Meadow mushrooms are perhaps the most common type of mushrooms. They do not grow on trees, but right on the ground - "witch circles" or "paths". It is believed that these mushrooms show their best taste in soups. But of course, they can also be fried or pickled.
Of course, before cooking, you should make sure that you have picked exactly meadow mushrooms. The fact is that this fungus has a poisonous twin - fiber. The plates of the latter are dark brown. Fibers smell unpleasant. Meadow mushrooms are distinguished by a light clove smell. So, how to cook meadow mushrooms?
How to prepare mushrooms
Meadow mushrooms usually grow in fairly dense grass. Therefore, it is worth collecting them more carefully, using a small knife. These mushrooms are rather small in size. And it will be difficult to choose grass from their wet mass in the future.
Meadow mushrooms brought from the steppe or forest should first be soaked for a couple of hours in a large cup of water. Next, the mushrooms need to be thoroughly rinsed and their legs removed. The latter are not used during cooking, since they are very tough and fibrous.
How to make meadow mushroom soup
This is how experienced mushroom pickers most often use these mushrooms. To make mushroom soup, you must first cut them (fine enough). Then the mushrooms are poured with water in a saucepan and, after boiling, they are boiled for 40-45 minutes. Further, chopped potatoes (more) are added to the resulting dark fragrant broth. At this time, you need to make the usual onion-carrot frying. After the potatoes are boiled, they are added to the soup. Five minutes before the end of cooking, one small bay leaf is thrown into the broth, and in two minutes - chopped onions and dill in large quantities. Next, turn off the gas under the pan and let the soup brew for 5-7 minutes. Then, the bay leaf should be thrown out of the broth. Meadow mushroom soup is ready.
How to fry
But often these mushrooms are also used for frying. Meadow mushrooms belong to category IV. However, experienced mushroom pickers usually do not boil them before frying in order to preserve the aroma. But perhaps you should still play it safe and pre-boil the meadow mushrooms for about 15 minutes in a saucepan.
These mushrooms are prepared for frying in the same way as for soup. That is, they soak, wash and remove the legs. You don't even need to cut these small mushrooms for frying. But in this case, it all depends on the taste preferences of the mushroom pickers themselves. If mushrooms have not been previously boiled, they should be scalded with boiling water before frying.
Meadow mushrooms are fried in vegetable oil. It needs to be added to the pan in about the same amount as for potatoes. You can also use onions when cooking. It is advisable to fry it separately so that it does not darken. But some housewives believe that the onion interrupts the smell of the mushrooms themselves and is not added to the roast. Just like any other mushrooms, meadow mushrooms can be seasoned with sour cream.
Many housewives harvest fried meadow mushrooms for the winter. This method is actually very convenient. In this case, ready-made mushrooms are placed in a bag and placed in the freezer. In winter, it will be enough to get them out and reheat them in a frying pan.
How to cook meadow mushrooms: pickling
In this case, the preliminary preparation of the mushrooms is also carried out. Be sure to remove the marinating legs. In this case, about 2 cm "hemp" can be left near the cap.
Like any other mushrooms, meadow mushrooms are pickled not under metal, but under nylon lids. In this way, the development of botulism can be prevented. It is not difficult to calculate how many dishes you need to marinate meadow mushrooms. For a kilogram of mushrooms, you will need to take about one liter jar. Honey mushrooms are boiled down quite strongly.
There are many recipes for harvesting these mushrooms for the winter. For example, the following recipe. To prepare delicious mushrooms in a jar, you will need to take:
- water - 1.5 liters;
- allspice - 8 peas;
- bay leaf - 2 pcs;
- garlic - 2 cloves;
- sugar - 1 tbsp / l;
- vinegar and salt - 2 tbsp / l.
As before frying, these mushrooms can be boiled before pickling. As soon as they begin to settle to the bottom of the pan, turn off the gas and drain the water. Next, fresh water is poured and the mushrooms are boiled until cooked for about an hour. Then the broth is poured into a clean saucepan.
To prepare the marinade, spices, sugar, salt are put in the broth. Then it is again put on fire for about 10 minutes, after which vinegar is added to it. Sterilized jars are filled with mushrooms to the top. Then another hot marinade is poured into them. Then the cans are also closed with sterilized nylon caps.
Store the mushrooms prepared in this way in a cool, dark place. Just perfect for this purpose, for example, a cellar.
