Another great mushroom, and one that every person that has walked in the woods is familiar with, is the Box Elder Mushroom. They grow on old and dead areas of mostly maple and box elder trees.
They are those often huge (12 / 14 inch wide) half circle shaped, shelf like, brown ones that are very common in the Northeast.
You must harvest them before they start to dry and turn leathery. When prime, they are very heavy and extremely moist. You can pinch a piece and it will drip. This juice smells EXACTLY like fresh watermelon.
I slice them into very thin strips and slowly saute them in butter with a generous amount of thin sliced onions until tender. Load this up into a hoagy roll and add some cheese and steak sauce if you wish, since, when cooked they taste EXACLY like a Steak-Umm sandwhich steak!!
They are absolutely awesome. I'm somewhat of an amature wild mushroom picker and harvest about 9 or 10 species in NY and can affirm that you all can pick eat these safely and with a positive species identification since NO other mushroom presents the watermelon smell. If it's growing on wood, looks like a shelf, and smells like watermelon when broken open, it is a Box Elder, enjoy......
