Delicious - but discard any bits on which the gills are darker than a
pale pink.

Wash, then halve the mushrooms and their stalks and fry in butter or
olive oil. (Most of a mushroom's flavour is oil-soluble.)

With the remainder of the fat and juices, make a roux, then (over heat!)
add white wine and a scrape of nutmeg until you have made a sauce.

Serving suggestion: On hot buttered toast, and covered in sauce. Or,
make the sauce very thick, and put sliced mushrooms and sauce in a
toasted sandwich maker.

Sounds absolutely delicious - have printed this one out!!! I'm hungry
already - thanks Rusty!

Andy

"Andy Hunt" wrote in message
...

Isn't there a fungus known as (very politically incorrectly) "Jews' ears"?
I
remember eating some when I was young after a mushroom hunt in Cwmbran,
Gwent . . .

Yes, it is a bracket fungus that grows on trees.

Mike

On Sun, 12 Sep 2004 18:33:46 GMT, "Andy Hunt"
wrote:



Wood blewitts I think was one we found on the fungus foray
Tuffles
Shaggy ink caps

Giant puff ball
Boletes of various kinds (ceps)
Morels
That spiky hedgehoggy fungus
Oyster mushroom

... to name just a few.

Isn't there a fungus known as (very politically incorrectly) "Jews' ears"? I
remember eating some when I was young after a mushroom hunt in Cwmbran,
Gwent . . .

Yes.. it grows on Elder true..the legend being that this is the tree
that Judas hung himself from.
Needs a bit of preparation to make it palatable though.

Regards,



--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
http://www.shwoodwind.co.uk
Emails to: showard{who is at}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk

On Sun, 12 Sep 2004 20:54:24 +0100, Stephen Howard
wrote:


Yes.. it grows on Elder true..the legend being that this is the tree
.....................................^ trees!
that Judas hung himself from.
Needs a bit of preparation to make it palatable though.

Regards,


--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
http://www.shwoodwind.co.uk
Emails to: showard{who is at}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk

On 12/9/04 20:54, in article ,
"Stephen Howard" wrote:

snip

Yes.. it grows on Elder true..the legend being that this is the tree
that Judas hung himself from.
Needs a bit of preparation to make it palatable though.

I thought the Judas tree to be Cercis siquiliastrum, though given its full
grown height, Judas must have been *very* short if he hanged himself from
one of those!
Elders are attributed to have magical powers against witches and were one of
the trees in ancient 'barriers'. I *think* some of the others were ash and
hawthorn, maybe beech and oak. Certainly, in some parts of Devon round us,
beech trees are very widely seen.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

The message
from "Michael Berridge" contains these
words:
"Andy Hunt" wrote in message
...

Isn't there a fungus known as (very politically incorrectly) "Jews' ears"?
I
remember eating some when I was young after a mushroom hunt in Cwmbran,
Gwent . . .

Yes, it is a bracket fungus that grows on trees.

Especially on elder.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message
from Stephen Howard contains these words:

Isn't there a fungus known as (very politically incorrectly) "Jews'
ears"? I
remember eating some when I was young after a mushroom hunt in Cwmbran,
Gwent . . .

Yes.. it grows on Elder true..the legend being that this is the tree
that Judas hung himself from.
Needs a bit of preparation to make it palatable though.

Nah, just let it dry, then powder it in a coffee-grinder. Add to soups,
stews, casseroles. Adds flavour and thickens it.

I do this with the less palatable (soft or slimy) boleti, and with old
specimens of other fungi.

It's a useful way of storing mushrooms - they reduce to a very small
volume, and keep indefinitely.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

In article , Sacha
writes
On 12/9/04 20:54, in article ,
"Stephen Howard" wrote:

snip

Yes.. it grows on Elder true..the legend being that this is the tree
that Judas hung himself from.
Needs a bit of preparation to make it palatable though.

I thought the Judas tree to be Cercis siquiliastrum, though given its full
grown height, Judas must have been *very* short if he hanged himself from
one of those!

12m? OK, a large proportion of that won't have boughs strong enough, but
even so, that leaves enough for a good hanging.

I looked it up, because my father's tree was certainly quite large
before it finally died.
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

In article ,
Kay writes:
|
| Yes.. it grows on Elder true..the legend being that this is the tree
| that Judas hung himself from.
| Needs a bit of preparation to make it palatable though.
|
| I thought the Judas tree to be Cercis siquiliastrum, though given its full
| grown height, Judas must have been *very* short if he hanged himself from
| one of those!
|
| 12m? OK, a large proportion of that won't have boughs strong enough, but
| even so, that leaves enough for a good hanging.
|
| I looked it up, because my father's tree was certainly quite large
| before it finally died.

One of the legends of elder is that the reason it is no larger (and
has very brittle branches) is so that it can't be used for the same
purpose again.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On Mon, 13 Sep 2004 01:04:04 +0100, Jaques d'Alltrades
wrote:

The message
from Stephen Howard contains these words:

Isn't there a fungus known as (very politically incorrectly) "Jews'
ears"? I
remember eating some when I was young after a mushroom hunt in Cwmbran,
Gwent . . .

Yes.. it grows on Elder true..the legend being that this is the tree
that Judas hung himself from.
Needs a bit of preparation to make it palatable though.

Nah, just let it dry, then powder it in a coffee-grinder. Add to soups,
stews, casseroles. Adds flavour and thickens it.

I do this with the less palatable (soft or slimy) boleti, and with old
specimens of other fungi.

It's a useful way of storing mushrooms - they reduce to a very small
volume, and keep indefinitely.

Cool tip! Ta.

Regards,



--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
www.shwoodwind.co.uk
Emails to: showard{whoisat}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk

The message
from Martin contains these words:
On Sat, 11 Sep 2004 21:28:52 +0100, Jaques d'Alltrades
wrote:
The message
from (Anna Kettle) contains these words:

Delicious - but discard any bits

You know about 'shrooms too?!

Been into mushrooms since I was ten. In the Scouts my nickname was
'Fungus'.

because of your trainers/plimsols? ;o)

Nah, it was the bogeys.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:

One of the legends of elder is that the reason it is no larger (and
has very brittle branches) is so that it can't be used for the same
purpose again.

Try hanging yourself on my elder - I thought I'd do a quickie while the
others were coming on.

http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/bonsai01.jpg

Sorry about the qualititty of the pic - el cheapo Argos digital
carambra. (£12.99 IIRC)

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

In article ,
Jaques d'Alltrades writes:
| The message
| from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:
|
| One of the legends of elder is that the reason it is no larger (and
| has very brittle branches) is so that it can't be used for the same
| purpose again.
|
| Try hanging yourself on my elder - I thought I'd do a quickie while the
| others were coming on.

I'm sorry, but I have never gone in for that form of eroticism :-)

| http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/bonsai01.jpg

I like it! Elder can look incredibly ancient very fast.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Andy Hunt" wrote in message
...


Wood blewitts I think was one we found on the fungus foray
Tuffles
Shaggy ink caps

Giant puff ball
Boletes of various kinds (ceps)
Morels
That spiky hedgehoggy fungus
Oyster mushroom

... to name just a few.

Isn't there a fungus known as (very politically incorrectly) "Jews'
ears"? I
remember eating some when I was young after a mushroom hunt in
Cwmbran,
Gwent . . .

If I may refer to Belgian chocolates, or Boerewors, why may I not
refer to Jews'
ears?
But more to the point, I always look out for them whenever I pass an
old elder copse.

Franz

"Stephen Howard" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 12 Sep 2004 18:33:46 GMT, "Andy Hunt"
wrote:



Wood blewitts I think was one we found on the fungus foray
Tuffles
Shaggy ink caps

Giant puff ball
Boletes of various kinds (ceps)
Morels
That spiky hedgehoggy fungus
Oyster mushroom

... to name just a few.

Isn't there a fungus known as (very politically incorrectly) "Jews'
ears"? I
remember eating some when I was young after a mushroom hunt in
Cwmbran,
Gwent . . .

Yes.. it grows on Elder true..the legend being that this is the tree
that Judas hung himself from.
Needs a bit of preparation to make it palatable though.

Not at all. Unless you call slicing it and frying it gently in garlic
butter counts as preparation.
The word "palatable" is not applicable to Jew's Ears. The appropriate
adjective is "delicious".

[snip]

Franz