Home on the Range #041 – Cooking Pheasant Back Mushrooms

On last week’s edition of “Home on the Range,” we discussed how you can venture out into the woods to find your very own Pheasant Back (Dryad’s Saddle) Mushrooms. In the spring as many things come into bloom, mushrooms begin to pop on the forest floor as well. An array of factors need to be met like moisture, temperature, certain soil nutrients, continued dampness, and much more. As a result, the window for harvesting many mushrooms can be quite small – but if you select the correct ones like Pheasant Back – they can be utterly delectable. This week we are going to revisit Pheasant Back Mushrooms, but talk about different simple and easy recipes you can try. Let’s dive in!

“Home on the Range” Series Coverage on AllOutdoor

Welcome to our reoccurring series of “Home on the Range.” Here, we would like to share all of our experiences for those who may be homesteading, living off the land, hunting, farming, ranching, and truly investing in nature and the great outdoors. The ability to provide for yourself and your family can be tremendously rewarding and simultaneously difficult at times. So, in “Home on the Range” we want to share our different exploits so you can learn and hopefully we can receive your feedback along the way as well.

Cooking Pheasant Back Mushrooms

When it comes to cooking foraged, wild mushrooms like Pheasant Back I try to not reinvent the wheel. There might be some Michelin chefs among us, but I find that the more creative and adventurous you are with wild mushrooms the more you can be disappointed. This is a result of the mushrooms we forage being… well… wild! They all have different:

Soil – pH, composition, surface erosion
Moisture – flooding, drought, humidity, ample rain
Sunlight – necessary light, lack thereof
Temperature – heat, cold, freezing

As you can see, with so many factors that can change the health, size, and taste of wild mushrooms, “you never eat the same mushroom twice;” they are all different. So, as we alluded to earlier, it is best to stick to the basics when cooking them.

Campfire Pheasant Back Mushrooms

One easy way to cook Pheasant Back mushrooms is over an open fire with a medley of vegetables. I will usually cut the mushroom into fajita-style strips with onions and peppers paired with a meat. For this meal, we used some venison brats. Add in a little butter and this is something that can cook and simmer on “auto-pilot” for a bit while you are doing other tasks around your camp. The end result is wonderful.

Grill-Top Pheasant Back Mushrooms

A 2nd easy way to cook Pheasant Back Mushrooms in a “set it and forget it” fashion is in tinfoil on the top shelf of your grill. While you’re managing a mountain of steaks where 6 of them are medium-rare and 1 is well done (who the hell invited that guy?), it can be nice to have a complimentary vegetable that you don’t have to constantly manage and that is exactly this.

Let this lil’ tinfoil, delicious hodge-podge sit on the top rack of your grill while you are grilling steaks, meats, or other items on the lower shelves. Anywhere from 20 – 30 minutes is fine. This isn’t an exact science. You just want to have the mushrooms and onions get cooked down into a smaller size and absorb some of that sweet honey and butter.

You might be thinking that these aren’t very elaborate or creative recipes for foraged mushrooms and you are exactly right. They are meant to be simple, easy to do, and with a high success rate – because as we stated before – there are so many unknown factors that can change the taste of mushrooms that simple is best. Give these recipes a try and even if you do it with a different breed of mushroom let us know how it goes for you. So, we implore you to get outside, explore, get your hands dirty, and maybe add a foreign, but delectable mushroom to your future plate. As always, let us know all of your thoughts in the Comments below! We always appreciate your feedback.

Adam Scepaniak