A week ago, as I was on my way to work, I noticed mushrooms popping up from under a layer of mulch next to a row of pine trees. Every day after that, as I passed them, I became more and more curious as to whether or not they were edible. This morning I decided to pick one on my way to work so that I could discuss the subject matter with my office mate. After a lengthy discussion on a variety of topics, some of which had little to do with fungi, we decided the best thing to do was to identify the mushroom on the internet. I found the closest match to be the Agaricus Campestris, which happens to be a close relative of the 'button mushroom.'
Literature:
Agaricus Campestris (Meadow Mushroom)
Other websites advised against picking them as they could be mistaken for poisonous (some deadly) mushrooms, such as this one:
'Fool's Mushroom' or 'Destroying Angel'
I don't know about you but, I won't ever miss the opportunity to have free food. My mother found out I ate wild mushrooms and nearly cut my head off for it. Moral: do not do it! It's too risky.
Look at how beautiful they are. Now, if you had smell-a-vision you could also notice their sweet fragrance.
Long story short - I cut them up, sauteed them in olive oil...
Meanwhile preparing the risotto. I used two chopped onions, 3 cloves of garlic (chopped finely), 1 1/2 cups of arborio rice, 1 packet of condensed chicken stock, 3 cups of water. The risotto cooked on low heat for about half of an hour.
Toward the end I mixed in the mushrooms and continued cooking on low heat until most of the liquid reduced. I added 3 handfuls of parmesan cheese and a small bunch of parsley (chopped finely). Gnam gnam, e voila:
