Hydnum.
The Hydnums are sometimes slightly bitter and it is well to boil them for a few minutes and then throw away the water. Drain the mushrooms carefully; add pepper and salt, butter, and milk; cook in a covered saucepan slowly for twenty or twenty-five minutes; have ready some slices of toast, pour the mushrooms over these and serve at once.
Oyster Mushrooms.
One of the best ways to cook an Oyster mushroom is to fry it as you fry an oyster. Use the tender part of the Oyster mushroom; clean thoroughly; add pepper and salt; dip in beaten egg and then bread crumbs and fry in fat or butter. Or parboil them for forty-five minutes, drain, roll in flour and fry.
The Oyster mushroom is also excellent when stewed.
Lepiota procera.
Clean the caps with a damp cloth and cut off the stem close to the caps; broil lightly on both sides over a clear fire or in a very hot pan, turning the mushrooms carefully three or four times; have ready some freshly-made, well-buttered toast; arrange the mushrooms on the toast and put a small piece of butter on each and sprinkle with pepper and salt; set in the oven or before a brisk fire to melt the butter, then serve quickly.
Some persons think that slices of bacon toasted over the mushrooms improve the flavor.
Beefsteak Smothered in Mushrooms.
Have ready a sufficient quantity of full-grown mushrooms, carefully cleaned; cut them in pieces and put into a baking pan with a tablespoonful of butter to two cupfuls of mushrooms, sprinkle with pepper and salt, and bake in a moderate oven forty-five minutes. Broil your steak until it is almost done; then put it into the pan with a part of the mushrooms under and the remainder over the steak; put it into the oven again and allow it to remain for ten minutes; turn out upon a hot dish and serve quickly.