Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Ear and Mushroom Sandwiches

In our herd of Nubian mix goats, there is one without ears. If you ask me what happened to her ears, I'd ask if you didn't know that fried ear sandwiches were a delicacy in these parts.

Today, we had more ear sandwiches.

mom & babes
Originally uploaded by Contrary Goddess.

(hint: she's a LaMancha)

With mushrooms.


morel
Originally uploaded by Contrary Goddess.

(hint: that's a morel, aka dry land fish)
I was on my way out to hang laundry when younger daughter, with Peterson's Guide in hand, asked me if I wanted to go check out a mushroom with her. "Naw, I don't think so," I said, but I did ask what it looked like. She said, "Like a raisin on top."

"Did you hear that?" I hollered to husband. "What?" he said. "She's found a mushroom that looks like a raisin on top." "I'm getting my shoes on," he said. Daughter said, "I'm so glad I found something that makes you laugh with delight."

It took us a minute to find them again. They are tricky little devils, and yet so obvious when you do see them. We've found about a dozen in that little area and find another one or two every time we go to marvel.

10 comments:

barefoot gardener said...

Yummy yum yum, I love me some morels....invite me to dinner? I promise I won't accept, cuz gas prices would kill me, but at least I could dream about that mushroom goodness....

Ren Allen said...

Sierra found a Morel at Jessica's house one day, so now we know what they look like. I wonder if we can find enough to make a meal?

I looked up Lamancha's and WOW, their external ear is teeny! Fried goat ears...hmmph. Not that I'd put it past you.;)

CG said...

well, if you haven't, look up Nubians because their external ears are BIG. Ear sandwiches it is!

Barefoot, morel grounds are guarded pretty closely. But I suppose you could come around to eat.

Woody said...

it's almost time for morels here. i can't wait to get out hunting. i've been working on my morel call, wife made me a new ghille suit and i even put up a new tree stand...

Anonymous said...

I envy all people who have morels on their land. But i have poke. Just found it yesterday. My heart was very glad at the sight of it.

Free Man's Table, here I come.

CG said...

poke isn't up here yet. Plenty of mustard though, and other small greens like dandelion (small greens are those you don't want to eat big, and some people call them mixed greens because you can't make a batch of any one of them). I'm beginning to see the ferns (fiddle heads). My horse is gaining weight again.

But I have to say, I really do like poke, like the specific taste of it, a perfect balance of spinach and asparagus.

Anonymous said...

I was just asking at Free Man's Table about the poke. We only have the one plant on the unoccupied lot, adjacent to ours.

(I daresay the owners won't mind if we use it, seeing as how they reside in another state. I rationalize this through removing invasive Brazilian pepper from that lot, but that's another story.)

Anyways, my question was about whether or not Eleutheros (and you, CG) propagate the plant, or pick it in the wild. I have a feeling you pick it in the wild since you list it amongst other wild-occurring edibles.

I will need to propagate it somehow. It's hard to find info on how to propagate a "weed". The plant I found is also pretty big, and I wonder if it is already past its prime as far as eating from it.

If it's as simple as collecting dried seeds and planting them, so much the better. Cuttings are another option.

That one plant - she's the goose that lays the golden eggs. I don't want to lose her by using her just once. For some reason, that poke is a rare commodity in our area...

Thanks, as always, for showing another way to live and reckon life.

Anonymous said...

Hm. Seems maybe I could dig the taproot up. It'll be difficult because the taproot is embedded into the rootball of a big, old, fallen oak. Hurricane Katrina knocked it over a couple of years ago. I guess that poke was there all the time, just sleeping, waiting for the sun - which finally showed through once the tree fell.

From what I can gather, since the plant is already several feet tall, it is already past its time for this year.

dND said...

I have an award waiting for you over on my site if you'd like to come over.

All the best,
Deborah

CG said...

thingfish, I'd have to guess if you found one, you can find more. They like waste places and are usually frequent around, say, city expansion. Barring that, I bet they can be propagated from the nice little red fruits they will have, which are also perfect for painting your skin with! You might have to get a bird to eat it them poop it though -- hey, the chickens! We've just always been able to find plenty growing wild. Also, young milkweed is not unlike young poke.

Which, we've eaten older poke -- you just boil it (barely bring to a boil) and pour off the water and if it is pink, do it again. The growth ends are pretty well always edible, and just cause the thing to branch more.

Thanks Deborah. I'll be there shortly!