Dried Slippery Jacks
I’m feeling a little sad about the end of autumn mainly because it marks the end of the mushroom picking season for 2012.
Mushroom picking is a funny thing, it’s amazing how foraging for your own food can give you so much pleasure and with each trip I am left with new memories that I know will last a life time.
I am so pleased that my daughter has followed in my foot steps and begs to be woken up at the crack of dawn when we go mushroom picking, in fact all I have to do is whisper the word ‘mushroom’ in the morning and she sits up instantly, can’t say that it’s as easy to get her to wake up in the morning on a school day.
Sebastian her BFF and his pet dog are equally keen ‘shroomers’ which makes mine and Blondie’s life very easy when we take off each weekend.
Three very professional mushroom pickers!
I love Slippery Jacks and Saffron Milk Caps equally, each of them have their own natural beauty and flavour, however when it comes to cooking with them not all cooking styles suit each mushroom.
Saffron’s are fantastic thrown onto a hot plate or pan with some butter and salt and eaten with some sourdough bread. Slippery’s on the other hand will turn to mush. Saffron’s make a great nutty flavoured paste where as to make paste from the Slippery’s you need to dry them first.
May this year was our second trip to Oberon. Blondie and I were very prepared! We purchased bread crates to store what we knew was going to be a massive haul! I should point out that whilst I purchased mine, Blondie was far more resourceful than I and got her’s for free!
Bread crates full of Slippery Jacks
As you can see we did very well. We actually picked twice the above amount.
Proudly displaying my mushroom stash photos when we got back to Sydney I was asked ‘so what will you do with them?’
Answer: Dry them of course!
So what’s a Slippery Jack?
Slippery Jack mushrooms (Suillus Luteus) are part of the Bolete group of mushroom. They traditionally grow in autumn and are in abundance after the rains.
Yum!
Contrary to what some people think, Slippery Jack’s are definitely edible mushrooms, they have been eaten by the Poles for many, many years. They are pickled, dried, feature in soups, pierogi, pancakes, stews and the list goes on. It is said that the skin from the Slippery Jack can cause indigestion to some, I have never experienced this but maybe it’s because I’m a Polak and we eat these year round!
Their characteristic is a brown cap with slime over the top, hence the name Slippery Jack. It’s not a mushroom that I am in favour of eating fresh as I think that it tastes much better dried and re-hydrated. Mum’s Christmas (Wygilia) mushrooms soup is honestly to die for! No pun intended!
Baby Slippery Jack waiting to be picked and pickled.
With my mushroom stash home it was time to roll my sleeves up and get to work! I peeled all of them, sliced them into small portions and was ready for the drying process to begin.
Dried Slippery Jack’s – the how to
Peel and slice your mushrooms. The thinner the slices the quicker it will take to dry them.
Place them on oven racks and pop them into an oven at 50° C, you will need to leave the door open just slightly to have some of the air circulating.
I always pop some baking paper underneath each tray as well. The Slippery’s are quite watery and will excrete some liquid.
Ready for drying
Half way through the drying process they should look something like this…
My end result after 2 days of drying.
I should point out that my 3 bread crates turned into 3 bowls this size full.
So what happens to these babies next? Ahh well you will have stay tuned and visit for the next installment!
Bella 
do you know if slippery jacks get dry skin on the top as getting older? as we’ve been to teh oberon forrest resently and some mushrooms look like slippery jacks but have dry top, whole the rest like tubed spunge under the cap is the same but the top is not slippery for some reason, also do you know if we should boil them before frying?
cheers
Alan
Hi Alan,
Unfortunately it has been so dry this season that everything is dry, including the tops of the normally slimy Slippery Jacks. As soon as they get some moisture their normal slippery top comes back, although not to the extent that they normally are. They still generally have a bit of moisture on them when they are young (smaller and more protected I suspect) but for this year at least, it’s just the dry season not the age that is determining the dryness of the tops.
As for boiling prior to cooking, it’s not absolutely necessary but people like to ensure that any little bugs that may be in the sponge have been killed. If pan frying the smaller to medium sized ones then I wouldn’t bother as the heat would cook any little bug that was unfortunate enough to find it’s way there. Tap the top of the mushroom with a stick and anything that’s in the sponge should fall out.
Just remember that if you have any doubts then go without, but if in Oberon go see Lyn – Oberon Information Centre. She will be able to let you know if your mushrooms are safe or not.
Happy mushrooming Alan!
Blondie
Thanks for the encouraging comments about Suillus. I, too, am Polish, and my last name was originally Maslak–which is the Polish equivalent of Suillus (google maslaki for a lot of Polish recipes). I live in an area where maslaki are incredibly profuse and rarely picked. So I am very motivated to learn as many ways of using them as possible…
Dziendobry James!
What a cool name! Blondie and I are slightly addicted to mushrooms. Love their versatility + they have such nutritional value.
The Maslaki (Slippery Jacks) will have a feature role at our traditional Christmas dinner on the 24th of December.
I’m already counting down till our 2013 mushroom picking season is here!
Please email me the picling recipe as i have been getting so many small slippery jacks i want to try and pickle them like ive tasted. I have dried about 2 kilos (dried weight) this season already and am thaking my grand children again on sunday. I live in Bunbury Western Australia and have numerous spots to go mushrooming within 30 minutes of home.
Hi Robert!
So jealous that you have a spot which is 30 minutes away from you! Plus the fact that you can still pick mushrooms now! We find that the season tends to end here about June and starts up again in February.
WOW! 2kgs of dried ones! Fantastic.
The link to our pickling recipe is http://finskis.com/recipes/pickled-mushrooms-grzybki-marynowane/
I’m making pierogi with my dried ones this weekend.
Bella