Do you know puffballs? They’re a wild mushroom, one of the few that once identified won’t make you sick. They vary in size from a marble to bigger than a basketball. And they’re delicious.
We usually find smaller ones on our property. I’ve never been able to figure out where or when, they just seem to appear arbitrarily. I pick them, cut off the dirty ends, and slice in half. You have to make sure they’re white all the way through. (The only misidentification you can make is if they’re a young and poisonous amanita—bbbrrrrr—but in that case, you’d see a kind of fetal amanita in the middle. A puffball is white all the way through.) As they get old, they turn to dust—puff! Brown dust. You don’t want to eat that.
Anyway, about ten years ago I was out for a walk in the woods, and across the stream I saw, oh my god, two gigantic puffballs. I mean, the size of basketballs. I scootered over there immediately, and found they had just sprouted. No dust. Gathering them up, I ran home. It was a red letter mushroom day. We ate them sliced, dipped in beaten egg and breadcrumb, fried up in butter. There was so much, we couldn’t eat it all. To both of our regrets.
Fast forward to last fall. We’d been away for awhile, and walking through the woods, there, by the side of our path, were two more ginormous puffballs. We pounced. Sadness ensued. They were way past it. Brown all the way through. But so much fun to find.
THEN three days ago, as we walked, I idly looked over to where they had been. Gasp. A puffball size of a baby’s head. “Al,” I said, tugging at the Dear Husband’s sleeve. “Look.”
He gasped.
We gently walked toward it, looked it over. White all the way through.
“Wait,” he said, and walked over a little ridge toward our creek. Then I heard a whoop. I hurried over.
Two more. Even bigger. One about the size of a bowling ball. Greedily, we gathered them up and ran back home.
Now. Here they were. Three enormous puffballs, bigger than a baby’s head. How to cook? How to save? What had I let myself in for?
First night: The way everyone suggests you cook puffballs, with some modifications. I shaved the skins off one, sliced it, dipped it in beaten egg, and then in a mix of flour, brewer’s yeast, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Fried the slices in butter, both sides till brown. We had those with fresh sourdough bread and boiled corn on the cob. Alex woke up the next morning and sighed, “That was one of the best dinners ever.”
But there was still a hellacious amount of puffball! I looked online. They keep in a paper bag in the fridge for a week, it seemed. And you could freeze them in chunks. I was going to keep this option for the end of the week, since I figured the frozen ones would be best for soup and stews, rather than showcased.
Lunch that day was chunked small ends of the balls sautéed the way I usually do mushrooms: in a mix of butter and olive oil, with minced garlic, green onions, and parsley thrown on, a squeeze of lemon, salt, and then cream cooked down so it gets absorbed by the mushrooms. Served on toast with a salad on the side.
Also fabulous.
But you don’t always want cream.
Then I had a brain wave. The puffball innards were just as white and creamy and porous as tofu. Why not treat them the same way? Spoiler alert: that worked a treat.
I like my tofu crispy, and the easiest way to do that is to cut it in cubes, toss it with a mix of cornstarch, olive oil, and a little soy sauce, spread it out on a cookie sheet (I use a silicone mat for easy cleanup), roast at 400 degrees for 25 minutes, turning halfway.
Modified, this worked terrifically for the puffballs.
Like this:
–As much puffball as you like, cut into one inch cubes.
–Toss with about a tablespoon of cornstarch to 8 ounces cubes. A tablespoon of olive oil. A glug of soy sauce. A shake of brewer’s yeast. A quarter teaspoon of garlic powder.
–Spread out on a cookie sheet, preferably covered with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
–Roast at 400 degrees for twenty minutes (these need less time than tofu, I find), turning halfway, until golden brown.
–Use as you would tofu.
OR . . . do what I did next.
Wilted Greens with Bacon and Puffballs (for two people):
–Fill a salad bowl with enough strong greens for two. I used a mix of baby kale, chard, and radicchio.
–Add two sliced scallions to the bowl.
–In a frying pan, fry up two slices of bacon cut baton sized.
–When the bacon is done to your liking, add as many puffball cubes as you like, a sprinkle of dried mustard, a little salt, a pinch of sugar, and two tablespoons of vinegar (I just eyeball it; we like a very vinegary salad—you do you, as always).
–Heat and pour over the greens and scallions. Toss until the greens are wilted.
–Serve right away, preferably with some sourdough toast.
Heaven. And then you have a bunch of baked cubes to use in place of tofu later in the week.
Freeze any raw puffballs cut into cubes, spread out on a cookie sheet. Once they’re frozen, transfer them to a freezer container or bag.
And may your mushroom hunts be safe, happy, and ultimately delicious.
Bon appetit.