Why? Because you can! And pickle, and jam, or otherwise celebrate the resurgence of the domestic arts our forebears held so dear. Put on your best apron and step into our kitchen, won't you?
Not quite a pickled mushroom, and more than a marinated mushroom, this is the Italian preservation technique called sott'olio, which results in an especially meaty preserved shroom -- especially if you use porcini or chanterelles.
Some mushrooms dry and store better than others. Some of the varieties that dried well for me were; Black Trumpets, Chanterelles, Chicken Of The Woods, Hedgehog, Porcini, Yellow Foot, and Oyster mushrooms.
During a recent fall hike, my daughter and I stumbled upon two large clusters of mushrooms. Lovely, pale silvery brown, some as large as my hand, the mushrooms fanned out in a layered array from a downed ash tree. Edible? Oh please say yes.
