Earth Day

Spring Mushrooms: The First of Us

Spring is in the air here in Wyoming. That means we traded in our insulated snow boots for rubber puddle boots and stop signs are emerging from the snowbanks like red lollipops. No redbuds here, no crocus or daffodil, yet. But the osprey are returning to their tall nests in Star Valley and the robins are voracious for the worms on the edge of the snow melt.

Snow melt in the forest yields a mist off the Snake River that rolls up the mountain moist and rich. The forest is thriving; the trees are alert and drawing up all that moisture through their root system, nourished by a complex network of fungus threads and strands that comprise the mycelium, the mushroom root system.

Few people are aware of what goes on underground. We are more concerned with what pushes up out of the earth—trees, fruits, vegetables, flowers. But most of those fruiting components of our vegetative reality are dependent on the Mycorrhizal fungi, the  “root fungus” that attach themselves to the tips of the plants’ roots and make absorption of minerals possible for all plants by increasing the surface area of the roots up to a thousand times. In the forest, the fungi secrete enzymes that break down dead organic material in the soil and allow the trees and understory plants to use those nutrients and water. In return, the trees and plants send sugars to their roots to feed the fungi which have no chlorophyll and can’t make sugar from sunlight the way plants do.

This Earth Day celebrate the “fungus among us” and dive into the deep world of wild mushrooms. Not to say go out into the woods and gather and eat anything that you find. That could kill you. But learn all about a mushroom, ideally from a mushroom expert, and get yourself well-versed in the attributes and habitat of that one mushroom to build your knowledge base. Look online to find mushroom enthusiasts in your area that are willing to share their knowledge—though few will share their spots. Find purveyors of wild mushrooms at farmers’ markets and chat them up to locate fellow enthusiasts.

Since it is still snowing in Wyoming, I doubt that there are many mushrooms fruiting yet in the woods. But back in Pennsylvania there’s been erratic very warm and wet weather that may spell the early arrival of the highly sought-after morel. In fact, my husband just left to go back to PA to check on urgent business that no doubt includes hunting morels. Morels are that important to him. And morels are a great mushroom for a novice as they have a unique conical shape and are hollow. They cannot be mistaken, even for a false morel that looks similar but is not hollow. For more info on the elusive morel, check out this 10-year-old video that is still timely today. And if you want to taste morels this spring, Pray for Rain—not snow.

Happy Earth Day!

Here’s a recipe for a mushroom soup based on one that was prepared by Chef Courtney Confer at the Gamble Mill in Bellefonte, another avid morel hunter. He uses cultivated mushrooms but wild ones could be substituted if you have them. I also like to use a mushroom broth that I brew like tea from Great Lakes Treats, a wild mushroom purveyor that I found at the farmers market in Traverse City a couple of years ago. I’ve been a customer ever since, especially of their dried chaga (which will be another story) and their powdered Adaptogen Blend that includes chaga, reishi, and turkeytail. It makes a delicious substitute for veggie stock with many added nutritional benefits. If you are lucky, maybe a neighbor will drop by with an incredible artisan loaf of bread for you. It’s spring; it’s time to emerge, like the mushrooms. 

Hungarian Mushroom Soup

Makes 4 servings

4 tablespoons butter

2 cups chopped onion

1 pound mushrooms, sliced

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1 tablespoon sweet paprika

1 tablespoon soy sauce

3 cups mushroom stock (see note) or vegetable stock

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/3 cup chopped parsley

1/2 cup chopped dill (save a few sprigs for garnish)

2 tablespoons additional sour cream for garnish (optional)

Melt butter in a soup pot over medium-high heat and saute the onion until translucent. Add mushrooms and cook until they release their juices, then sprinkle on the flour and cook for a bit. Add the milk and the seasonings then add the strained mushroom stock. Season with salt and pepper to taste. In a medium bowl, whisk a half cup of the hot soup into the sour cream and then add that to the soup and reduce the heat. Add lemon juice, parsley, and dill, and garnish as desired with more sour cream.

Note: You can easily make mushroom stock from dried mushrooms or from this handy tea from Great Lakes Treats. Bring 3 cups of water to a boil, add the 2 tablespoons dried mushrooms/powder, and steep, covered, for 10 minutes. Strain and add a little salt to taste.

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