This morning I picked my first batch of fall mushrooms -- found three patches of Chicken of the Woods. The mushrooms were so fresh that you could literally squeeze water out of them. Last year I didn't find any until mid-September, and was still eating them during the early duck season [attached teal photo].
Immediately after cooking my first skillet full, I stopped by Doug Duesenberg's Downtown 66 [a.k.a. Doug's Thrift Shop] to let him know that the hatch was on. Doug loves Chicken Of The Woods, but noted that while delicious, the fungus is also extremely rich. Steve Schutte was also on hand at the Thrift Shop -- dispensing his usual free advise from atop the cracker [or in this case oil] barrel -- and gave Doug, along with the rest of us, a free cooking tip.
"If you dramatically increase the amount of butter you're using to fry the mushrooms, it will automatically reduce the richness," said Schutte. WOW -- None of us had ever thought of that one. The suggestion certainly made sense. Guess that's why Steve is considered a culinary genius.
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