Mushroom picking is a hobby that has slowly gathered a large following as the demand for fresh and natural foods grows. It is a wonderful way to connect to the land around you and harvest some of the bounty of nature with your own hands. There are a vast array of edible mushroom species and locating and identifying them is the first step towards a rewarding dinner featuring your harvest. Let's take a look at pick wild lobster mushrooms, a flavorful type native to both the East Coast and Pacific Northwest, are great sauteed and tossed in pasta or grilled as an accompaniment with meat.
Instructions
1. Locate a large expanse of wooded area. The soil composition should be mostly loose dirt with minimal, if any, sand. Search for areas of well-established, older trees. An ideal growing environment for wild lobster mushrooms is going to be the loose debris around these trees, often under layers of decomposing leaves, pine needles and decaying wood. Generally you will find the mushrooms pushing up from the debris and exposing a small amount of their orange or burnt sienna colored caps. Look for the mushrooms that are firm, stems over 1/2-inch long and free of any signs of black rot on the cap. This rot will affect the quality and shelf life of the mushrooms and should be avoided. When you have located a quantity of wild lobster mushrooms, mark the spot on your picking map. These mushrooms tend to grow in the same area year after year.
2. Lift up segments of the debris gently with a gloved hand. Scrape away any dirt with your hand gently. Follow the stem of the wild lobster mushroom downward toward the soil. Grab the end of the stem and twist the mushroom, pulling up as you twist. When the full mushroom and stem are free of the dirt, use the cotton cloth to brush away any other loose dirt or particles. Store in an ope topped basket. This allows the wild lobster mushrooms to "breath" and maintain freshness longer.
3. Clean the wild lobster mushrooms with the soft bristled brush and cotton cloth. This will keep the mushroom intact and allow you to remove as much dirt as possible without rinsing them. Rinse with water only if you are using them immediately. Rinsing them will cause them to soften and rot if they are stored for any period longer than a day.
Tags: lobster mushrooms, wild lobster, wild lobster, wild lobster mushrooms, cotton cloth