Features of the type and useful properties
It is very difficult to confuse boletus with another species, as they have characteristic external features. These representatives belong to the genus of tubular edible mushrooms, the Boletaceae family. The fruit part of the mushroom is large.
Thus, the cap can grow up to 16 cm in diameter and has a semi-circular shape, which changes over time and becomes more prostrate with the edges turned outward. The surface is slimy, which is how they got their name. The mucous part is easily separated from the pulp of the fruiting body. Color varies from dark brown to olive or yellow with a gray tint.
The leg is tall, on average 12 cm, usually lighter than the cap, there may be yellow and gray shades. It has a cylindrical shape and a white membranous ring. On the back of the cap there is a light yellow tubular part. The pulp of the mushroom is very soft and juicy. This species is characterized by the formation of mycorrhiza with coniferous trees.
You can see boletus from mid-June until the end of November. Mushrooms prefer sandy soils in all types of forests. They often grow near birches, pines, and oaks.
In folk medicine they are used in the form of decoctions to treat gout. It is consumed as food when the skin is removed from the slippery skin.
Selection and preparation of ingredients
Since the main ingredient of the preparation is boletus, it is their selection and preparation that must be approached with particular care. When collecting mushrooms in the forest or purchasing them at the market, avoid large old specimens, as they manage to absorb a lot of harmful substances. All mushrooms growing in nature have this deficiency, but in old fruits the toxin content is much higher. Also make sure that there are no signs of worms or spoilage in the fruits.
Did you know? Butternuts can be grown in your own garden plot or on a farm. To do this, you need to purchase mycelium, form favorable soil and plant mushrooms near coniferous trees.
Before salting, mushrooms need to be thoroughly peeled and washed. Some housewives prefer to remove the sticky skin from the cap, but this is not necessary when salting. You can soak them in cold water for 15 minutes to remove any remaining sand and undetected worms. Then the fruits must be boiled in salted boiling water for 10 minutes. It is advisable to sort the mushrooms prepared in this way by size.
Preparing butter for salting for the winter
Before proceeding directly to pickling, the fruits must be prepared for this process. First of all, it is necessary to select the collected fruits and throw away the spoiled fruit parts.
To do this you need to follow some rules. The hat should not have a purple tint, its lower part should have a spongy structure, and there should be a white ring with a purple tint on the stem. These varieties are excellent for pickling. Experts also recommend choosing only small-sized fruits.
After the selection stage, the sticky film is removed from all mushrooms, as it has a bitter taste and can completely ruin the dish. Experienced housewives do not recommend soaking butter before cleaning, as this can only complicate the process. Butternuts easily and quickly absorb water, so swollen fruit parts will be very difficult to clean.
Experts recommend lubricating the blade of a kitchen knife and your hands with a small amount of oil so that they do not darken while removing the film. To properly remove the sticky film, grab it with a blade on one side and pull it towards you. Before removing the film, you don’t have to wash the fruit, since most of the debris will be cleaned along with it.
After cleaning, you also need to sort. Thus, large fruits require more pickling time, so they are prepared separately or simply cut into pieces. To make pickles, only the caps of large fruits are used, and the legs can be used to make delicious mushroom caviar.
Note!
For pickles, only fresh, recently picked fruits are used.
Preparing mushrooms
Before salting boletus, the fruiting bodies must be properly prepared. These are valuable representatives of the mushroom kingdom, but their processing presents certain difficulties. The main problem is the presence of slippery skin on the cap. It can be removed quite easily, but it is better to work with gloves so that the skin of your hands does not turn brown.
Reference! If you do not remove the skin, the brine will turn out cloudy, and the salted mushrooms will be dirty and unsightly.
To properly prepare butter for salting, do the following:
- The fruiting bodies are placed in a large basin and filled with cold water for a while. This will help remove large particles of soil and plants. There is no point in soaking the oil can for a long time. This will cause its flesh to become saturated with moisture and stop crunching after salting.
- Each oiler is inspected, damaged areas are cut out and the cut on the stem is renewed. To remove the film, pry it at the edge of the cap with a knife and pull it towards you.
- The peeled fruit bodies are washed and soaked in salted water for 3 hours to remove worms and their larvae from the pulp. Then wash again under running water.
Next, the mushrooms are sorted by size. Small ones are left whole, and large ones are cut into pieces of approximately the same size.
How to salt boletus for the winter?
There are many ways to pickle butter for the winter. The most common are hot, cold and combined methods.
Salted fruits are not only tasty, but also nutritious. They are such because the fruit parts contain a large amount of protein, which is why boletus is called “mushroom meat”. 100 grams of mushrooms contain 25 kcal.
Hot
This method is the most common among housewives. In order to use the hot salting method, you will need the following ingredients:
- mushrooms - 1 kg;
- water - 1 l;
- sugar - 50-60 g;
- salt - 40 g;
- peppercorns – 4 pcs.;
- cloves - 2 pcs.;
- bay leaf - 1-2 pcs.
After the fruits are washed and peeled, they need to be coarsely chopped. The butter is salted in a jar, so you need to sterilize it in advance for 15-20 minutes. The prepared fruit parts are filled with water and cooked over medium heat until they begin to sink into the water closer to the bottom. After this, add all the other ingredients and continue to cook for another 5-7 minutes.
The boiled fruits are removed and placed in jars, filling only 90% of the entire jar. Next, the butter is filled with hot brine, and the jars are rolled up. The jars should be allowed to cool in a warm place, after which they are transferred to a cool, dark place for storage. This recipe is popular due to its ease of preparation and speed of preparation.
Cold
The cold method differs from the hot one in that it is longer and more labor-intensive, and the butter will be ready only after a few weeks.
To do this you will need the following products:
- boletus - 1 kg;
- garlic - 4 cloves;
- bay leaf - 3 pcs.;
- salt - 2 tablespoons;
- peppercorns - 5 pcs.;
- dill and currant leaf optional.
First of all, you need to prepare a large pan and place the mushrooms on the bottom, caps down. They need to be salted and all other ingredients added. There should be several such layers in the pan. The laid out contents of the container are covered with a flat plate on top and heavy oppression is placed.
After some time, the fruiting bodies will begin to secrete juice and will be completely immersed in it. If a little juice is released, you can add boiled warm water. In this position, we leave everything for a day in a warm place. After the allotted time, the mushrooms are placed in jars, filled with brine and placed in the refrigerator for several weeks.
Combined
The combined method involves combining hot and cold. For this recipe you will need the following ingredients:
- mushrooms - 4-5 kg;
- salt - 200 g;
- water - 3 l;
- garlic - 1 head;
- dill;
- currant leaves - 5 pcs.;
- peppercorns - 15 pcs.;
- vegetable oil - 70-100 ml.
Combined salting method
Pre-cleaned and washed fruits are boiled for 15 minutes, and then filtered to remove all the water. Fruiting bodies must be divided into parts. Place the mushrooms on the container, caps down, and cover with other ingredients, and lay out several such layers. Pressure is placed on top of the contents of the pan. After a day, you need to transfer the mushrooms to a jar, pour in the brine and add vegetable oil. The jars are covered with lids and put in the refrigerator for several weeks.
Under the nylon cover
The advantage of this recipe is that you do not need to sterilize the jars and roll up the lids. To prepare mushrooms for this recipe you will need the following products:
- mushrooms - 2 kg;
- water - 0.5 l;
- salt - 2 tablespoons;
- sugar - 2 tablespoons;
- cloves - 4 pcs.;
- pepper - 1 teaspoon;
- garlic - 6 cloves;
- vinegar - 2 tablespoons;
- seasonings for marinade.
Initially, the butter is boiled and placed in jars, adding garlic. Add all other ingredients to the water, bring to a boil and cook over low heat for 10-15 minutes. The prepared brine is poured into the jars and closed with nylon lids. After the mushrooms have cooled, they are placed in the refrigerator for two weeks.
Answers to common questions
Butterflies are common mushrooms in our area, which are often used by housewives for pickling. There are many pickle recipes that will suit everyone's taste.
We always prepare butter for the winter. I especially like to salt or marinate them. After all, thanks to their neat appearance and delicate texture, they just beg to be put on a fork. Such banks do not stay with us for long. And not at all because they spoil. They are simply eaten, usually earlier than planned.
In winter, such mushrooms come to the rescue when you want potatoes and butter. They can also be used as an independent snack. There is application in any case. The main thing is to prepare more of them! Today I have collected for you the most delicious ways to preserve boletus for the winter.
Unusual recipes
In addition to traditional recipes, there are also unusual ones that will help you pickle butter at home and achieve an interesting taste.
Salting in a bucket
For this you will need boletus (2 kg), salt (150 g), currant leaves, black peppercorns, dill. Fruits are laid out at the bottom and spices are sprinkled on top. There should be several such layers. Place a flat plate and something heavy on the contents for 7-10 days. After a week, the mushrooms should release juice, and if it is not enough, add boiled water. The bucket is covered with film and a lid and placed in a cool place for several months.
Spicy mushrooms
To prepare, you need to thoroughly wash the fruit parts (2-3 kg) and remove the film. Mushrooms are laid out in a large saucepan in layers, and each layer is covered with chopped bay leaves (7 pieces), peppercorns (10 pieces), chopped garlic (4 cloves), a teaspoon of dill seeds and cloves. Pressure is placed on the contents and left for a couple of weeks in the refrigerator.
With citric acid
The recipe for butter with citric acid is one of the variations of the hot method. In order to prepare mushrooms according to this recipe, you need to add half a teaspoon of citric acid, a pinch of star anise and half a teaspoon of rosemary to the brine using the hot method.
The classic recipe for hot pickling
Hot-cooked salted boletus mushrooms are a flavorful appetizer that will allow you to have a hearty delicacy on hand all year round. Storage takes place in the cellar, so the refrigerator is not overloaded.
Required:
- 3 kg of mushrooms boiled in salted water;
- 5 liters of drinking purified water for brine;
- 40 g extra salt without additives;
- 5 pp. l. granulated sugar;
- 6-10 pcs. allspice and black peppercorns;
- 4-5 laurel leaves;
- 5-6 clove stars.
Hot pickling method:
- Pour the washed, peeled and boiled boletus into an enamel container and fill with clean water. Place the mushrooms on the fire and boil.
- Pour all the spices and salt into the pan. Boil the food in brine for 30 minutes.
- Rinse the jars in hot water and soda and sterilize over a kettle or in the oven.
- Distribute the preparation into hot jars, fill the container to the top with brine and seal tightly with lids.
- Turn the jars upside down and wrap them in a blanket. In this form, allow the preservation to cool.
- Put the jars in the cellar.
The appetizer will be rich, aromatic and moderately spicy. When serving, mushrooms can be flavored with onion rings and chopped dill.
How to hot pickle butter with garlic
The subtle aroma of garlic awakens the appetite and gives the appetizer a piquant and slightly spicy flavor.
Set of cooking products:
- 2 kg of boiled butter;
- 2 liters of drinking water;
- 3 full tbsp. l. Sahara;
- 3 tbsp. l. fine salt without impurities;
- 3 tbsp. l. vinegar;
- 40 g mustard seeds;
- 2 heads of garlic;
- 12 laurel leaves;
- 12 peas each of allspice and black pepper.
Step-by-step hot salting method:
- From the suggested spices, cook a brine, to which add peeled but not chopped garlic.
- After 5 minutes, pour the boiled butter into the marinade and keep it on the stove for another 5 minutes.
- Fill sterile jars with mushrooms, add boiled brine and sterilize for 15 minutes.
- Screw tightly and leave to cool. Keep cool.