puffball!

Oooh.....DH and I spotted a nice big soccer ball sized puffball on the side of the road this morning on our bike ride! It was just perfect and white and fresh. Smells like fresh mushrooms.
We couldn't take it because there was no way to carry it on our bikes and not damage it. I worried that it would be gone if I came back later, but DH said "If it is meant to be, it will be." (he's very wise.)
After our ride a couple hours later, I went back in my car and it was still there! :p :p

We were invited to a friends house for dinner tonight and other friends are coming too, so I'm bringing it and will slice it, bread it and fry it up for all of us at dinner! Woo-HOOO!!!! Sort of what you do with sliced eggplant...

Cooooool!!:cool: :cool:

I've never had breaded and suateed puffball. How interesting. Do you have a photo of it?

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Originally Posted by Wahine

Cooooool!!:cool: :cool:

I've never had breaded and suateed puffball. How interesting. Do you have a photo of it?

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Yes, i just now took a photo! :p
Here it is.....

Attachment 4523

Lisa, what happened to your velo orange bag??

it is beautiful. i didn't know they got that big!

Wow! That is one big puffball.

I love the photo too, nice textures with the patina of use on the wood, the steel of the knife blade and the other produce int the background.

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Originally Posted by mimitabby

Lisa, what happened to your velo orange bag??

it is beautiful. i didn't know they got that big!

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Whaddya mean?- nothing happened to my VO bag! :confused:

I once got a bunch of puffballs that were more than twice that big- bigger than basketballs...you had to carry each one in a paper shopping bag! I gave some to friends that time.

Wahine, thanks for the photo compliment. :)

Those are our tomatoes, and some of the 200 or so organic apples we picked on Monday. :eek:
A farmer gave us the 3 sweet little Indian corns from his truck. :p
I also got some home made pickles and tomatoes from a woman in exchange for a banjo lesson. :D
Lots of harvest stuff going on around here right now!

Yup, it's a gorgeous photo. I didn't know you could eat puffballs, though. Of course I've never seen one bigger than a golf ball!

H&B
~T~

Wow, that's huge! I've never tasted "puffball" but it sounds interesting. It's like a mushroom right? Does it taste like mushrooms?

Yes, it tastes like a VERY mild mushroom. It's all white in the middle, solid, with the fluffy mushroom texture.
I have to go make some apple/grape/date/walnut/yogurt salad now, to bring to the potluck dinner soon.....later, you guys! :)

That is so cool! I've never seen or even heard of a puffball before...now I want to try one.

I don't think I've ever seen one around here, but I grew up in Pennsylvania and they were all over the place - but much smaller! I understand that they are pretty safe to pick and eat since there aren't any poisonous varieties that look anything like them. I've never eaten one though.... I always noticed them in the late fall after they'd gone to spore and were much more fun to step on than to eat. (they are like little smoke bombs!)

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Originally Posted by LBTC

I didn't know you could eat puffballs, though. Of course I've never seen one bigger than a golf ball!

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Ditto. :)

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Originally Posted by Eden

I've never eaten one though.... I always noticed them in the late fall after they'd gone to spore and were much more fun to step on than to eat. (they are like little smoke bombs!)

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Ditto. :D

I'm in NY this weekend, and my BIL was talking about puffballs - which I had never heard of or seen. He called the "above ground cousins of truffles," have no poisonous twins, and are safe to eat. He loves 'em and will harvest them whenever he can find them.
That is quite a 'shroom there, Lisa. Bon appetit!

Ok, the puffball caused quite a stir at the potluck! :p
It was duly revered, then sliced into 3/4" slices, then dipped in egg batter, then seaoned bread crumbs, then sauteed the slices until golden and slightly crisp on the outside in olive oil in a pan. A bit of salt and pepper. Yummy!
They were great! DH, who is leery of weird foods, said he loved it! :)

Regina is correct, and the big ones are quite safe to eat- there is nothing else that resembles it. It's kind of a fun novelty to collect from the wild and eat. :)

I still have a couple of slices left to make for DH again tomorrow.

Ok, the puffball caused quite a stir at the potluck! :p
It was duly revered, then sliced into 3/4" slices, then dipped in egg batter, then seaoned bread crumbs, then sauteed the slices until golden and slightly crisp on the outside in olive oil in a pan. A bit of salt and pepper. Yummy!
They were great! DH, who is leery of weird foods, said he loved it! :)

Regina is correct, and the big ones are quite safe to eat- there is nothing else that resembles it. It's kind of a fun novelty to collect from the wild and eat. :)

I still have a couple of slices left to make for DH again tomorrow.

Here's an interesting news story of a giant puffball found in Scotland:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/3839363.stm
Huge puffballs are not uncommon here in New York state, and I've harvested and eaten a couple puffballs here that were almost as big as that Scottish one in the news photo. :eek:

wow, that is an amazing puffball. The biggest ones i've ever seen were about the size of a hard ball. thanks for the news article!
we've eaten them too; and my sons have had a lot of fun playing with them.

I had mentioned this to Lisa via PM, and now I thought I'd share it with the group...since we all survived! ;)
DH found a humongous puffball in our backyard on Thursday (that's him, holding it in the picture (cellphone camera - sorry for the quality)). He was very excited, as it's been the topic of several conversations recently.
We had a few friends over on Friday for a dinner party....and as Lisa did, we cut up the puffball, dredged in eggwash and breadcrumbs and munched away. We also tried some sauteed (sp?) in a little butter and olive oil with some balsamic vinegar on the side (I used to marinate portabella caps for the grill with that, so figured, what the hay?). All were yummy, but I think my favorite way was the next morning, when I cut up a few slices into cubes, fried them up in butter, and then added them to scrambled eggs and cheese. Subtle, and very good. (and yes, Lisa, after friday night, I ended up peeling off the skin).
We gave a big hunk to a neighbor (who wants some of the soil where it came from in the hopes of propogating some more), but then we were stuck with "what do we do with the rest of it?" We actually had TWO puffballs...the big one, and then one the size of a grapefruit that was attached to it. So...I did some google searches, and found out that you could dry and pulverize it and use the powder as flavoring in future dishes. So I did. Our oven has an awesome drying function, so the pictures below also show the slices drying in the oven and grinding into powder (I filled that peanut butter jar....although I suspect it will settle a bit lower). I may try some in the Thanksgiving gravy.
We have our friends all on puffball hunts now!

Regina,
That's amazing! I never even heard of drying/powdering mushrooms. What a great idea to be able to use the mushroom flavor for months to come in dishes.
Thanks for the photos. That one of DH looks sort if sci-fi spooky. :D :D :eek:

Wow Lisa... and Regina...

Even though you have both survived your puffball dinners (lol) I would still have great difficulty eating one.

I have never seen any the size of the one in the photo (kewell pic, btw)

All the puffballs I have seen here are golf-ball-size and I have ALWAYS been told they are poisonous (though I have never checked that with a fungi book or anything).

But with over 40 years of messages telling me they are deathly poisonous - I can't see myself ever even nibbling the edge of a puffball anything...

Just happened upon this thread. What a trip. When I was in grade school we lived in a little town, Fox River Grove in Illinois. Our next door neighbor became my adopted grandma and taught me about mushrooms. She and I would walk in the woods behind our homes and collect several different kinds and cook em up. My favorite was the Puffball. We had soup, battered, you name it. Thanks for the memory, ladies.

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Originally Posted by invsblwmn

Just happened upon this thread. What a trip. When I was in grade school we lived in a little town, Fox River Grove in Illinois. Our next door neighbor became my adopted grandma and taught me about mushrooms. She and I would walk in the woods behind our homes and collect several different kinds and cook em up. My favorite was the Puffball. We had soup, battered, you name it. Thanks for the memory, ladies.

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Oh wow, how do you make puffball soup?? :confused: :)

-Glad to hear from you, Invis!!!! :p

We sauted with garlic and onion, as I remember, I was like 10 years old :) But here's a recipe from
**Puffball Soup **
From "A Cook's Book of Mushrooms"
By Jack Czarnecki

1/3 cup butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 cups chopped fresh puffballs, in ½ inch cubes
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups milk
3 tablespoons dried loose seaweed, such as nori (available at Asian markets)
Salt
Place butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until lightly browned, about 5 minutes, Add puffballs and sauté 5 minutes more. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 20 minutes. The soup will thicken slightly. Salt to taste

With all that butter and cream, I think a 100 mile ride might be in order. Save me a bowl, k? :)

Well Roadraven,

maybe in your part of the world, what may look like a puff ball is not the same as in the state and may very well be poisonous. Check with local mycological society or group.

Southern california is not condusive to mushroom hunting. Yes I tried. And yes I looked the part of true hippie. Long pony tail, bandana scarf, ... down to my tire tread sandles. And with my basket, hand trowel/shovel and some wax paper to hold my collection.

Tip toeing through the field, looking for the bumps on the ground. Biggest puff ball I ever found was golf ball size. I picked it up peeled it and nibbled at it while some tourists (not from california was looking at me). Another time I found some morels, black morels. Those you can't eat raw. Again people were just staring at me like I'm some oddball. Morel was yummy in my omlette.

Wood bolete no so good eats.

And why does chantrell always seems to be growing in the middle of poison oak patch. You forget, digging and all of sudden you realize you are standing in the middle of poison oak patch. oops.

Agaricus bisporus good eats common name horse mushrrom (humungous button mushroom). Problem is that in my area we also have Agaricus Xanthrothermus (sp) it gives you diahrea. not so good eats. One stains yellow on stalk the other don't (MOST OF THE TIME!)

Amanita Virosa so white and so pretty. pure white, white gills white cap white stem and vulva. not so good eat. common name death angel. There seems to be a population explosion of this mushrrom around here and no one knows why.

It's too much frustration around here so I gave up. Maybe when I move to Washington or Oregon... Yes I will get a permit. Also went collecting for pine nuts. Darn squirrels. All I coud find was empty cones and no seeds/nuts. Acorns can be made safe. Just have to remove all the tannins and I heard it makes a tasty nutritious meal.

if you want definitive collection of mushroom cookery/canning see
"Joe's Book of Mushroom Cookery" and if you live anywhere near his restaurant give it a try. I hope its still there.

oh wow...down memory lane... the article is pretty old.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...v19/ai_3738625

I wonder if the the book is still available?

if you have too much of good thing make mushroom duxelle. Classic french thing to do.

OK TMI bye now
Smilingcat

yay! It's been way too long since I've been home early enough to hunt mushrooms. Yesterday I was out hunting, getting a little distracted and ready to pack it in (isn't it always that way) when I stumbled on the Mother Lode of Morels! :D:D:D I actually had to phone DH to come out with his GPS and mark the spot so I can find it again next year. I stopped picking when I had 65 mushrooms but there were lots more.

Sauteed them with butter, olive oil, garlic, salt & pepper and served them with pasta tonight. Deeee-licious!

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Originally Posted by smilingcat

Acorns can be made safe. Just have to remove all the tannins and I heard it makes a tasty nutritious meal

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You heard, huh. So did I when I was in high school. I don't remember HOW many times I boiled those acorns - by the end of it they weren't particularly tannic, and maybe they were nutritious, but tasty? Uh, no. Chacun a son gout I suppose. But I think it's more a matter of how hungry one its ;)

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Originally Posted by OakLeaf

stumbled on the Mother Lode of Morels! :D:D:D I actually had to phone DH to come out with his GPS and mark the spot so I can find it again next year. I stopped picking when I had 65 mushrooms but there were lots more.

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WHERE?! WHERE?!



.

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Originally Posted by zencentury

WHERE?! WHERE?!



.

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Zen, you know a mushroom hunter never tells. But I could pick you up at Columbus airport, blindfold you and take you there ;)

What the ^%$ is a puffball????

I love the first pic in #17!
It could be from the original Star Trek.

yeah, i had no idea what a puffball was... thank you wikipedia.