This fungus is esteemed in Europe, where it is eaten prepared in a variety of ways.
When young and tender it can be sliced and broiled or minced and stewed, making a delicious dish. When too old the stock is rather tough for good eating, but the gravy taken from it forms a rich flavoring for a vegetable stew or a meat ragout. The following recipe for cooking this mushroom has been recommended:
Slice and macerate it, add pepper and salt, a little lemon, and chopped onions or garlic; then strain and boil the liquid, which makes most excellent gravy, resembling that of good beefsteak.
The Fistulina hepatica is well known in Europe, and is found in different parts of the United States, in some places growing abundantly. I have gathered some fine specimens in Maryland and Virginia, but none as large as that described by Dr. Berkeley.
RECIPES FOR COOKING MUSHROOMS.
To Pot Mushrooms.—The small open mushrooms suit best for potting. Trim and rub them; put into a stewpan a quart of mushrooms, 3 ounces of butter, 2 teaspoonfuls of salt, and half a teaspoonful of cayenne and mace, mixed, and stew for ten or fifteen minutes, or till the mushrooms are tender; take them carefully out and drain them perfectly on a sloping dish, and when cold press them into small pots and pour clarified butter over them, in which state they will keep for a week or two. Writing-paper placed over the butter, and over that melted suet, will effectually preserve them for weeks in a dry, cool place.
To Pickle Mushrooms.—Select a number of sound, small pasture mushrooms, as nearly alike as possible in size. Throw them for a few minutes into cold water, then drain them, cut off the stalks, and gently rub off the outer skin with a moist flannel dipped in salt; then boil the vinegar, adding to each quart two ounces of salt, half a nutmeg grated, a dram of mace, and an ounce of white pepper corns. Put the mushrooms into the vinegar for ten minutes over the fire; then pour the whole into small jars, taking care that the spices are equally divided; let them stand a day, then cover them.
Baked Mushrooms.—Peel the tops of twenty mushrooms; cut off a portion of the stalks and wipe them carefully with a piece of flannel dipped in salt. Lay the mushrooms in a tin dish, put a small piece of butter on the top of each, and season with pepper and salt. Set the dish in the oven and bake them from twenty minutes to half an hour. When done, arrange them high in the centre of a very hot dish, pour the sauce around them, and serve quickly and as hot as you possibly can.
Mushrooms with Bacon.—Take some full-grown mushrooms, and, having cleaned them, procure a few rashers of nice streaky bacon and fry them in the usual manner. When nearly done add a dozen or so of mushrooms and fry them slowly until they are cooked. In this process they will absorb all the fat of the bacon, and with the addition of a little salt and pepper will form a most appetizing breakfast relish.