eat-bolete Posted June 17, 2015 Report Posted June 17, 2015 No visible stem, no developing gills, white and firm inside. Pretty big, maybe 6"-8" in diamerer. How do you cook the Giant Puffball?
ChefsWild Posted June 17, 2015 Report Posted June 17, 2015 Yum! Puffballs make awesome vegan bacon when sliced thin and crisp fried or deep fried, or you can brush them with butter and grill them in thicker slices as an accompaniment to meat. Or just your main course; they are pretty meaty.
Dave W Posted June 17, 2015 Report Posted June 17, 2015 My favorite recipe for large puffball is to cut it into 1/4-1/2 inch slices, egg/bread the slices, fry in olive oil, and then arrange in a casserole as you would to make "eggplant parmesan". That is, layer the browned slices with mozzarella cheese between the layers, spoon on some prepared tomato sauce (pasta sauce) and bake for half an hour or so. Pretty early for the large puffballs. I've been finding some Bovistas... smaller puffballs. I wonder what species these are? Regardless of exact ID, these are a good edible when found at this stage of development.
eat-bolete Posted June 17, 2015 Author Report Posted June 17, 2015 Thanks for very prompt responses:) Had to discard 60% of it or so, insects got to it before me, but I still have plenty left, will cook it up. Now that you mention bovistas I'm not so sure it was a golf ball I found today
ChefsWild Posted June 17, 2015 Report Posted June 17, 2015 /tongue in cheek I actually meant to say, those taste terrible! So you should totally pack them up and send them over here, where I will gallantly shoulder the awful burden of cooking and eating them for you. Maybe with some garlic butter. No need to thank me, just doing my civic duty. /but seriously now Dave W had an awesome suggestion. Definitely try that one; it sounds amazing. Those giant puffballs are so nice and meaty, they are one of my favorites to work with.
eat-bolete Posted June 17, 2015 Author Report Posted June 17, 2015 Shipping it out right now...NOT:) Are they very common later in the season?
Dave W Posted June 17, 2015 Report Posted June 17, 2015 There are several types of large puffballs that I find, generally late August into October. Calvatia craniiformis, Calvatia cyathiformis, and C. gigantea. By far, C. gigantea is the best edible of the three, and the least common. This one can get to be over 18 inches in diameter. The other two are types of "skull-shaped puffballs." Quite common, often abundant, and decent edibles when pure white and firm inside. I've never seen any of these types this early. So I wonder if yours are perhaps larger-than-normal Bovistas? Bovistas are also decent edibles.
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