Deer horn mushrooms: description of appearance and cooking features. Deer horn mushrooms What kind of deer horn mushroom

Mushrooms deer horns amaze with their unusual appearance. They grow on trees and resemble either deer antlers or corals. From them you can prepare dishes for every taste. The main thing is to collect them with caution, because there are inedible and poisonous mushrooms that look similar.

Deer horn mushrooms grow on trees

• Number of servings: 3
• Preparation time: 30 minutes
• Cooking time: 40 minutes

How to prepare an appetizer from reindeer horn mushrooms

A light mushroom salad for an appetizer is a great start to a holiday lunch. It is especially interesting if such a salad is made not from the usual chanterelles or champignons, but from rare and unusual mushrooms.

Before preparing the salad, boil the reindeer horns in salted water until tender. It will take no more than 30 minutes. Then follow the instructions:

1. Cut the mushrooms into small pieces, chop the carrots into small strips, chop the garlic. Mix these ingredients. Add salt, pepper, vegetable oil and half the vinegar to them. Let it brew for 30 minutes.
2. Cut the onion into thin half rings, pour the remaining vinegar over it and let it marinate to remove any excess bitterness.
3. Mix salad with onions.

Garnish the salad with sprigs of herbs or sprinkle it with chopped herbs.

Soup with mushrooms and reindeer horns

Mushroom soup is a good solution for everyday lunch. If you find deer antlers on the trees in the forest, add them to the first dish. It will turn out tasty and aromatic. You will need:

• 0.5 kg of deer horns;
• 3 liters of water;
• 200 g carrots;
• 0.5 kg potatoes;
• 100 g onions;
• 200 g green canned or fresh peas;
• 3 cloves of garlic;
• 100 g butter;
• 100 g of hard cheese of any kind;
• salt, herbs, black pepper to your taste.

How to cook soup:

1. Place mushrooms in boiling water salt water and cook for 30 minutes. Drain them in a colander, cool slightly and divide into thin strips.
2. Cut potatoes, onions, carrots into small cubes. Boil water, salt it, add vegetables there and cook until tender.
3. Add mushrooms and green peas to the pan. Season the soup and add salt if necessary. Reduce heat to low and simmer soup for another 15 minutes.
4. Grate the cheese on a fine grater. Remove the pan from the heat, add cheese, butter, chopped dill or parsley.

Before serving, you can add a little sour cream or cream to each serving if desired. This will only enhance the taste of the first dish.

Add your favorite ingredients to the described soup and salad, don’t be afraid to experiment. Reindeer antlers go well with many other foods.

By the end of summer and in the first month of autumn, staghorn mushrooms or yellow horned mushrooms with highly branched fruiting bodies that look like corals grow in Russian forests. It is quite edible certain rules collection and processing.

Deer horns (Ramaria flava), a branched yellowish conditionally edible mushroom, is also called bear's paw and yellow coral.

It is characterized by the following distinctive features:

• the total height of the fruiting body reaches 20 cm, the maximum diameter is also 20 cm. The color, initially cream, yellowish, lemon or sulfur-yellow, eventually becomes ocher to orange. The flattened “branches” are repeatedly split in a U- or V-shape, have equal lengths, and somewhat blunt ends;
• the leg grows up to 8 cm in length and 5 cm in thickness. It is colored in shades of yellow characteristic of the entire mushroom, becoming lighter towards the base. In places of pressure it becomes reddish-brown;
• pale ocher spores are formed on the outer surface of the fruiting body;
• fragile pulp of watery consistency, light, yellowish, with a faint pleasant odor. As it ripens, it becomes bitter, especially in the “branches”.

Distribution and fruiting period

Deer horn mushrooms grow in the area temperate climate. They settle on the soil in coniferous forests, deciduous groves and mixed forest areas. Branching fruiting bodies grow singly and in small groups in August-September.

Similar species

Other yellowish horns have significant similarities with the deer horns mushroom:

• inedible blunt (Ramaria obtusissima), having rounded ends of the “twigs” and a bitter taste. It is found in Siberian mixed forests with the presence of fir and Far Eastern oak forests;
• conditionally edible yellow-brown (Ramaria flavobrunnescens), the height of which does not exceed 10 cm. With age, brown spots appear on mushrooms of this species;
• conditionally edible golden (Ramaria aurea), painted in a brighter ocher-yellow color, lighter towards the base;
• conditionally edible golden yellow (Ramaria lutea), smaller (up to 15 cm in height), found in the Primorsky Territory.

In addition, the inedible Calocera viscosa, which grows on stumps and dead wood, is often confused with deer horns. This mushroom has a bright egg-yellow color and dense gelatinous flesh.

Primary processing and preparation

Yellow hornet belongs to the conditionally edible mushrooms and has the 4th taste category. Because with age you yellow hornet a bitter taste appears; only young fruiting bodies should be collected.

To ensure the absence of bitterness, deer horns are first boiled for 15-20 minutes, draining the broth, or the ends of the branches are removed. Forest “corals” processed in this way can be cooked like other edible mushrooms- cook until full readiness, fry and stew. Some lovers of exotic mushrooms pickle and salt them.

Abundantly branching “bushes” of conditionally edible deer antlers attract attention with their extraordinary appearance. Properly collected and cooked young mushrooms have a taste reminiscent of lean meat.

Products
Black rice - 500 grams
Dried reindeer horn mushrooms - 50 grams
Dates - several pieces
Lollipop - 1 piece weighing 10 grams
Ginko biloba seeds - 2 pieces
Walnut - 4 kernels
Roasted peanuts - a handful
Salt - half a teaspoon

How to make black rice porridge with deer horns
1. Wash black rice, soak in cold water for 10 hours in a volume of water 5-7 times the volume of rice.
2. Wash the deer horns, soak them in cold water, and set aside for an hour.
3. Wash the soaked mushrooms again, remove the hard stems, and cut the rest into medium pieces of any shape.
4. Rinse the dates and remove the pits.
5. Peel the gingko biloba seeds.
6. Chop the walnuts and break the kernels into several medium pieces.
7. Peel the peanuts with your hands.
8. Drain the water from the rice and rinse it.
9. Pour fresh water into a saucepan at the rate of three glasses of water per glass of rice, add rice.
10. Place a saucepan with black rice over moderate heat and wait until it boils.
11. Add deer horns, candy cane, dates, gingko biloba seeds to the rice, Walnut, peanuts, mix.
12. Switch the heat to low, keep on the burner for 50-60 minutes with the lid ajar, stirring occasionally.

Do you think that picking mushrooms in winter is fantastic? Not at all, quite realistically, if we are talking about perhaps the most unusual mushrooms, these are deer horns.

Similar to the most exquisite corals or branched ones deer horns, they are quite edible and are even listed in the Red Book. Finding such mushrooms is a great success; they taste like shrimp, for which they are especially valued among avid mushroom pickers.

So, coral-like, pink or flesh-toned, shrimp-flavored, it's all about staghorn mushrooms. I’ll tell you where to find them and how to prepare them in the article.

Unusual mushrooms, shaped like a small bush without leaves, prefer to grow in coniferous and deciduous forests, especially pine forests.

Deer horns can be found in the forests of Siberia, the Caucasus, Far East and in Karelia.

Although I mentioned that deer antlers are listed in the Red Book, it is quite possible to find them in almost any forest.

Unusual mushrooms prefer to settle on the floor of destroyed stumps and trees; they are much less common on the ground; this is rather an exception.

If there is a lot of moss in the forest, which covers not only the soil, but also the trees, this is a sure sign that deer antlers can grow there.

Interestingly, the taste of mushrooms directly depends on the place where they were collected. So, in a shady and extremely humid place where birch or oak trees grow, the taste of cooked deer antlers will resemble chicken or shrimp. Found in open places, reindeer horns will taste similar to the traditional mushroom taste.

On " quiet hunt“You need to go for deer antlers from mid-summer until the coldest weather. These mushrooms last quite a long time, and all because they are not damaged by worms, like chanterelles.

In regions with a mild climate, reindeer antlers are collected when the first snow has already fallen and lay like a carpet. It’s nice to walk through a snow-covered forest and pick a basket of unusual mushrooms, because you don’t need to look for them under the snow, just look at the tree trunks, which makes collecting them convenient and enjoyable in any weather.

How to properly collect deer antlers

Deer horns have a branched structure, which is connected downwards into a single stalk, with the help of which the mushrooms are attached to tree trunks. When picking mushrooms, cut them off at the base and place them in a basket.

Deer legs are collected exclusively in wicker baskets, otherwise they will turn into mush after transportation.

When picking mushrooms, only young specimens are chosen; older mushrooms will no longer have such a refined taste and will develop an unpleasant bitterness. If mushroom picking occurs during hot weather, it is better to cover them on top with grass or fern leaves so that the sun does not burn them on the way home.

After the mushrooms are collected, you need to consider the following points:

• It is advisable to process the collected mushrooms within the next few hours; do not leave them in the basket for more than ten hours;
• It is not advisable to wash or soak mushrooms in water. Garbage is removed from them using a knife or blown off;
• If it is necessary to keep the mushrooms for several days before processing, I clean them of forest debris, place them in a perforated bag and put them in the refrigerator; it is advisable to leave the bag slightly open.

If you plan to keep the mushrooms in the refrigerator, they are divided into parts or placed whole in a bag.

Mushrooms deer horns: recipes

Thanks to their exquisite taste, deer horns have found widespread use in cooking. Made from mushroom pulp delicious soups, prepare original salads, make filling for dumplings, pies and meat rolls, and also fry them, stew them, can them, salt them and freeze them.

Pulp reindeer mushrooms frozen for the winter. To do this, the mushrooms are first cleaned of dirt, separated with a knife or torn into fragments and placed on a tray, which is then placed in a strictly horizontal position in the freezer drawer.

A day later, the mushrooms are taken out and placed in bags, which are again placed in the freezer. It is advisable to label the bags indicating the name of the mushrooms and the date of freezing. Such frozen mushrooms can be stored for no more than a year.

The mushroom salad with reindeer horns is also unusual. This is how they prepare it. Cut the onion into rings and pour one spoon of apple cider vinegar into it. Boil the mushrooms, to prepare the boiled salad you need 200 grams of pulp, chop the mushrooms finely and combine with the same amount of finely chopped fresh carrots, add two cloves of chopped garlic, salt and pepper to taste, stir and pour in a spoonful of apple cider vinegar. Then mix the salad with onions and add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Finally add finely chopped greens.

The soup made from reindeer horns mushrooms also has an interesting taste. They do it like this. Boil half a kilo of mushrooms and chop finely. Potatoes, onions and carrots are cut into cubes and placed in a pan when the water boils in it. When the vegetables are cooked, place the mushrooms in the pan, add salt, pepper, a can of green peas and a spoonful of sunflower oil. The soup is boiled for another fifteen minutes, after which finely chopped herbs are added, covered with a lid and left for ten minutes, then served. Finely grated solid soup is placed in soup bowls and the soup is poured. If desired, you can add a spoonful of cream.

The world of mushrooms is truly fascinating and unique. These organisms are unique in themselves and can surprise with their forms, complex life cycles, taste qualities.

In the forests you can sometimes find unusual mushroom, similar to corals. People call it “deer horns”. Let's talk more about these mushrooms.

The correct botanical name is Ramaria flava. From Latin it is translated as Ramaria yellow. Belongs to the department Basidiomycetes, class Agaricomycetes, order Gomphaceae, family Rogataceae.

The habitat of this mushroom is mixed, deciduous and coniferous forests The Caucasus, the North-West of our country, as well as the forests of Central Europe.

People call deer antlers so because in shape they really resemble the branched antlers of a male deer. To many it resembles coral.

Sometimes in mushroom picker reference books you can find the following names:

The above-ground part of the ramaria grows approximately 15-20 cm in height. The fruiting body grows diametrically and reaches 20 cm in diameter. In the middle there is a dense hyphal plexus that forms a common stalk, and branched processes “horns” emerge from it. These “branches” are cylindrical in shape and branch dichotomously at their apex.

The color of the aboveground part of the fruiting body is yellow, and the palette of yellow can have different shades. It depends on the substrate on which the ramaria grows, as well as on the intensity sunlight in the undergrowth.

Closer to the bases of the horns, the color can be rich yellow. If you press on the fruiting body, a brownish color appears at the place of compression. When cut, the flesh is marble yellow. The smell is quite pleasant, reminiscent of the smell of freshly cut grass.

Ramaria has a low food grade. On the botanical scale of food categories - fourth. There is no particular pronounced mushroom taste. If the fruiting bodies are collected old, the tops must be removed, as they accumulate substances that give a certain bitterness.

Collection rules and precautions

Many horned mushrooms are poisonous. In this regard, you need to know yellow ramaria and be able to distinguish it from other “forest corals”. Collection and preparation are carried out in August and September. At this time, deer antlers can be found in the undergrowth as single fruits or small groups of 3-4 “bushes”.

Rules for collecting horned animals:

Important advice! If you are a novice mushroom picker, it is not recommended to collect horned mushrooms. Whether the horned mushroom is edible or not is difficult to determine. Some of them are so similar to each other that they can only be distinguished under a microscope. There is only one thing that is reassuring: among these mushrooms there are no highly poisonous ones that lead to death.

How to properly cook mushrooms

The soup made from “reindeer horns” is especially tasty. To prepare it, you will need the standard ingredients of mushroom soup - a clove of garlic, onions, herbs, carrots, potatoes, butter, salt, pepper and 300-400 g of this wonderful mushroom.

Boil the mushrooms separately in salted water for 20 minutes. This broth must be drained and not used. It may contain toxins. You can boil it twice for 10 minutes. It will be even better that way.

Then the soup is cooked in the standard way. Throw onions, potatoes, garlic, carrots into cold water, bring to a boil, add mushrooms. Cook for 10 minutes over low heat and add salt, pepper and herbs. This makes a very tasty light mushroom soup. Children will especially like it, since the mushrooms in the soup are unusual.

Ramaria can be salted, fried with potatoes, or added to salads. The main condition for cooking is to always simmer the mushrooms over low heat for 10-15 minutes in salted water. This helps get rid of toxins. This is especially important, because among the horned ones there are many moderate poisonous species. Primary thermal treatment allows you to destroy and reduce the concentration of toxic substances to a minimum.

Young deer antlers can be dried. Overripe fruiting bodies can rot when dried, but young ones dry out easily. To do this, they need to be divided into the maximum possible number of “branches” with part of the stem. A thread is threaded through the leg. Next, the mushroom garlands are hung in the shade in a dry and ventilated room.

When preparing dishes from dried ramaria, it must be soaked in water for 12 hours, and then rinsed thoroughly and boiled for 10 minutes.

Collect deer horns, prepare culinary masterpieces from them, but be careful and careful!