yellowlegs eolian

it has been a great autumn for fungi so today for my contribution to FungiFriday by @ewkaw i am gathering yellowlegs and cooking yellowlegs eolian

yellowlegs, sometimes known as trumpet or funnel chantrelles
(Craterellus tubaeformis) are small and by no means easy to spot.

here in norway the season for them has only just begun

luckily when you do find them they tend to be in fairly large numbers.

this early in the season all the ones we find are young and fresh

these fungi can take the cold so october and november are the best months and if winter is late the may still be around in early december

a nice bonus is that they are not prone to becoming infested with insects

and once you find lots of them in a particular place you can find them there almost every year as long as there has been sufficient rainfall.

so i am back at my favorite spot in the conifer forest where not many people come

while yellowlegs vary considerably in appearance, they are quite easy to identify and safe to pick. nevertheless, when cutting a cluster you need to make sure there are no other species in your hand.

there are other vaguely similar fungi which grow alongside them.
at first glance, seen from above these two could be confused but yellowlegs are like funnels with hollow stems that are flattened and irregular shaped with ridges. the veins are widely spaced and run down the stem.

if you are preparing these for the first time i would recommend just frying them alone to get to know the taste. but today, for my recipe yellowlegs eolian, i am using about 300 g cleaned yellowlegs. along with a few insignificant hedgehog mushrooms (Hydnum repandum)

the other ingredients are a handful of flat-leaf parsley, 3/4 bulb of garlic, about a dozen dried yellowlegs, olive oil, juice from half of a small lemon, 1 tsp kashmiri chili powder, 2 Tbsp boiling water and
salt to taste

at the same time i am making a pasta with vegan farfalle tricolore, a tomato from the garden, tahini, salt and pepper

first grind the dried yellowlegs and soak them in about 2 Tbsp boiling water

warm about 3 Tbsp olive oil in an iron skillet. a good quality oil is fine no need to use your best and most expensive oil here. when warm but not too hot, add the mushrooms

soon they will start giving off water. using a spoon, remove most of the water and add it to the soaking dried mushrooms. stir occasionally while cooking for maybe 5 minutes or more until mushrooms are almost dry.

remove the mushrooms from the pan and set aside

chop the parsley. peel and chop the garlic.

warm 1 Tbsp oil in a side of the same pan over medium heat and add the kashmiri chili powder. this is a great spice. bright red and wonderfully warm without being overly pungent.

don't heat this too hot. let it cook for about 30 seconds

add the garlic and cook for no more than two minutes. avoid browning the garlic

stir in the yellowlegs and cook for another couple of minutes. stir in the dried mushroom liquid and remove from heat.

stir in the chopped parsley

mix the lemon juice in 2 Tbsp olive oil and pour over the mushrooms and parsley.

stir well and cover

meanwhile when the pasta is nearly cooked chop the tomato and grind the pepper

drain the cooked pasta and stir in the tomato, tahini and pepper. add salt to taste

serve the yellowlegs over the pasta. throw on some more chopped tomato or a few cherry tomatoes (from the garden). enjoy are really delicious meal.
no hurry for any dessert. the distinct aftertastes of the yellowlegs, especially the dried ones and the chili, garlic, tahini and parsley all mingle and dance in your mouth long after the event is over.