New Discovery Plus Epic Fail

Lobster Mushroom

Well, it rained pretty hard the other day, so I thought that I'd go out and check my lobster mushroom spot. Lobster mushrooms are the Flood of the mushroom world (Halo reference for thee who art not gamers). They are formed when a bacteria takes over the roots of a fungus, the mycelium, and force them to fruit these big orange mushrooms. Thankfully, the result of this zombie-mushroom-lovechild is a delicious, meaty delicacy. This is what they look like in nature.

The venerable Lobster Mushroom

I proceeded to make lobster mushrooms latkes! I'll include a recipe at the bottom of the post. Credit goes to Forager Chef for the brilliant idea of using them like this.

Wild Persimmons on the branch

The big news, and what my big fail centered around, was the discovery of wild persimmons! I had planned on just visiting my lobster spot (Lobster Land? I'll take name suggestions), but decided, hey, I'll take half an hour and check out another spot. Well, at first I didn't find much of promise. I was looking around what was essentially a glorified puddle when I noticed a little pinkish, blue, orange thing on the ground. I knew at once by the smell and shape that it was some sort of fruit. I looked up and realized I was standing underneath a tree loaded with them.

At that point I didn't really know what it was, but it can be a good idea to go ahead and collect a good amount of something if it's in abundance. This becomes relevant when you may not have another chance to gather them before the critters eat them. To identify the tree, look for alligator scale like bark. Basically, bark that is sectioned into deeply ridged squares. Oak can sort of look like persimmon tree, but oak has the distinctive leaves and the bark doesn't have as deep of ridges. If you've noticed this type of bark in your area, make sure you look for persimmons around the beginning of fall, when the leaves are turning. I got a bagful and headed home.

Looking up at the persimmons

Persimmon Tree Bark

Well, I decided to make some jelly with them, but there was a problem. Wild persimmons, when they aren't ripe, have a heavy tannin flavor. If you've never tasted tannin, imagine that someone had smeared bitter chalk inside your mouth. Also, it doesn't wash away with water. In short, awful. I spent a good hour making the jelly and when I went to taste it, lo and behold, I'd let an unripe persimmon slip through. I had to throw it all away! Alas. The moral of the story is, when making persimmon anything, taste a bit of every one you use. Trust me, you'll know if it's bad.

This was the first stage of cooking before realizing I had
ruined it

I'm not sure how they compare to store bought persimmons, but I get the feeling that from the wild, its something you should use sparingly. I overdid it when I discovered pawpaws for the first time and give myself the fast track sallies, so I don't plan on repeating that with persimmons. Anyways, you can bet that I'll be back out to gather more soon!

Mushroom Latkes

You can vary these any number of ways, like using a blend of big mushrooms like firm boletes or polypores, and the herbs can be tweaked to use what you have on hand, adding a little grated parmesan or ground, dried lobster mushrooms wouldn’t hurt either. The proportions in the basic recipe are solid though, and won’t let you down. 

They’re excellent served with eggs, a little reduced tomato sauce, flavored mayonnaise, a lemon wedge, your favorite condiment, or just straight out of the pan.

Lobster Mushroom Latkes with an Avocado Sriracha Sauce

Yield: 4-6 latkes, enough to serve 2-4 people as an appetizer or component of an entree

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb fresh lobster mushrooms, trimmed, cleaned, and washed if necessary
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste if needed
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup green onion, trimmed and diced 1/4 inch
• 1 tablespoon fresh sliced chives
• 1 teaspoon fresh chopped thyme
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
• 1 whole large egg, plus one egg yolk
• Clarified butter, animal lard, oil, or a combination, as needed for sauteing the cakes

Method

1. Shred the lobster mushrooms on a box grater or through the shredding attachment on a food processor. Mix the shredded mushrooms thoroughly with the salt, then allow to sit for 10 minutes so the salt can draw out their water. Squeeze the shredded mushrooms to remove as much water as possible, then mix with the remaining ingredients except the cooking fat.
2. In a nonstick or seasoned cast iron pan, heat a tablespoon or two of the fat until hot and shimmering. Working in batches, take a couple heaping tablespoons of the mushroom mixture and form into cakes, then fry a few minutes on each side slowly, and gently, until golden brown, flip and repeat, then serve immediately.
3. If you’re making a large batch, finished cakes can be held in a warm oven on a cookie rack until the others are done.