Wild Golden Oyster Mushrooms That Taste Like....Oysters!

I sampled the Oyster Mushrooms from yesterday with some scrambled eggs.  And I'm still alive!!   So that tells me that they will not kill me after all... and that my Identification skills are online.   Yeah for me!


So now, the logical question is...  Just how much can I eat before it kills me?    I decided to find out.   You can't live in fear your entire life, right?  And no one ever said Knowledge could be gained without a little risk. 

Actually,   I little more focused research on the Web revealed that the Mushroom in question was Most likely the Golden Oyster Mushroom...  Noted for its yellow color.   People are growing them for supermarkets, restaurants and farmers markets.  Not wanting to pay for something I can find in the wild,  I tried to convince Cheryl we needed to get the remaining clusters and have a Beer Batter Fry Fest!   Cheryl agreed.




I was impressed how willing Cheryl is to go along with my little schemes.   I guess she gets excited whenever there is a possibility of death...   Especially mine.   I don't remember taking out any insurance policy though.... Hmmm.

Anyway,   after running 10 miles,  we hopped back over to the tree and discovered three more clusters.   Two were new!   Barely 24 hours old!  Gathered them up, brought them home and started planning for my blog post.  That is:  Taking pictures.

Trim the stems.

Keep them small.

Couple of notes:   The stems are rather tough.   I recommend cutting them off as close to the cap as possible.

Avoid the slimy.

Keep only the caps.

Next:   Clean/blow off the bugs.   The newest ones did not come with many bugs ( the advantage for finding them new!)   but the ones that were only a day older had more bugs and were beginning to lose their color.   They were also beginning to get a little slimy.   No sense in adding another variable to the risk factor.   I cut all that stuff off and tossed it.

Plug some in stumps.

Maybe They will grow next year

I took the stems and older caps and put them into the three wooden stumps we have rotting in our front yard.   IF fate smiles on us,  we may be able to get it to grow here!   Then I won't have to worry about finding it fresh nor trying to get it home.  Winner!    Fingers crossed.

Chop them up into smaller Bits.

On to cooking,   I trimmed off any remaining stems  and fried them up with beer batter.   Transformation!    They suddenly tasted and felt like real deep fried oysters!   (Similar to the Oyster Shell mushrooms we sampled last week.)

Beer Batter!

Add mushrooms to batter...

  The stems did, in fact, remain tough and chewy.  But that is what you would expect from a deep fried  Oyster/ Clam.   Cheryl helped me sample several before the next batch was completed.    In all, I enjoyed most of yesterday's batch, and still have enough for two more meals.   Awesome!

Dip in Honey Mustard.  Yumm!

Then add them to the Oil! 

According to the videos I watched,  Restaurants like them when they are a rich yellow color.   My first guess was because they look better that way and can be ID'ed properly.   But now I see that the more yellow they are,  the Fresher they are!    And restaurants like fresh.   At least growers do not have to deal with bugs.

Jack-O-Lanterns are orange. 

And glow in the dark...  Don't Eat!

I hear that there are several other varieties out there.   Pinks and Blues as well as the normal white ones.   But we have the Yellows and that is what is on the menu.... or tombstone.   At least Cheryl will have a sample to give to the emergency room if something happens.  Oh!  And avoid any "Oyster" Mushroom that looks Orange.   And glows in the dark.   Those are kinda...  dangerous.    Thanks for stopping in.