Asheville Mushroom Club

This is a delicious recipe which my husband and I made and enjoyed just a few weeks ago. In a hurry, you can substitute your favorite jar of spaghetti sauce for the homemade sauce described below. I'm so glad Steve mentioned this "club favorite" in his article because I've been hoping to feature it on our website.
Ginger

Puffball Parmesan (Whitey Hitchcock, p. 109, Cooking with the Asheville Mushroom Club)

2 T. minced onion
1/2 c. chopped green pepper (can substitute 1 sliced zucchini)
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 T. olive oil, divided
1 (16 oz.) can Italian tomatoes
1 (3 oz.) can tomato paste
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. sugar
1 T. fresh basil
2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1 c. dry bread crumbs, seasoned with 1/2 tsp. savory
4 T. butter
6 giant Puffball or other large puffball slices, each 1/2 inch thick
1 egg, slightly beaten with 1 T. milk
6 slices mozzarella cheese (preferably fresh)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Saute onion, pepper (or zucchini) and garlic in 1 T. olive oil until tender. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, sugar, and basil. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer gently 15 - 20 minutes. Combine 1 c. Parmesan cheese with seasoned breadcrumbs. Melt butter with remaining olive oil in a large skillet. Dip puffball pieces in beaten egg and milk. Dredge in bread crumb mixture, covering all sides. Fry in butter and oil mixture over medium heat until golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels. (Change oil/butter if needed to prevent burning.) Place browned puffball slices in single layer in oiled baking dish. Cover with mozzarella cheese slices, then with tomato sauce. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees until cheese is melted and casserole in well heated. Serves 4 - 6.

These recipes is featured in "Cooking with
the Asheville Mushroom Club" cook book on
page 109.

Club members have collected hundreds of recipes featuring local
and cultivated mushrooms to create a unique specialty cookbook.

Purchase your copy at club meetings for $10 or by ordering from Ken McGill, PO Box 182, Campobello, SC 29322 for $14.95.

Each month we'll be highlighting one mushroom that can be found in WNC during that current month. This is in an attempt to help members or guests learn our local mushrooms. It will also be noted whether the mushroom is edible, ill advised, or poisonous.

Calvatia gigantia (giant puffball)

Fall has arrived and with it new challenges for the mycophagist. There are so many leaves falling that searching in the woodlands and forest can be all but fruitless. I know the mushrooms are there, lobsters and chanterelles under the leaves, but finding them can be very tough. Now is when the truly knowledgeable, dedicated mycologist starts searching the woodland/meadow edges, grassy areas near the trees for the giant puffball. Look for “dinosaur eggs”, large, rounded, ball shaped fungi that range in size from baseball to larger that a basketball. Most guides list the giant puffball as fruiting from August until October, but I have found them as late as mid December.

There are several species of Calvatia. Most can only be differentiated at maturity, well past the delicious stage. No bother, all are edible if two rules are unerringly followed. First, cut the mushroom from top to bottom. There MUST be NO sign of any mushroom structure. Secondly, the entire interior MUST be pure white. Lincoff refers to the Calvatia group as being choice edibles and I suppose I agree. They at least have a much firmer, meatier texture than the marshmellowlike Lycoperdons.

Giant puffballs make a good meat substitute. I really like them in any recipe that calls for breading and frying. To prepare cut them into ½ inch thick “steaks”, bread and fry. The possibilities are almost endless, think: chicken fried puffball with sherry/cream gravy, puff ball scallopini, puffball parmesan (my favorite), sweet & sour puffball etc. etc… I’ve never preserved puffball, but I believe any of the methods I’ve outlined earlier would work well. Contrary to popular belief they are NOT alien pods (remember invasion of the body snatchers?), they are “Good Eats” (flagrantly stolen from Alton Brown).

Enjoy nature’s bounty; the cold is soon upon us,

Steve

Steve Peek, field mycologist and long standing member of the Asheville Mushroom Club