Let's try again for a general "2019 Ohio Summer & Fall" thread since the most recent attempt was deleted. Central OH - Franklin County I went out early AM on the 19th, got these and was back home by 10AM. The recent rains have been favorable in my most productive Chanterelle woods. Must have requirement for me to wear now: mosquito head-net, on right above, HA!
Chanterelle Shrimp Linguini in Cream Sauce With the above Chants, I made a great dish I hadn't done since 2016. I'm posting this here even though I posted it under the "How we Prepare our Mushrooms" thread (most recent replacement) under Announcements. So much for "continuity" from Adiministrators. What I did different and liked was I sauteed the shrimp separately and put them on top of the plated pasta. From my notes, I saw that in my last cook of this, I put the shrimp into the cooking Chanterelle Cream Sauce and they overpowered the Chanterelle flavor. This time the flavor of the Chanterelles came through delightfully and in balance or counterbalance with the Shrimp. Hey . . . Happy hunting, everyone!!
Thanks Koko. I'm going to post dinner pics both here and on the specific forum identified for them since forum topics keep disappearing. Chanterelle Fried Egg Breakfast I decided to use my last Chants for breakfast today. There'll be as many more as I want to pick in the woods as a result of the recent rains. A quick look at the fresh herbs in the raised bed garden and it was French Tarragon and Curled Parsley for added flavor. Onions, garlic, butter, Chanterelles and Tarragon. The parsley I tossen on the side fresh.
Awesome to see a thread come back. Saw this bastard on a walk today growing out of the ground. Anyone?
Looks like some form of ganoderma (of which there are 70-80 varieties). I sometimes see them in the neighborhood mostly growing out of stumps. When seeming to grow out of the ground -- on close examination they are ususaly growing from a tree root underground.
Yep! A few years ago I found what looked like a beautiful oyster growing out of the ground! I was just cruising through on my way somewhere, and it was only about 5 feet from the edge of the parking lot. I had somewhere to be, so I resolved to come back the next day with a metal probe to see if there was wood under that shroom. Unfortunately, this place was in a county metropark, and when I showed up the next day, the maintenance crew was hard at work! They had mowed down the shroom, and their mowing had revealed the faint outline of an old stump that had been ground down to soil level. I sunk my probe next to the stump of the shroom, and hit wood about 4" down! I've never seen another shroom there since!
Thanks for starting this thread. It is nice to keep each other informed. This year my chant spots were a bust. Either there was too much rain in some spots and in other areas I hunt, just when it was time for them to fruit it got dry as a bone. I went online to radar.weather.gov and went to the observed precip. page, daily observations and checked out where it rained evenly in OH. Noticing a good area I headed there on Sunday even though it was hot. When I got to the woods there was a hiker there. I started to talk with him a little and showing him some photos of chants I asked him if he'd seen any. Well I could have hiked for hours but he did see some on a little trail and told me where. I went down there and in 5 1/2 hours I picked 26 pounds. My fingers were turning orange from picking them. I used some scissors for awhile to snip them off but after awhile the scissors started to wear into my index finger. I would have stayed longer but a big thunderstorm was coming and I did just get out of the woods in the nick of time. I saw your paint brush in your photo and I think I'll start carrying one especially if I get into some lobsters. I should have took some photos but I didn't take the time.
Looks tasty. Today I thought of making some into cream of mushroom soup. So far I've been drying them and grinding them into a coarse powder.
Shoulder Bag Contents Here's what my time in the woods prompts me to include in my shoulder bag. The shoulder bag is military surplus. In the two outside pockets I keep my digital Sony Camera (which of course I'm using to take this pic, ha!) and an old flip cellphone. Below Left to right: a Soil temperature probe. Walke-talke, one-each when I have others with me. Leatherman tool. Compass. I still use it a few times each season in new terrain and sunless days. My cheap WallMart Knife. And currently, a mosquito head net. Lower row, left to right: a thumb sized LED light to see into hollow logs, tree trunks and caves. Kleenex. 1" bristle bush, marker pen, a few baggies for the occasion I want to keep something separate and identified & lastly a water bottle. To collect 'shrooms I use a cloth bag with open top, like a clothe grocery bag with handles. If it is new woods, I'll have an aerial image of the woods, often taken in the winter with no leaves and low sun angle so as to show the topography better. A few times I'll piece together my own topo map from several pieces in the rare situation in SE OH.
Central OH - Franklin County This Morning's Chanterelles. Left at 8:30am - home by 10:00am. There were good Chanterelles to be found but they are not developing in the abundance of last year -- at least, so far. However, enough for a good dinner or lunch or breakfast and I avoided the heat. Oh, yea. I should have placed my gloves in the "shoulder bag contents" picture above.
This coming Saturday I'm going back to the woods I found so many chants and check again, this time I'll take my camera. I will try to start hunting by 6:30 am until 1:00 pm or so. There were some sections of that woods that looked good but I was finding so many hill sides loaded with them and with the approaching thunderstorm I didn't have the opportunity to look around. It isn't supposed to rain this Saturday (I hope they are right). Two more work days.
26 pounds?! I need to go wherever you went. I’m getting maybe 2-4 oz. at a time in my spots this summer, for a total of probably 2 pounds in about a month. It’s pretty dismal. I’d love to find a real motherlode. I can find endless things to do with chanterelles.
