, mushrooms can be really pretty, and some of them can look really funny, e.g. Gyromitra esculenta (Wikipedia article)! I haven't been foraging mushrooms my whole life, so I'm not an expert either, in fact a few years ago I was able to recognize three different mushrooms of which two are poisonous... Haha! However, if some of your friends or someone in your family likes to do that, I recommend going with them, it can be really fun! :)
Whooaa @jasmink .. it's a really big mushroom I ever seen😱 too bad that my husband has an allergic to any mushrooms so I can't cook any foods with mushroom😔
That mushroom truly was gigantic, we had to cook it in three parts since there were so many little chunks of mushroom, haha! It's always unpleasant when someone has severe allergies, but at least you have the chance to taste some mushroom delicacies in restaurants (when and if they serve some). For me mushrooms are also something special that I don't get to savor too often, they're season can be really short!
Thanks for stopping by @cicisaja! 😊
I would said that God is really fair😊 while we're in tropical countries would easily grow mushroom anytime or find the wild mushroom anywhere after the rainy days.. but I've never seen as huge as yours. Probably because we have so many various food sources and mushroom shall wait😂. Different culture and different weather made us richer with amazing vegetation.
Do you know what is the name of this mushroom?
That's right, we just have to appreciate all the things we were given! Apparently there are many different names for the huge mushroom in English (I only knew the name in Finnish before making this post), it can be called penny bun, cep, porcino or porcini, in Latin it's Boletus edulis. It's a really common mushroom in Finnish forests!
My favorite mushroom are the ones pronounced like ‘sh-er-rooms’… kidding, not kidding. So cool that you guys just galavanted in your local forest and came out with a pocket full of edible treats. Great job @jasmink. It’s good to have you back and always a pleasure reading your content :)
Haha! Thanks for the lovely comment @puravidaville! :) It feels good to be back, no more withdrawal symptoms!
Mushrooms are something wonderful, I love them too, today I was back in the forest, but unfortunately I have not found any, the weather here is too dry.
I think the hot and dry summer had its downsides all over the world. It did a lot of damage to the crops, and the amount of berries and mushrooms in the forests are very little compared to previous years... I hope next year will be better, but realistically thinking, I assume it won't. 😟
yes, unfortunately, you are completely right.
I'd love to go mushroom hunting; I wish I knew where to start.
I love to hear that you're interested in mushroom hunting @pboothatrice! I can completely understand what you're talking about, it can be really scary to go to the forest by yourself and ponder whether a mushroom is edible or not. There are a lot of books and websites which can help you to recognize mushrooms, but I'd still recommend going with someone who knows what they're doing. Going to the forest with someone who has a broad knowledge about mushrooms can help you get started, to help you recognize the most common edible mushrooms and tell you where to look for them! If you have someone like that in your circle of friends/family, I recommend asking them, I'm sure they'll be more than happy to help! :)
Thanks for commenting!
I love love love mushrooms and I'm so impressed that you forage them yourself--i don't think I'm brave enough to hunt anywhere more exciting than the farmer's market :) You're inspiring!
Thank you so much @tlk, you just made me smile with your lovely words! Foraging mushrooms can be really fun, but it's true that it can be a bit scary at first. There are a lot of mushrooms you don't want to pick up! But going to the forest with someone who knows more about mushrooms can get you started with foraging your own mushrooms, if that's something you're interested in doing! :)
Such a beautiful post, Jasmin! I love how colorful and weird all those wild mushrooms look. The idea of picking wild mushrooms always fills me with a lot of respect, but I have no knowledge about it at all and you really seem to know your way around in the world of mushrooms! 😉
Thank you Anais, such lovely feedback from you means a lot to me! I have secret to tell you, I'm really not that great with mushrooms. 🤫 I can recognize the most common ones, but really I'm just walking in the forest and annoying my boyfriend with the same question all the time: "What's that mushroom?" haha! But I'm gaining knowledge, and that's always a great thing! 😊
Well, than I am even more impressed with your boyfriend's skills! Such a nice activity and also pretty romantic to go mushroom hunting in the forest together! 💚
The best way to learn something is by getting your own hands dirty, so you seem to do everything right here. 😁
Exactly, I find activities like mushroom hunting much better than just watching the tv and doing nothing (that's ok sometimes too). It's really nice to actually do things together and learn something new simultaneously! 😊
Absolutely, my saying! It is so important to include some magic and adventure into the daily life, especially if the rest of the time it's just busy, busy, busy and work. 😁
I couldn't agree more with you! :)
Those are such a beautiful mushrooms Jasmin, I just hope you didn't cook the red one, lol. I remember all of them from back home when I used to go mushroom picking with my family 🍒 🍌🍑🌿🍍🍓🍇
Thanks Lena! That red one actually is edible, it's not Amanita, it's Russula paludosa. I would've never picked it up if I was foraging mushrooms by myself, but my boyfriend has a lot of knowledge about mushrooms, so yes we cooked and ate it!