The Best Wild Mushroom Omelet

We eat gourmet dishes on a food stamps budget; Shaggy Ink Caps are one of my favorite wild mushrooms they can be found in cities, urban areas, and the country side. For a forager Shaggy Ink Caps are one of the easiest wild mushrooms to identify and safe to eat, so if you want the best mushroom omelet during a zombie apocalypse, nuclear war, or a natural disaster, this is the mushroom for you.

This is a Western Omelet made with wild Shaggy Ink Cap mushrooms.

Whether you call them Ink Caps, Shaggy Ink Caps, or Shaggy Mains, Coprinus comatus is an edible mushroom often seen growing on lawns, along gravel roads, waste areas and meadows. The young fruit bodies first appear as white cylinders emerging from the ground, then the bell-shaped caps open out. The caps are white, and covered with scales, this is the origin of the common names of the fungus. The gills beneath the cap are white, then pink, then turn black and secrete a black liquid filled with spores, hence the name Ink Cap. This mushroom is unusual because it will turn black and dissolve itself in a matter of hours after being picked or when it is depositing spores.

When young it is an excellent edible mushroom provided that it is cooked or eaten soon after being collected; it keeps very badly because of the autodigestion of its gills and cap. If long-term storage is desired, sauteing or simmering until done will allow the mushrooms to be stored in a refrigerator for several days or longer if frozen.

The cap is up to 15cm wide, narrow, cylindrical, white, and covered in thin, shaggy reddish brown scales; older specimens have a cap that is bell shaped. The flesh is white and soft, the gills are narrowly attached to the stem and white to grey when young. The flesh and gills of older specimens liquefies into a black inky mass. A partial veil leaves an inferior, possibly moveable ring on the white stem.

They grow scattered or grouped together in grassy areas covering decomposing wood and appear in early spring and late fall. They have a pleasant taste with no odor and should be cooked before eating.

An edible lookalike is Coprinus sterquilinus, which similar in appearance but with fewer scales and growing on dung.

Diced and sautéed Shaggy Ink Cap Mushrooms, Ham, and Onions.

Cheese slices

Eggs

Butter

Mixing bowl

Frying pan

Spatula

Tablespoon

Sharp knife

I like to cook the ingredients for a western omelet before I make an omelet; and with Shaggy Ink Cap Mushrooms you need to cook the mushrooms to store them for later.

Gather Shaggy Ink Cap Mushrooms; these mushrooms tend to grow during the night after a rain, they are young and fresh in the morning, making the morning the best time to gather them.

Wash the mushrooms and trim off the roots.

Heat up a frying pan and melt a tablespoon of butter in it.

While the frying pan heats dice the mushrooms and the onions.

When the pan is hot add the diced mushrooms and onions to it and let them simmer while you dice the ham.

When the mushrooms and onions are almost completely cooked add the diced ham to the sautéed mushrooms and onions.

Do not worry if you sauté too much, the Shaggy Ink Cap Mushrooms need to be cooked for storage and they can be used in a hundred side dishes.

Start the omelet by heating up a frying pan with a tablespoon of butter in it.

While you wait for the frying pan to heat add two tablespoons of sautéed ingredients and two eggs to a mixing bowl and mix. Put the rest of the sautéed ingredients in the fridge for later or freeze.

When the frying pan is hot add the egg mix and wait for the edges to cook.

Once the edges are cooked add the cheese slices and flip one edge of the omelet over the cheese.

Wait one moment and flip the same side of the omelet over and center the omelet in the frying pan. This should push any uncooked egg off the omelet onto the hot frying pan. Repeat this step until all the egg is cooked.

Once the omelet is cooked place it on a plate and add the sides of your choice or have it plain.