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The famous Lactarius Indigo?!?!


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I think I found my first Lactarius Indigo !!!! Growing in the back yard of all places !!! 

Found under oaks,Staining blue when cut. Not much latex. They were in direct sunlight most of the day. Stem hollow, concentric circle pattern on concave cap. From what I've read all signs point to Lactarius Indigo. Read up briefly on Blewits and Clitocybes. Doesn't seem to fit those descriptions 

Pretty excited!!! :veggiedance:

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A major ingredient in my Bucket List! I have found this type only once, a few decrepit dried out month-old ones in a yard near a pine. (I *think* they were L. indigo.) Someone here on WMH gave me a nice lead on where to find them not real far from my home, ~100 miles. One of these summers I'm gonna find some. 

Beautiful photos Cajun! Mushrooms are absolutely prime. Some sources dismiss these as mediocre edibles. But I have a feeling there are ways to use these that work real well. The eastern NA orange latex milkies are also considered to be lackluster edibles. But I find these types work well in dishes that are highly flavored but benefit from the addition of the slightly crunchy texture of these mushrooms. I have put them in Asian-style stir-fries and spicy Moroccan dishes to good effect. I hear the indigos are popular in Mexico. 

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Thanks everyone!!! I felt and still feel like a kid who has  just gotten  a new toy !! Lol   

I'm leaning towards something very simple with these for the table. I'd like to get an idea of flavor and texture before incorporating it into a dish. Although it is hard to pass up a good Asian stir fry !! Thanks for all the suggestions  

Lots of hunny do's on the list this weekend so may not have time to get too creative. I'll keep you guys posted. 

Again....... by far the most incredible mushrooms I've ever laid eyes on !! Lol 

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Cajun, I had a friend who would take our local lactarius and cook them over hot coals, on shish kabob skewers.  She would brush them with a little oil, cook them, then finish with a sprinkle of salt.  Said they were fantastic, but I haven't tried them that way, yet.

Let us know how you end up cooking them!

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Indigo lactarius is fairly common where I live in Ontario. I quite like the flavor and texture of these although the flavor is a bit mild and an Asian stirfry will overpower them. One issue we have with them here which may or may not be an issue where you live is bugs. Here we have a very tiny white worm that eats its way into the stem in large numbers and then quickly eats its way up the stem into the cap. The quick way to tell if the specimen is infested is to look at the base of the stem where you cut it when harvesting and if you see a bunch of tiny holes you can be pretty sure they were made by larva eating their way up the stem. I have seen these larva infest even buttons that were not yet fully out of the ground. The good news is that as summer progresses the bugs become less and less of a problem and by September it is rare to find a buggy one.

This is tasty mushroom with an excellent firm texture that will stand up to all sorts of abuse. And yes, as Tasso said a bit of blue color will leach out during cooking  and will turn your scrambled eggs green.

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Bad news all my fellow foragers. I'm very disappointed with these mushrooms. I have a issue with my taste buds. To my taste these mushrooms were quite bitter. Maybe cause they were in the fridge for two days before cooking?? I don't know...... still very grateful I was able to find these and share  them with you guys and gals. I've also had issues with the Hericium/Lion manes in the past. Everyone who tried them loved them but they were overwhelmingly bitter for me as well as these Lactarius Indigos. ☹️  Oh well..... still plenty of other tasty treats left to experience.   

Thanks again for all the input guys. 

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I've only tried one small one cooked in butter and I just thought it was ok. I found a lot of L. Indigo last year but they were past prime. I guess they grow really fast. I wasn't too impressed with the taste of Lion's mane either but I'm sure it was due to the way it was cooked. I'll have to find better methods this year.

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First time I tried Lions Mane I thought it was good and taste like crab. It sat in the fridge for a few more days until it became slightly yellow and the second time (same lion) it was sour tasting. You could be right about the fridge time Cajun  . Alot of people don't like old man of the woods but I like it if it's fresh....go figure! 

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I find it to be a very mediocre mushroom as well when cooked. Fantastic pickled mushroom though. We get a lot of them and the orange milkies and mainly pickle them and eat with premium vodka.

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23 hours ago, GCn15 said:

I find it to be a very mediocre mushroom as well when cooked. Fantastic pickled mushroom though. We get a lot of them and the orange milkies and mainly pickle them and eat with premium vodka.

Couldn't agree more. That's what we Russians do! :D

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22 hours ago, shantima said:

Couldn't agree more. That's what we Russians do! :D

I'm Ukrainian and pickling pretty much everything and drinking vodka are dietary staples. Pretty sure that's a "skill" taught right across Eastern Europe. An awesome skill. lol

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I love veggies pickeled, but mushrooms are just not my thing. I tried pickeled mushrooms once and that was enough. If I have to pickle a mushroom for it to taste good , I'll just leave them alone. Lol  I'm sure it's part of yalls culture and that it was  was something y'all grew up eating. Maybe I hadn't had a true experience of good pickeled mushrooms. 

 

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Do you have a specific way to salt them ? Turns out my back yard is loaded with these Lactarius Indigo 

I'll definitely try that next fruiting. Or I may try to dehydrate them and check the bitterness afterwards. Finally have me a dehydrator!! 

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14 hours ago, CajunShroomer3578 said:

I love veggies pickeled, but mushrooms are just not my thing. I tried pickeled mushrooms once and that was enough. If I have to pickle a mushroom for it to taste good , I'll just leave them alone. Lol  I'm sure it's part of yalls culture and that it was  was something y'all grew up eating. Maybe I hadn't had a true experience of good pickeled mushrooms. 

 

To each their own, it isn't a long pickle so they don't get slimy or overwhelmed by the brine. However, I do agree that pickling can be a very personal choice.

8 hours ago, Dave W said:

Has anyone ever eaten salt-cured Lactarius? I know in Skandinavia and Eastern Europe they do this with some of the hot-tasting milkies like L. piperatus. 

I've had milkies that were salt cured and they are really good as well. Sadly, it was at a foray where some fellow pickers brought some and I don't know how to do it. Up here in the boreal forest we have to find ways to do milkies because we have so much evergreen forest that we can't take two steps without seeing a milky.

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Tried frying many my milkies up and, while edible, the texture just isn't too great. Salt cured I feel is the best method for cooking these.

I'm sure there's plenty info online, but basically there are 2 methods: hot and cold.

Hot method involves par-boiling them, letting them cool, then place in a plastic or some non-reactive material bowl, caps down, in a single layer, sprinkle some salt, put spices such as mustard, garlic, peppercorns or whatever, next layer of shrooms etc. place a plate on top, put something heavy on the plate, and put in the fridge. Don't remember exact times but takes something like 4 weeks to cure.

Now, the cold method is all the same process, but you don't parboil the mushrooms. Soak them in the tub in cold water for a day or so, changing water every few hrs. This will get rid of bitterness. Then proceed as with the Hot method, except the curing time is a few months.

To date, I find the properly salt-cured L. piperatus to be the tastiest mushroom.

 

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Thanks eat-bolete. Sounds quite doable. If I run across some L. piperatus, maybe I'll try this. When you soak the mushrooms for the "cold method", is the tub you mention like a bathtub? Do you know if it's okay to cold soak in the fridge using a bowl? I assume you use rock salt for the curing. 

I have made pickled piperatus by parboiling --actually, I boiled three times-- and then submerging in spiced vinegar and storing in the fridge for a couple months. They were pretty good like this, although I think I lost a lot of the flavor of the mushrooms because of all the boiling. They didn't retain much of the hot/spicy aspect.

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Any salt without iodine should work.

The reason people soak in bathtubs is because they usually go for 3-4 days to pick these bringing home buckets full, you sure can do it in a bowl, just maybe will need to change water a bit more frequently.

Adding vinegar sure is a bit safer, and I'd suggest going that route if one likes pickled mushrooms, I'm just not a big fan of cured mushrooms tasting sour.

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