Lavishly illustrated with nearly three hundred gorgeous full-color photos, this engaging guidebook carefully describes forty different edible species of wild mushrooms found around Illinois and surrounding states, including Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri, Indiana, and Kentucky. With conversational and witty prose, the book provides extensive detail on each edible species, including photographs of potential look-alikes to help you safely identify and avoid poisonous species. Mushroom lovers from Chicago to Cairo will find their favorite local varieties, including morels, chanterelles, boletes, puffballs, and many others. Veteran mushroom hunters Joe McFarland and Gregory M. Mueller also impart their wisdom about the best times and places to find these hidden gems.
Edible Wild Mushrooms of Illinois and Surrounding States also offers practical advice on preparing, storing, drying, and cooking with wild mushrooms, presenting more than two dozen tantalizing mushroom recipes from some of the best restaurants and chefs in Illinois, including one of Food & Wine magazine's top 10 new chefs of 2007. Recipes include classics like Beer Battered Morels, Parasol Mushroom Frittatas, and even the highly improbable (yet delectable) Morel Tiramisu for dessert.
As the first new book about Illinois mushrooms in more than eighty years, this is the guide that mushroom hunters and cooks have been craving.
Visit the book's companion website at www.illinoismushrooms.com.
| Contents Preface XX Acknowledgments XX Do Not Ignore This Warning! XX <hr>1. Tips for Beginners: How to Find, Identify, and Understand Wild Mushrooms Mushrooms grow everywhere. Here¿s how to start finding and identifying the best ones to eat—and how to bring them to the table. <hr>2. Common and Poisonous: A Few Toxic Mushrooms Poisonous mushrooms grow everywhere in Illinois. Before you pick and eat any wild mushroom, learn to recognize toxic species. <hr>3. Into the Forest: Mushrooms Found with Trees Edible mushrooms often grow on or around living and dead trees. <hr>4. The Morels: Morchella elata, Morchella semilibera, and Morchella esculenta The most popular wild mushrooms in Illinois look like a sea sponge. There are three basic morel species—plus several varieties. <hr>5. The Chanterelles: Cantharellus cibarius, Cantharellus lateritius, Craterellus foetidus, Cantharellus cinnabarinus, and Craterellus cornucopioides Yellow, black, orange, and red—wildly popular chanterelles are a group of vase-shaped summer mushrooms that often grow near oaks. <hr>6. The Boletes: Xanthaconium separans, Strobilomyces spp., and Gyroporus castaneus These terrestrial mushrooms have pores on the underside of the cap. There are hundreds of bolete species; here are a few easy ones to identify. <hr>7. The Puffballs: Calvatia gigantea, Calvatia cyathiformis, Calvatia craniformis, Lycoperdon perlatum, and Lycoperdon pyriforme You can stomp on them when they¿re old, or eat them when they¿re fresh. <hr>8. Take the Field without Getting Hurt: Agaricus, Macrolepiota, Lepiota, and Coprinus Wherever there¿s grass, look for these edible wild mushrooms. <hr>9. Let¿s Eat: Recipes and Advice for Cooking Wild Mushrooms From simple fried morels to a champagne breakfast with fungi, fourteen great chefs from Illinois tell you how they get wild with mushrooms. Index |"Perfect for any mushroom hunter or wannabe hunter."—Illinois Country Living
"Essential information for naturalists and cooks alike."—Illinois Times
"A lively, beautifully produced read."—Mushroom the...
