Mushrooms - Slippery Jacks

These little gems pop up almost every year just at the top of our driveway beside one of the two Stone Pines. The pines were supposed to produce Pine Nuts, you know those little white seed things that sell for $64/KG. Well so far no Pine Nuts have been seen but the Slippery Jacks are a fine compensation.

Just in case we made an identification mistake the various guide books were cross referenced. These are strange books, the official name varies from book to book but there is some linkage between the names i.e. Slippery Jacks. Some books don't mention whether these are edible or not. One that does specifies removing the skin and the gills (tubes) which was promptly done.

The recipe suggested is Garlic and Lemon juice. The author then describes the taste of the dish as being "lemon and Garlic". We cooked the Garlic a little more and cooked the sliced mushrooms in half the Lemon juice and then added a little more juice onto the completed dish to preserve the vitamin C.

Served on fresh toast it tasted fine. Mild mushroom flavour, good texture. Slippery Jacks have a particular pleasant flavour of their own. An excellent breakfast choice and no hospital trip afterwards.

Gills or Tubes as they are known