North Island Mushrooms

Steelhead S2

Active Member
Heading up to Campbell River for the weekend and going to take a drive to look for some mushrooms (edible ones!). Haven't really looked up there before, but I'm sure I can find some spots. Anything up yet, or is it going to be an empty bucket at the end of the day?
 
I was out in jorden river the other day and we got a nice half bucket of chantrelles and they were big, Taked to my Dad and he said duncan area there is alot of nice ones out he got a couple bucket fulls with out too much trouble Im sure you will get some...
happy hunting

Blue Wolf Charters
www.bluewolfcharters.com
 
That's what I wanted to hear! I was out last weekend exploring, and it didn't go great, but got a number of different species. Time to get serious now.
 
should be some pines around with all the moisture.

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Fill the dam tub!
 
Picked a few pounds of Chantrelles in an hour, just up the hill from Courtenay, and I know there are lots up by Morton Lake, so you should have a large range of area to choose from. Checked one of my pine patches and nothing as of yet. Hope they happen this year...

"One man's pet is another man's food"
 
Sounds good guys. I am taking my bro out, who wants to learn and I have been thinking about spots. Mohun came to mind, and that's probably where we'll look. Unless I get motivated to look for some different stuff up in the mountains.
 
Was out in shawnigan yesterday. There was a good number of Chantrells around and I could smell the pines very strong but have never picked them without my grandfather so had no idea what I was looking for. Only ever smelt the strong sweet cinamon kinda smell!

-Steve
 
Ill go with you and show you the ones to keep. love pines really good BBq along with a nice thick venison steak...
Let me know steve then you can pay me that 2 bis...LOL LOL

Wolf

Blue Wolf Charters
www.bluewolfcharters.com
 
Hog Tide and I went out this afternoon for a couple of hours here in Courtenay. We got about 10lbs of chantrells. Going to be covering my steak with them tonight.
 
quote:Originally posted by Duffer

How do u freeze chantrels??

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Just saute them down removing most of the water but not over cooking. Pat dry with paper towel and pack in small zip lock or vacuum pack bags.

They freeze really well like this.

When ready just thaw them out and do what you want with them.
 
Just like juan said in the oven, this is what I do wash em of all crud then cut into large chunks (size of a quarter) put them on a baking pan largest you can find about a inch high pile them on.
into oven at 350 about 5 min s in look to see if you have juice, drain it off and keep draining off the juice at the first bit you will get lots you may have to do it 4 or 5 times. then there will be nothing.
The juice I save and make a big batch of homemade cream of chantrelle soup.

Keep doing this till there is no juice, by now they would have shrunk down considerablly .

Pile up on one side sray some PAM on the pan then move the pile over to the sprayed side spray again , now spread them out evenly.
Keep heating them till there are almost at the med dark walnut color this way your accually dehydrating them. take out and cool now make your soup use some and freeze the rest. dont go too long or they turn into dark specks LOL.

Now I freeze them on the pan and once frozen put in zip locks or vaccum seal.If you really dry them out they will last a year and more in the freezer I put them into stews, soups, gravies, rice dishes and now that they are dried you really dont need a lot into foods as the flavour once added to whatever you have cooked really brings out the flavor, I use about a 1/4 cup add more if you want but i like to hoard them LOL

Good luck and happy shroom hunting

Wolf



Blue Wolf Charters
www.bluewolfcharters.com
 
What I do is dry sautee the. First tear them into cooking-sized pieces. Then put a bunch of pieces into a pan, no butter or oil, just the fungus. Turn the heat on fairly high and stir once in a while to avoid burning. Pretty soon the heat will draw all the excess moisture out; it is actually pretty neat. Once the moisture that is drawn out has cooked off, dump the mushrooms into a bowl to cool and repeat as needed. When they are cool I mush them intl 1/2 cup measuring spoons and place the pucks on a baking sheet covered in parchement paper. Once the sheet is covered or all the mushrooms are formed into pucks, into the freezer, then into zip locks for storage. They keep well for months and this way they are always pre-measured. And the nice thing about the dry sautee is you can thaw them and use them like a regular mushroom, eg fry them a second time in butter with onions or what have you.
 
Well, my bro was a little scared of the wind, so he didn't want to go. But I rallied the troops, and he did eventually agree to go, along with my missus and Gramps. We drove out Morton way and found a few. The first spot paid off nicely, with a couple patches of yellows and a nice bucket of the biggest whites I have ever seen. Freaking HUGE! Next spot was a total dud, except I found 2 cauliflower mushrooms, which was exciting. After that, some of the gang were too cold and wet for any more stops, so we just took a drive looking for camping spots and promising mushroom haunts for the future. Not a huge day, but productive and tonnes of fun. Which is really the point.
 
quote:Originally posted by Steelhead S2

What I do is dry sautee the. First tear them into cooking-sized pieces. Then put a bunch of pieces into a pan, no butter or oil, just the fungus. Turn the heat on fairly high and stir once in a while to avoid burning. Pretty soon the heat will draw all the excess moisture out; it is actually pretty neat. Once the moisture that is drawn out has cooked off, dump the mushrooms into a bowl to cool and repeat as needed. When they are cool I mush them intl 1/2 cup measuring spoons and place the pucks on a baking sheet covered in parchement paper. Once the sheet is covered or all the mushrooms are formed into pucks, into the freezer, then into zip locks for storage. They keep well for months and this way they are always pre-measured. And the nice thing about the dry sautee is you can thaw them and use them like a regular mushroom, eg fry them a second time in butter with onions or what have you.

Just tried your process tonight. I loved how it worked. Will freeze and try another day.

Thank You,
 
Any word on what the prices are this year.... The rains last night might make for some sogginess over the next couple of days..:)
 
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