The puffball should be firm and hollow-sounding when tapped, pure white when sliced. (If yellow-tinged, the mushroom is going to spores.)
a.)Simply sauteed with butter, garlic, salt and pepper (fresh thyme is good, too).
b.)Mushroom Parmesan.
c.)Grilled, diced for saucing crab ravioli (sorry, no photo, already eaten;-b).
©copyright MMV Christopher Klugman, All Rights Reserved
Looks just yummy!
Posted by: Pesce | September 15, 2005 at 10:48 AM
Hi Chris, We see that you ate it! Did you take it to class? We are working on another...put a part of it in a stir fry and another piece with "Ralph's" sausage, tomato, basil and feta cheese. Your third photo looks great, delicious that is. Will email Mimi soon. Dawn
Posted by: Dawn Straka | September 26, 2005 at 10:03 PM
Found one larger than a soccer ball in back of the house after lots of rain in Rockville, MD on 10/27/05. Went on line and found the name giant puffball and researched to see if edible. IT IS. I thought it might be because some birds had been pecking it. Sauteed an onion in some butter, put in a few mushroom slices and chopped in some fresh basil we had in pots on the deck. When done, sprinkled some parmesan on one side and ran it under the broiler to brown. Used a little salt and pepper. Should have used a little garlic. The taste is very mild and the texture is not very firm (it has a lot of air in it). But what a fun surprise to find and eat something wild from the yard! Thanks. Not sure how to use the rest of it, there is soooo much. Bob from Rockville.
Posted by: | October 27, 2005 at 02:13 PM
yo can you get puff ball mushrooms in england =]????
Posted by: emma-louise | March 03, 2009 at 05:14 AM
Yes, at least if you believe the photo on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_puffball
Posted by: Chris | March 03, 2009 at 06:11 AM
We always have puffballs growing on our land, yet I've never had the courage to try them, until tonight when my partner brought one in and asked me to Google it. (i didn't think google would cook it for me!) Any WHooo's, I came across your page and as I type this message, I can hear it being fried. I hope it tastes as good as it looks.
Thanks for your tips.
Kind Regards
Freddy
Posted by: Freddy Berry | July 26, 2009 at 04:30 PM
I've just finished eating slices of Puffballs fried in Butter, with fried cherry tomatoes and Rondele garlic cheese spread across the top of the mushroom. It tasted great, especially because we had just brought it in and eat it within 20 mins. Ha!
Kind Regards
Freddy
North Wales UK
Posted by: Freddy Berry | July 26, 2009 at 05:00 PM
Just found "my" giant puffball -- it grows each year in the cow field nearby, and I've managed to get to it three times before it gets trampled. Picked it even though it's only about the size of a softball because it might not have lasted another day. I hope it's edible this size? Last time I did it in slices, topped with lightly sauteed spring onions and cheese and baked. Very nice! I've also just cut it into bits and added it to pasta sauce, which was less inspiring.
There's a couple more locations around where I've found them in the past, so I'll go 'shrooming there tomorrow.
Gilly
Northamptonshire, UK
Posted by: Gilly | August 11, 2009 at 09:31 PM
We have just had 3 Giant puffballs delivered. They are delicious fried in butter and garlic with bacon, but I am looking for more ways to use these lovely fungi.
Sue
S.Gloucestershire.
UK
Posted by: Sue Hope | August 23, 2010 at 04:16 AM
Just found one the size of a baseball. Sauteed it with garlic and onions. MmmMMM
Posted by: Shaman Rawb | September 16, 2010 at 06:44 PM