Setas

Don Duende and Poca Muñeca went wild mushroom picking in the mountains today. There were about 20 in the picking gang. I didn’t join them as I’m not really into mushrooms and I wouldn't have felt very comfortable picking “oreja del gato” (Ear of cat) or as some call it “Black Saddle Mushroom” They returned with baskets loaded and then proceeded to cook up a cornucopia of tasty dishes. By all accounts it was a fine day.

Factoid: If you are lucky enough to be in Spain during the wild mushroom season (Autumn), you are in for a treat. The diversity of wild mushrooms is as great as the diversity of Spain itself, and Spaniards use all kinds in their cooking. Here is a simple baked wild mushroom recipe.

Baked wild mushrooms

Ingredients:
1kg fresh wild mushrooms
50g butter
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
bread crumbs
fresh parsley
salt and pepper
Steps:
1. Clean the mushrooms (try not to get them too wet) and chop them up roughly into quarters
2. Mix the garlic (crushed), chopped parsley and breadcrumbs
3. Place the mushrooms in an ovenproof baking dish and sprinkle the breadcrumbs on top
4. Finally pour over the olive oil and place the butter (chopped into cubes) on top of the mixture - season with salt and pepper and place in a preheated oven (200 degrees) for 15 - 20 mins