Field blewits, or blue legs (Lepista saeva) must be my favourite of all wild mushroom; even more so than ceps. They have a wonderful smell fresh and even better one when cooking and I’ve never found a grub in a single one. (I think I must be either very lucky or I may need better glasses!) They used to be sold in Covent Garden market till recently and are fairly common in England. This recipe is one I have done since a small child and is absolutely divine on a winters evening in front of the fire for blewits can be found right up to the New Year. These photos were taken on the 21st December 2007. I picked more from the same spot on the 6th Jan 2008! (I’m not sure where the recipe came from but it’s not originaly mine.)

 

INGREDIENTS

(Serves two as a snack)

The much maligned packet sliced white bread is best for this recipe.

 

Three blewits finely sliced

Small onion finely chopped.

Clove of garlic finely chopped

Knob of butter.

Two heaped teaspoons of flour.

Milk.

Seasoning.

Four slices of bread.

Cocktail sticks.

 

Slice the blewits and melt a knob of butter in a small pan. When the butter is hot put in the onion and garlic and sweat them down (do not brown) then add the blewits and do the same. Once cooked and soft add the flour and cook through. When the flour is cooked add a little milk and stir till the sauce thickens. Add a little more and continue doing so till you make up a nice white sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste. (Usually quite a bit of salt to bring out the flavour of the blewits.) Once a nice sauce is made spread the mixture over the sliced bread. Roll the slices and hold in place with cocktail sticks. You can toast them on the fire with a fork or grill them. Blewits, like rice, should always be cooked and not eaten raw.

 

of course just spoon out over toast and eat in the tradition away. Below is a mixture of wood (Lepista nuda) and field blewits.  I collected from the same place a year later than the ones above. Some were wet from being in a wet field and others were dry as parchment from being under trees. As a result there’s quite a wide variety of colours. Interesting to note that the field blewits were under trees and the wood blewits were in the field! Never believe the old wives’ tales of only eating mushrooms that grow in a field. All the old wives’ tales you may have heard are completely misleading and could kill you!