We love mushrooms, raw and cooked, but we’re usually restricted to what we can get at the store. This summer has been unusually wet, though, and there are a lot more mushrooms in the woods than usual.

Last week while I was working on firewood in the Boombah, I came across a large mushroom that I hadn’t noticed before. I picked an edge and sniffed it, and it seemed good. Back in the house, I dug out the mushroom book and figured out that it was a Russula Leucopaxillus (see update below) and probably good to eat. We’re not sure what species they are exactly, because nothing in the book was a perfect fit. These are a dull white and have a large cap 7-10 inches across (18-24 cm). The next day after work I went back out to pick the ones I’d found, eating a piece fresh on the way back in so that any severe negative reaction would manifest itself before we committed to eating a lot more. My guts gave not a peep: green light.

 

 

These are big, mild but flavorful mushrooms that cook up well. I washed the tops, cut off the stems, and cut up the cap into about one-inch squares. We sauteed them in some butter, added some salt and pepper, and enjoyed the rich aroma as they cooked. We had them as a side dish with cucumber salad and roasted chicken, and they proved to be excellent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day I spent an hour after work hiking through the woods looking for more—and not finding any! (I did find a feature of the hillside I hadn’t noticed before, which I’ve named Retarded Valley because there is still a little bit of spring hanging on there; apparently it just doesn’t warm up there as quickly as the rest of the hill.)

It was a beautiful afternoon, though, and I decided to spend more time out there dicing up an aspen that had fallen during the thunderstorm last Sunday. I’d found it when I’d meandered left at the mushroom spot. With the chainsaw, it was quicker to get to the downed tree by going right from there instead, and to my delight I found a whole patch of the big mushrooms on the way. What luck! After the tree was cut up, I went back to the house for Rose and a basket and a camera, and we picked a bunch of the beauties.

 

 

 

 

That night we had the second feast with these Russula Leucopaxillus albissimus mushrooms—grilled caribou heart anticuchos, more roasted chicken, and salad from the garden. We sauteed some onion and garlic with the mushrooms, and put the remaining fresh ones into a paper bag in the fridge. For dinner the next night we cooked up a bunch more of the ‘shrooms to have over wild rice and smoke-grilled salmon. On Saturday we had a fantastic mushroom and cheese omelet for lunch and then cooked up more still to have with spaghetti and grilled sausage; Rose calls it spaghetti russulese leucopaxillusese.

Tonight we’re going to have the last of them with magic burgers and roasted Hatch chiles. And it’s raining again, so we’re hoping for a new crop.

 

 

 

 

Update: Alaska mushroom expert Gary Laursen has identified these exquisite mushrooms as Leucopaxillus albissimus. I’m glad we explored farther than this online description, which does not suggest they would be as tasty as the ones we have are.