Vernon WadeThere are lots of cooks out there who actually know what they are doing. I pretty much taught myself to cook, out of necessity. I haven’t a clue most of the time, but I do love to eat. 

I have made everything posted here. If I can do it, you certainly can. Someday, if there is enough interest, I will gather all these recipes into a cookbook. In the meantime, in the spirit of dashes, dollops and three-fingered pinches, I present them here for you to try. Let me know what you think.

 

Leucoagaricus rhacodes, sometimes spelled  rachodes (it is also known as Agaricus rhacodes, Lepiota rhacodes, Macrolepiota rhacodes, and Chlorophyllum rhacodes), is a stately and delicious mushroom,  despite its somewhat confusing taxonomy. Brilliant white with a thick ring on the stalk and shingle-like brown scales on the cap. It has white spores. The flesh bleeds red where it is cut. It is very similar to deadly Amanita species and there is a toxic look alike with green spores. This is not a mushroom for beginners; while it is known by many names, there should be no question as to its identity if you intend to eat it. This recipe will work for any large Agaricus or Lepiota.

Ingredients

  • 1 mushroom cap
  • A splash of heavy cream
  • butter
  • fat skimmed from beef broth(optional)
  • splash of red wine
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 green onion, diced
  • salt and pepper to taste

Melt a pat of butter in a hot skillet. Add a couple of slices of garlic and place a mushroom cap, gills up, in the melted butter. Splash some wine and heavy cream over the gills. Add another pat of butter, minced garlic, salt and pepper to taste. If you have fat skimmed from beef broth, you can add it to the cream and butter in the cap.

Cook in hot skillet until the cap softens and begins to flatten. When the mushroom is cooked through it is ready to serve. Garnish with diced green onion.