when it comes to ceps

[cybershot]

Not often lucky with Ceps (JP found a few choice specimens for me at Bartley Heath when out foraying together earlier this year, but a hole in bag swiftly put pay to my elation). Yesterday on Yateley Common I struck lucky with this small haul (Where's my River Cottage lasagne recipe?)

Interesting Pete - what's your secret? This is the reaction I get from my dog when another ****** mushroom gets lined up in the viewfinder:


"Have you finished yet, i've got
a walk to be getting on with?"

[alge]

Originally Posted by PeteS

PS - I have trained my dog to find Ceps

I found the smell around the largest fruits really strong and after an hour searching and picking i was starting to recognize the smell when i was close by a fresh one (I'd even joked to myself with glee that i had evolved from a proboscus monkey (Nasalis larvatus), I do have the right equipment for nasal fortitude but but a labrador at my side trained for the search now that would be formidable. Did you use infused oil on a rag with a treat when found to train her? like cybeshot if i take the pub dogs they get really bored and start chasing deer to shame me into walking them properly.

So are the large stipes good soup fodder too, i left the young ones attached last night bulk out my risotto but the larger stems are fibrous, so are they good dried? Or is it better to make a soup with them and the pores straight away blitz down then freeze?

alex

[PeteS]

I have also trained Tom to find Chanterelles:



Well, not really, but I have tried to train him to find truffles. He hasn't found any yet, but this is probably because truffles are hard to come by in the New Forest. Training consisted of getting real summer truffles, shaving bits off and wrapping them in a J-Cloth shaped into a rough ball. I started off getting him to fetch the 'truffle' when he could see it, then hid it on the ground where he couldn't see it, put it in some undergrowth and finally buried it in some soft earth. Every time he found it I gave him a treat. He can now find the dummy truffle when buried and I'm sure he could find a real one. To get him to start searching I use a simple command - "find it". However, this has got me thinking. Why not train him to find other fungi like Ceps? It could actually work.

Cybershot, I know what you mean about trying to line up your dog with your finds. I don't have a secret, well, apart from trying again and again. And one in a hundred attempts I get lucky!

[PeteS]

Originally Posted by alge

So are the large stipes good soup fodder too, i left the young ones attached last night bulk out my risotto but the larger stems are fibrous, so are they good dried? Or is it better to make a soup with them and the pores straight away blitz down then freeze?

alex

Hello Alex,

Yes, the larger stems (sliced) are good dried.

When I make any wild mushroom risotto I always use dried Ceps, even if I am using fresh Ceps too. Dried Ceps have a much more intense flavour. After I soak the Ceps in hot water I chop the Ceps into small bits and add them right at the start - while I sweat the onion, garlic and celery. Because they are chopped to bits it does not matter if you have fibrous stems or green pores etc. The flavour is still good.

I put the Cep water into the risotto just before the first ladle of stock is added. This is so that the Cep water (well the flavour) goes into the rice.

[truffle hunter]

Originally Posted by PeteS

I have also trained Tom to find Chanterelles:



Well, not really, but I have tried to train him to find truffles. He hasn't found any yet, but this is probably because truffles are hard to come by in the New Forest. Training consisted of getting real summer truffles, shaving bits off and wrapping them in a J-Cloth shaped into a rough ball. I started off getting him to fetch the 'truffle' when he could see it, then hid it on the ground where he couldn't see it, put it in some undergrowth and finally buried it in some soft earth. Every time he found it I gave him a treat. He can now find the dummy truffle when buried and I'm sure he could find a real one. To get him to start searching I use a simple command - "find it". However, this has got me thinking. Why not train him to find other fungi like Ceps? It could actually work.

Cybershot, I know what you mean about trying to line up your dog with your finds. I don't have a secret, well, apart from trying again and again. And one in a hundred attempts I get lucky!

I have great success with finding truffles with my dog(s) but she has just been taught to indicate where they are without digging or without retrieving. I see absolutely no reason why your dog should not be trained to find any other fungus but I personally would not teach to retrieve.

[Stewy]

I always leave the big 'uns to carry on and do there thing, found this rather striking chap this morning...........



And this is my "haul" for the pot.

[alge]

Nice one ... or should i say five How are do you eat yours?

[cybershot]

If you haven't tried it I thoroughly recommend the River Cottage Cep lasagne recipe. It's heavenly!

David

[Stewy]

Normally in omelets or on toast fried in butter with garlic, didn't get round to eating these so will probably just dry them.

What RC book is it in David, the RC cookbook?

[cybershot]

Originally Posted by Stewy

Normally in omelets or on toast fried in butter with garlic, didn't get round to eating these so will probably just dry them.

What RC book is it in David, the RC cookbook?

It's in the RC Mushroom handbook Stewy, but a version of it can also be found here though I prefer the original which has each layer dressed with a garlic butter/oil:

BBC - Food - Recipes: Porcini (cep) lasagne