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Puffballs, ho!
Aug. 30th, 2001 07:19 pmAfter spending most of the day learning way too much about the Soviet TU-22M3 long-range bomber, I "volunteered" to make dinner tonight.
As part of the festivities, I dug around in the fridge to find the two puffballs that I harvested the afternoon I went to collect inky caps. Those fungi were fresh when I plucked them from the ground, as evidenced by the improbable set of the clumps of dirt on them when I saw them. I just hoped that they hadn't started the process of converting their fruiting body into a genetic message to future generations. Once that happens (you can tell by the off-white color, starting with pale yellow), you may as well chuck the thing out the window, unless you are hankering for one heck of an upset stomach!
I was in luck. When I cut them open, the puffballs were pure white inside. The conventional method of preparation calls for dredging diced pieces of the mushroom in some kind of bread crumbs and then frying them.
Item: There were no bread crumbs in the house. Or at least, I could not find them.
Item: There was an old-fashioned meat tenderizer, which I used to "tenderize" a handful or two of tortilla chips. I added some chili powder, cumin, and some garlic salt to my manufactured crumbs and broke a couple of eggs to give the crumbs something to stick to.
While the steaks broiled on the outside grill, the onions wilted slowly over medium heat in another frying pan, and (God help me!) the Rice-A-Roni simmered on yet another burner, I set the breaded puffball sections to fry in our large frying pan.
It turned out well (including the Rice-A-Roni). Everyone enjoyed dinner, methinks.
Now it's back to the Tu-22M3 and then to sleep, I think. I grossly overestimated my capabilities today.
No biggie.
Cheers...
As part of the festivities, I dug around in the fridge to find the two puffballs that I harvested the afternoon I went to collect inky caps. Those fungi were fresh when I plucked them from the ground, as evidenced by the improbable set of the clumps of dirt on them when I saw them. I just hoped that they hadn't started the process of converting their fruiting body into a genetic message to future generations. Once that happens (you can tell by the off-white color, starting with pale yellow), you may as well chuck the thing out the window, unless you are hankering for one heck of an upset stomach!
I was in luck. When I cut them open, the puffballs were pure white inside. The conventional method of preparation calls for dredging diced pieces of the mushroom in some kind of bread crumbs and then frying them.
Item: There were no bread crumbs in the house. Or at least, I could not find them.
Item: There was an old-fashioned meat tenderizer, which I used to "tenderize" a handful or two of tortilla chips. I added some chili powder, cumin, and some garlic salt to my manufactured crumbs and broke a couple of eggs to give the crumbs something to stick to.
While the steaks broiled on the outside grill, the onions wilted slowly over medium heat in another frying pan, and (God help me!) the Rice-A-Roni simmered on yet another burner, I set the breaded puffball sections to fry in our large frying pan.
It turned out well (including the Rice-A-Roni). Everyone enjoyed dinner, methinks.
Now it's back to the Tu-22M3 and then to sleep, I think. I grossly overestimated my capabilities today.
No biggie.
Cheers...
