Sheepshead / Maitake Mushrooms

A friend gave me a pretty good size one last night. What to do?

I'm leaning towards a simple pasta prep or mushroom soup. I like Anthony Bourdain's shroom soup recipe. There just might be enough there for both.

This will be a rare treat for me as I've never had these before. What would you do?

For me, I'd love a steak and mushroom feed or how about a Fettuccini Alfredo and Maitake. Our daughter lives in Ohio and has those on her property. They get so huge!

No wonder I'm confused. It's a mushroom? I thought it was a Lake Erie fish, also know as the freshwater drum, especially since your friend gave you a good size one. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freshwater_drum

No wonder I'm confused. It's a mushroom? I thought it was a Lake Erie fish, also know as the freshwater drum, especially since your friend gave you a good size one. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freshwater_drum

Sounds like they are not particularly good to eat. I'll stick with the fungus.

As soon as I read the original question I remembered this episode of Iron Chef Japan years ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPIcABDyj2o

You're lucky to have them!

Lots of flavor here. We had a regular source in Nyc and would use them on pizza. But pretty much any preparation where you're prepared for strong flavor will do well. Delicious stuff.

Hen of the Woods, you mean! A wonderful mushroom. Spritz it with a little EVOO, sprinkle it with a bit of salt and pepper, and roast it in the oven till it is crisp at the edges and tender in the middle.

Break off small chunks and wrap in ravioli skins. Simmer gently and serve al brodo, possible with a few shreds of scallion.

Break off large chunks, saute fast and hot, and heap over steak or pasta carbonara or grilled corn (off the cob).

Seems a shame to sacrifice them for soup.

Well, tonight's the night. I think it's going to be just a simple saute in olive oil and butter with shallots and garlic over linguine.

If I have enough I'll make a small amount of soup for the appetizer!

Thanks for the suggestions.

It has been a few years but I recall the larger sheepshead had lovely flacky white meat. When I lived in La Crosse WI in the early 90s the commercial fisherman would set their nets in the Mississippi right in town and pull out thousands of pounds of drum. These were sold and sent to Chicago. I now see them in the Asian grocery stores here in St Paul.