Wild Harvest: The Giant Puffball

What a year its been for the Giant puffball mushroom - they are popping up all over the place! Got one today and cooked up a nice omelet for lunch with bacon and oyster mushrooms. What's your favorite way to prepare puffballs?

Look for giant puffballs on the ground in well-fertilized fields or pastures where the underlying fungus has plenty of underground manure to decompose.

The large puffballs have no poisonous look-alikes, so they're a good mushroom for beginners.

This mushroom is a choice edible. Trim away the cuticle (covering) if it's encrusted with dirt, and cut out any bad parts with a paring knife. Try not to wash this mushroom under water, or it will become too soggy to sauté.

Slice the puffball, sauté it, steam it, or simmer it in soups, like other mushrooms. It's also great baked or grilled. It has a rich, earthy flavor with a texture of marshmallows.

(Information sourced from "Wild Man" Steve Brill, naturalist.)

Pumpkin Soup

I don’t know about you, but I get tired of reading “seasonal” recipes that call for canned ingredients. It’s fall, and instead of using canned pumpkin, here’s the real thing. Oh yes, remember to use 'pie' pumpkins, sometimes called 'sugar' pumpkins


INGREDIENTS
4 cups freshly-baked pumpkin chunks
1 large leek, cleaned, white parts chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 celery root, peeled and chopped
2 tart apples, such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored, and chopped
7 cups good-quality vegetable broth
1 teaspoon peeled and grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon crumbled fresh sage or 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Sea salt to taste
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
Dash of nutmeg
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup apple cider
1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt
1 cup grated sharp Cheddar (optional)

Directions
1. Gently steam celery root, and apples in a large Dutch the leeks, onion, oven or soup pot with 1/2 cup of the broth until soft, about 10 minutes.
2. Add remaining stock and pumpkin. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Add ginger, sage, thyme, salt, turmeric, nutmeg, and a few grinds of pepper. Simmer for another 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings, if desired.
3. Process about half the soup in a blender or with a hand-held blender. Return the pureed soup to the pot and stir in the cider and yogurt. Soup should be slightly chunky. Gently heat, but do not boil. Sprinkle each bowl of hot soup with a little Cheddar, if using.

Serves 8