A crowd of these tasty chaps turned up on my back lawn today.
They're a lovely, tasty cooking mushroom and hard to mistake for anything poisonous. To be absolutely sure, check where the gills meet the stem. They should terminate there. There are a couple of other similar-ish looking mushrooms that are poisonous but the gills carry on down the stem. It's quite a distinctive feature so you shouldn't have any problems with misidentification. Fairy Ring Champignons also have a 'bump' on top and the mushroom itself should be a tan in colour.
But, as always, if you are not 100% sure, don't eat them.
They are a bit late this year - the season is from May to October - but we can blame that on a very dry Summer and the recent rains.
Mousseron contain a sugar that allows them to retain all of their flavour when dried. When rehydrated they taste the same as fresh, so they're a good standby mushroom for Winter stews, risottos and fry-ups. So, after giving these a wash to get rid of any bugs or nasties, I'm now air drying them on my kitchen windowsill.
If Nature provides, it seems rude not to use them!
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