Asheville Mushroom Club

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.

Flammulina velutipes (aka velvet foot)

OK folks, I’ve been rudely awakened from my winter hibernation by having both arms firmly twisted. It seems some folks want another mushroom of the month. Have a look outside; everything is white and frozen. There are no mushrooms fruiting! However, if you absolutely must have your wild mushroom fix hit the trails during the warming periods. The typical fruiting period for velvet foot is October through May.

Hike the trails through deciduous woodlands and look for fallen softwood (tulip poplar, elm, willow, etc…, NOT pine, hemlock or firs). Look for small (1-2 inches), tawny yellow-reddish, clustered, slimy caps fruiting on the deadwood. The gills are white to yellowish and attached. The stipe is tan to almost black at the base, tough, and quite velvety. Collect the clumps and trim off the base. The slimy caps will pick up dirt from everywhere so, the less dirt in your basket the better. You’ll understand when you start cleaning them. BE VERY CAREFUL; do not pick mushrooms with a ring on the stipe. It doesn’t take but one deadly Gallerina to ruin your day (life actually). Velvet foot has white spores and no ring; Gallerina has a ring and brown spores. Be very sure what you have collected. It is not very difficult to tell them apart, but “when in doubt toss it out”. Newbies should have their find checked by a more experienced person.

Ready to eat your bonanza? I hope you picked a basketful because you need it. Hold each mushroom by the stipe and carefully peel off the slimy cuticle. (This is common practice with slimy capped fungi as the slime has been known to cause gastric upset.) Then remove the tough inedible stipe and prepare however you like. If you cleaned a hundred or so you might have enough to taste.

I never collect velvet foot just because of all the work and the tiny reward. This is the time of year I depend on all my preserved fungi. Remember all those preservation tips throughout the year? I’m eating dried morels, frozen cauliflower and chicken of the woods all preserved from last years finds.

If you just must taste this mushroom have a look for Enotake in your favorite oriental food market. It’s the same mushroom grown in a controlled unnatural environment that causes them to look very different from their wild brothers.

Not up for the velvet foot challenge? Just hold on, spring is just around the corner. We could be finding morels in as little as 6 weeks!

Steve

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

Well, this month Steve has posed a real challenge for mushroom gourmands... so why don't we take his suggestion of using up some of our previously dried and/or frozen mushrooms and add any velvet foot or other available fresh 'shrooms to make this hearty winter soup. It will serve a big crowd, so get your friends together, ask someone to bring a salad and someone else to bring some bread, and have yourselves a fungi feast!

Ginger

Mushroom and Barley Soup (AMC Collection, Cooking with the Asheville Mushroom Club, p. 29)

8 c. chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 c. pearl barley, rinsed and drained
1/2 c. diced carrots (1/4 inch)
1 T. fresh tarragon or 1 tsp. dried
3 T. olive oil
1 c. diced onion (1/4 inch)
2 tsp. finely minced garlic
10 oz. mushrooms, quartered or cut into 1 inch pieces (use reconstituted and/or fresh)
6 oz. fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and cut into 1 inch pieces
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3 T. dry sherry
4 T. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

In a large, heavy soup pot, combine the broth, barley, carrots and tarragon; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered, until the barley is just tender but not mushy, no more than 30 minutes. Heat the oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until wilted, about 10 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook 3 minutes longer. Add all the mushrooms (if using reconstituted mushrooms, squeeze them until they are fairly dry before adding to the pan), raise the heat to medium high and cook, stirring, for 10 minutes. * (See Note) Add this mixture to to soup pot. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook the soup for 20 minutes. Stir in the sherry and parsley, then adjust the seasonings. Serve hot. Serves 8.

Note: * After browning the mushrooms, put them aside. You can heat sliced smoked sausage, diced ham, or cooked chicken pieces in a little oil in the saute pan for a few minutes, then add the meat/chicken to the soup with the mushrooms and continue cooking for an even heartier feast.

These recipes is featured in "Cooking with
the Asheville Mushroom Club" cook book on
page 29.