The other day, Dan the arborist from the Tree Squad came over to give our two Ash trees their treatment to protect them from the evil Emerald Ash Borers.
While he was resting, She Who Must Be Obeyed asked Dan to look at our Linden ( Basswood ) tree in the back yard. It was being eaten by bugs and had these huge fungus bits hanging off of the trunk. Dan said, once upon a time the tree was struck by lightning. He assured us the tree was healthy, but where it had been electrocuted, the bark was offset and creatures liked to eat upon the dead but still connected bark.
Dan said: “The fungi growing on the bark are called Pheasant Back”. Excuse me.
“They are edible”. Excuse me.
“There are no poisonous fungi that even look like them”. Excuse me.
I can eat the suburban mushrooms sticking out of my tree?
“Yup, you should go look in the rest of the wooded part of your yard and see if you have any morel mushrooms hiding back there too”.
I ran hysterically back into the house and Googled Pheasant Back mushrooms. Well they have a few names. Dryad’s Saddle is another one, Cerioporus squamosus, formerly known as Polyporus squamosus are the others.
People actually seek these things out to eat them! We’ve got them poking out of our old tree in the back yard! I guess we had better try to eat them. Everything I read online said to only eat the young ones, scrape the pores off the back of them, slice them really thin with a mandolin, they taste like cucumbers or watermelon rind, sauté them with a little butter and splash of water in a covered pan.
When I’m done typing I’ll run back outside and hack them off the Linden.
There were two Pheasant Backs on our tree. One high and one low. The upper one was too mature because of the pores on it’s back side.
My internet mavins said no no to this shroom. It would be tough and taste bad. It would be usable to make broth, so they say. Homey don’t play dat.
The lower Pheasant Back was a day past perfect. Since my time machine was in the shop I decided to cut it off the tree and try it anyway.
Outside, I scraped all of the pores off of the back.
Inside, I rinsed the Pheasant Back, patted it dry and got out my vintage Benriner Mandolin. If you’ve never used or owned a Mandolin, buy the Benriner brand one. Just count your fingertips before and after use. It’s a great tool—just be careful, and throw a little bit of what you are slicing away before you get to the blade, unless you don’t want fingerprints anymore.
I used a Cooks Illustrated mushroom trick and mixed a tiny bit of Kosher salt with the 2mm thick slices of Pheasant Backs. I heated my 8” supposed non stick Green Pan skillet on medium heat. A half pat of unsalted butter and a half tablespoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil were swirled around and then the Pheasant Back slices were introduced. A tablespoon of water was added and they were covered for two minutes. Stirred, then re-covered for another two, times two. They cooked uncovered for another few minutes until all the water evaporated.
Now I had to taste them. I was apprehensive. Things I read on the inter web said people got this far and after one taste pitched them into the garbage. ( I would use the compost bin we have out back ).
I like mushrooms, so I dove in. Not really. I took a small fork full. They were good. Good texture, nice mushroom taste, a little buttery. I got no cucumber or watermelon rind notes.
She Who Must Be Obeyed and I enjoyed the Pheasant Backs with some overcooked pork chops, olive rice, and asparagus I made for dinner.
I’m writing this the day after ingesting them as proof that young Pheasant Back mushrooms are safe to eat and quite yummy.
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