Promised Recipes

I was asked by several readers about what recipes I would use for the elusive cauliflower mushroom I found on the last day of picking. I have been doing a little experimenting, but before we get into the recipes a little backtracking has to be done.

The first thing I did when I got the cauliflower mushroom to the house was to soak it in salt water. Cauliflowers are very tasty to several kinds of bugs and crawly things. Worms like to burrow in as they feed. Each ruffle of the mushroom is a complex web of curls and space. Dirt, fir needles, bits of foliage, lichen and moss are trapped as the mushroom grows. The salt water kills any worms or bacteria in every crevice and since the cauliflower is such a dense mushroom it does not soak up the moisture like other mushrooms.

I was fortunate to have found this mushroom in the state it was in. The bright white color assured me that it was still growing rather than finding the ones that turn brown with age. This mushroom was still very young and tender, it was fairly clean and there were no worms in it yet (but I wasn’t sure until I had it soaked in salt brine).
Sixteen hours after I had harvested the mushroom, I took it out of the salt water and into the kitchen to clean it. The whole mushroom was rinsed with cool water to remove all salt. Cutting the whole mushroom into ‘florets’ make the process more manageable to get in there and get any remaining dirt or duff. I used a soft vegetable brush and a soft toothbrush (no not mine, this one I use strictly in the kitchen for cleaning mushrooms).

The florets were placed on a tilted drain board to the excess moisture could drip off. I had started a crock pot of vegetable soup earlier in the day and added both cauliflower and Chanterelle mushrooms during the last hour of cooking.

I chopped up both mushrooms in small pieces  before putting them in the soup. They added great depth of character to the basic soup with their own flavors, the cauliflower being very mild and the Chanterelle being more earthy.

The taste of the cauliflower is a very delicate flavor, the texture is like the ruffled edges of lasagna noodles and blends nicely with a butter sauce or a spicy stew.

The next soup I tried was a recipe I found on Chuck Underwoods’ website, Brand New Vegan. Vegan Hot and Sour Soup is a very easy and very tasty way to use any kind of mushrooms and it is a super simple and quick recipe. I used many more mushrooms than the recipe calls for since I have such an abundance and I love them so.

My recipe for Mushroom Coconut Curry that I put in the blog a couple of weeks ago would be enhanced with the addition of cauliflower mushroom pieces as would a creamy potato soup.

I am also going to try to dehydrate about half of the cauliflower so I can try more recipes after the fresh mushroom season has ended.

Since the mushroom was so big, I made up five trays, and also had the opportunity to share some fresh with several readers as well as using my own.

I will definitely never sell any more of this very delicious mushroom and keep them all for myself ( and maybe share a little)!

A helpful hint for those who want to dehydrate their own goodies is to purchase extra trays and liners. The ones that come with the unit are fine but it is so much better to fill the unit up with six or seven trays at a time while harvest is hot and heavy. Please click the link to see more info. By clicking I will get credit for directing people to their site and you can shop as you normally do even if you have a secret code or use Prime. I may make a small commission without any  cost to you. Thank you