Mushroom Foraging | Finding Feasts

Wild mushroom foraging

Autumn means wild mushrooms however with more unseasonably warm temperatures, this years wild mushroom foraging season has been delayed…again!

We were however very fortunate to run a wild mushroom foraging workshop early April and are hoping for cooler temperatures and some much needed rain to get the mycelium going and the mushrooms growing.

Keen foragers learning about Slippery Jack mushrooms

If you are looking to join a workshop in May drop us a line or visit our Facebook page to keep up to date with upcoming dates.

Although we have done little foraging this season we have been fortunate to feature in April’s Jetstar Australia Infilght magazine for things to to in NSW.

We’d love to see you at one of our next wild mushroom foraging workshops.

Blondie and Bella

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Mushroom tour May 2015

Wow, what a busy time it has been for Bella and I. We’ve been so busy getting other projects for FinSki’s off the ground (more information on these later) that we almost lost track of time and let Autumn fly by without a tour!

We’ve been out several times this year to both the Southern Highlands and Oberon areas, enjoying the serenity that being in the forest brings – well, as serene as it can be with a dog that just loves to roll in wombat poo and having the kids trying to get him to jump in muddy puddles so he can get clean (eau de wombat pour chien)… anyway, the serenity between those moments is magical.

We decided to host a tour on the 17th of May and not surprisingly it booked out in a heartbeat. Friend and amazing photographer Sie Kitts, joined us and beautifully documented the day for our photo journal…

Mushroom tour May 2015

On a brisk and sunny morning the group all met up at Pheasants Nest at 8:00am. Once we had all arrived and introductions were made, we headed off to the forest. An eerie, ghostly fog lay close to the ground as we headed in.

On arrival at our first stop, there’s a brief rundown on the mushrooms we will be foraging for and then it’s on, everyone heads into the forest for their own unique experience of foraging. Continue reading “Mushroom tour May 2015” →

Blondie2 Comments

Mushroom foraging with Lyndey Milan

Lyndey Milan puts FinSki’s mushroom foraging in her top 5 foodie experiences from her show, Taste of Australia.

Bella and I are over the moon to have ‘foraging for wild mushrooms’ selected in Lyndey Milan’s “Top 5 Foodie Experiences” for her article in Australian Traveller magazine.

With all the travels she did for her show, Taste of Australia; the multitude of experiences with the amount of people she met, mushroom foraging with FinSki’s ranked up there with the best!

Yay us!!

Pop over to our Mushrooming page for more fantastic stories on wild mushroom foraging in NSW.

BlondieLeave a comment

Warm Kale and Quinoa Salad w/ Seared Salmon and Wild Mushrooms

Warm Kale and Quinoa Salad w/ Seared Salmon and Wild Mushrooms is the very first dish I made with this years first haul from the forest… although not really a haul as I came out with only 13 prized funghi specimens but pair them with a stunning salmon fillet and it’s a feast of a dinner.

It’s still a little too warm for the mushrooms at this point but the rains we have been having in NSW makes for a very promising season. There were lots of very little baby mushrooms poking their heads out, they will be just ripe for picking the following week.

As you can see from my basket there wasn’t too much around, a very small haul indeed but still a feast worthy of a delicious dinner.

FinSkis 2014 mushrooming trip — A small haul but still worthy of a dinner

This is a high nutrient rich meal with just a little indulgent use of butter and a sweet hit from the vino cotto.

Enjoy the forage and savour the feast – Blondie 🙂

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Mushroom Foraging in Oberon w/ Lyndey Milan

In March 2013, FinSki’s was asked to do a segment on Lyndey Milan’s new tv show, Lyndey Milan’s Taste of Australia… how amazing is that?? Needless to say, we dropped everything and took Lyndey to our favourite mushrooming spot in Oberon. Here is our behind the scenes…

Here we are with the lovely Lyndey Milan

Love the line up of cars in such a secluded location

Let shooting begin, Bella and Lyndey discussing mushrooms

Imogen and Seb occupying time digging up crystals Continue reading “Mushroom Foraging in Oberon w/ Lyndey Milan” →

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Pork meatballs w/ wild mushroom sauce

Finding Feasts - Pork Meatballs with Wild Mushroom Sauce — Click image for recipe

A few weeks ago Blondie and I teamed up with the awesome guys from Stockman’s Ridge wines for Orange’s annual Frost Fest festival. On the menu were their wines and our food inspired by this years mushroom picking season.

Blondie and I were very fortunate enough to get a private tour of the Stockman’s Ridge vineyard earlier on this year and what a beautiful vineyard it is! I highly recommend a visit to this beautiful part of the country.

Finding Feasts - Pork Meatballs with Wild Mushroom Sauce

When it comes to winter and food I am a sucker for anything that is hearty, saucy and cooked s-l-o-w-l-y so that the flavours can develop into a rich taste explosion with each mouthful I take.

I’ve grown up eating meatballs or as we call them in Poland, Klopsiki. My favourite ones are mum’s, of course! She makes them out of pork mince and no matter how hard I try, I can never recreate her yummy sauce but this time I have a secret weapon! FinSki’s wild mushroom powder.

So my dear reader…love meatballs? What’s your secret recipe addition to make these a hit!

Bella

Bella2 Comments

FinSki’s first wild mushroom foraging tour

What a fantastic start to the 2013 mushrooming season it has been! Bella and I headed out a few weeks ago to see if mushrooms were about… through the grape vine, or more appropriately, the mycelium (sorry, bad mushroom joke!) we had heard they were appearing. The weather has been a bit warm but NSW did have quite a bit of rain this month so the chance of mushrooms was good.

What a treat it was, the Saffron Milk Caps were in abundance and there were many other eager mushroomers out in force. Lots of them not even making it into the forest but getting caught up early on the road by the beautiful orange fungi strewn across the pine needle floor.

The idea to get the first mushrooming tour going a little sooner than expected came when Bella and I both saw the large amount of Saffron Milk Cap heads breaking through the ground. The tour would be guaranteed to pick plenty of mushrooms the following week to keep everyone happy. Continue reading “FinSki’s first wild mushroom foraging tour” →

BlondieLeave a comment