Although it is customary to assume that winter is not the time to gather mushrooms, but at this time of the year there are mushrooms in the forest that are not afraid of cold weather. Consider the collection and useful properties, as well as the use of medicine in winter medicine and cooking.
Description of winter baking
Flammulin, or winter garland - It is a small edible mushroom from the Ryadovkov family, which is outwardly similar to mushrooms. Flammulin - cap mushroom. Hat in diameter does not exceed 10 cm, flat or slightly convex, painted in brown or dark orange color. The leg is curved, tubular, reaches a length of 7 cm, is painted in brown. The shade of the leg is always darker than the cap and is tightly attached to it.
The flesh is thin, has a pleasant smell and taste. Painted in yellowish color. Spores are white, imperceptible. The remains of the curtains on the fruit body are missing.
Find out what edible mushrooms look like, how useful they are, what kind of mushrooms are like mushrooms, but it is dangerous to eat them.
Places of growth
There are mushrooms in the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere. They are parasites or saprotrophs (they feed on dead or decaying wood), therefore they grow exclusively on trees. Winter mushrooms can be found only on old or diseased plants, so they do not appear in young forests or well-groomed parks.
The season of collecting winter mushrooms
Flammulin bears fruit only in groups, which makes it related to real honey mushrooms. The name itself - winter garland says that in the warm months of the year mushrooms do not ripen. Actively collect them in early spring and late autumn. Winter mushrooms are not afraid of frost, so the collection can be carried out even in winter, if weather conditions allow.
Important! During frosts, fruit bodies freeze, therefore they stop growing. When the temperature becomes positive - growth resumes.
How to pick mushrooms
If the collection is carried out in winter, then you should gently touch the cap of the fungus, as it begins to crumble from the slightest impact. Cut the mushrooms together with the leg using a construction knife. The dark part of the leg of young fruit bodies is trimmed, while the mature one has the whole leg.
Find out where meadow shrub grows, how to grow mushrooms at home.To mushrooms not choked, you should take a few baskets. Do not store in a bucket or bag. It is not recommended to sort or clean the mushrooms until they are completely thawed.
How to distinguish a false mushroom from the present
You can confuse flammulin only with summer mushrooms (edible) and a collie spindle (faint). 
Some mushroom pickers claim that young colligus spindle-leg mushrooms have an exquisite taste. If you confuse the mushroom with summer mushrooms, then nothing will happen. Only in the process of use you will realize that this is not a winter "fellow." However, the use of a collib can affect your health (mild poisoning).
The main differences of winter experience from collie:
- Flammulin prefers willow and poplar, and the collibia grows on oaks and beeches.
- The cap of the poorly-eating mushroom has an irregular shape, it is colored in red-brown color.
- In a collibi, the color of the leg does not differ from that of the cap.
- A weakly poisonous mushroom forms a fruit body only in summer and autumn; it does not grow in winter.
Did you know? Mycelium can prey on nematode worms by correctly placing the mycelium rings. When the creature touches the trap, it instantly sticks, after which the process of digestion begins.
Nutritional value of the product
The energy value of 100 g of flammulin is 22 kcal. It is important to understand that we are talking about the pure caloric content of the product. After frying or marinating, the energy value will change in a big way.
- Proteins - 2.2 g;
- fat 0.5 g;
- carbohydrates - 1.2 g
Vitamin composition: B1, B2, C, E, PP.
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Useful properties of the product
In folk medicine, the fungus is used as an antioxidant and antibiotic. It is given to patients with liver cancer along with aloe, and is also taken in pair with raspberry jam for colds. 
Traditional medicine secretes the antioxidant ergotionein, which stimulates the human immune system, preventing the occurrence of seasonal diseases. This antioxidant is also used as part of vaccines to treat and prevent the formation of tumors (studies were conducted in Japan and China).
Also in the composition of the winter experience there are substances that reduce the level of harmful cholesterol in the blood. Thereby prevent the development of atherosclerosis.
Important! Regular use of the fungus suppresses reproduction of Staphylococcus aureus.
Many studies conducted in England, Japan and China, say that the fungus has healing properties, but officially this product is not used for medicinal purposes.
The harmful properties of the fungus
Winter mushrooms do not have harmful properties, but they require proper heat treatment. Fresh fruit bodies can not be eaten, as they contain a small amount of toxins that can cause problems with the digestive tract. These toxins decompose when heated, so there is nothing to fear.
There are no direct contraindications, but you should not use the product for acute or chronic gastrointestinal diseases, because the mushrooms are digested for a very long time, as a result of which the stomach receives an additional load. During pregnancy and HB also should not eat the product, so as not to have problems with the baby.
An allergic reaction can occur on any product, the same goes for winter agarics. You should also pay attention to the fact that the product may affect the absorbability of drugs, so prior consultation with a doctor is necessary.
Cooking Uses
Consider a few popular recipes that will help you to cook delicious winter mushrooms.
Learn how to freeze, pickle, pickle, make caviar of honey agaric.
How to cook at home
Winter mushrooms are good in many dishes. They can both be served immediately as a part of various salads, soups or an independent dish, and can be preserved. Consider some interesting and simple recipes. 
Winter mushrooms in Korean.
Ingredients:
- Korean carrot - 100 g;
- boiled honey fungus - 200 g;
- crab sticks or crab meat - 200 g;
- sea kale - 50-100 g;
- salt to taste.
Important! Before preparing any dish flammulin need to boil for 30-40 minutes.
Crispy fried mushrooms.
You will need:
- boiled honey fungus - 500 g;
- onions - 300 g;
- breadcrumbs - 1 tbsp. l .;
- salt and pepper to taste.
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Heat the frying pan at maximum heat, then lay out the mushrooms and onions. The fire does not diminish. It is necessary to fry honey agarics about 10 minutes, stirring continuously. At the end of cooking, add salt, pepper and breadcrumbs. Mix thoroughly. The dish is ready. Breadcrumbs make the mushrooms a little dry and less slippery, and also improve the taste of the dish.
Flammulin soup.
Composition:
- honey agarics - 500 g;
- potatoes - 200 g;
- carrots - 100 g;
- Onion - 1 pc .;
- salt and seasoning to taste.
We boil the mushrooms in advance, and then rinse under running water. Fresh water is used for cooking. Immediately add the mushrooms, chopped potatoes, whole carrots and onions. Bring to a boil, then cook over low heat for about 20-25 minutes.
Learn how to check mushrooms for edibility.At the end add salt and seasonings. Onions and carrots are removed from the finished soup, as they are used only for the fat. The dish is served hot with sour cream and finely chopped green onions.
How to process and preserve these mushrooms
Mushrooms respond well to processing and preservation.
Marinated flamullina.
All the collected mushrooms are pre-soaked in cold water to clean up all the dirt. A few hours are enough, however, if initially the fruit bodies were all in the mud, then it could be extended to one day.
After soaking lay out in a saucepan, pour the required amount of water and boil for about 15 minutes. Next, add 2-3 tbsp. l peppercorns, salt, pepper and vinegar to taste. It all depends on the number of mushrooms and your preferences. Cook with spices for another 20 minutes.
You do not need to sterilize the jars beforehand, because you will keep the finished product in the refrigerator. Use shoulds with aluminum screw caps.
Pack the finished product in containers so that there is no excess liquid. Additionally, you do not need to pour boiling water, otherwise the mushrooms will turn out tasteless. Twist the caps immediately after filling the cans to create a vacuum inside.
Wait for complete cooling, then place in the refrigerator. In this form, mushrooms are stored for up to 2 years.
Salting mushrooms without vinegar.
Collected mushrooms thoroughly washed, remove the black legs. Next, boil for about 10 minutes without adding seasonings and salt. Simultaneously boil 2 liters of water in a saucepan, then add 10-15 g of citric acid to it.
Banks must first be sterilized. Lidding or plastic caps will not be used, so only glass vessels should be prepared.
Learn how to dry, freeze, salt, pickle mushrooms.
Ready mushrooms laid out in banks in layers. Each layer is sprinkled with salt. After filling the tank, fill the brine with citric acid. Repeat the procedure with each jar, then leave to cool. Before placing in a cellar or refrigerator, jars should be covered with parchment paper, then secured with an elastic or thread.
At this salting is over. It is possible to eat mushrooms in a month. The average shelf life is 2-3 years. 
Never neglect pre-heat treatment framulin
Did you know? The vitality of mushrooms is simply amazing. These organisms were found in the center of the destroyed reactor in Chernobyl, where the level of radiation destroys all life, and at an altitude of 30 km above the ground. Mushrooms survive even when released into sulfuric acid, which corrodes the metal.
Winter mushrooms can be found in any deciduous forest or city park, which allows you to enjoy not only tasty, but also a useful product during the cold season.
What is Frammulin and how to cook it: reviews
There are a lot of types of flammulin now. Lafa ended when there was one Flammulina velutipus, and even its white form. The trouble is that the types of flammulin reliably differ only by micro-indications. True, according to the biotope (preferred wood), species can somehow be diluted. This, I, in fact, use. But here I will not indicate specific types, since all these are my assumptions, and it would probably not be correct to assign proper names to different forms.
So what exactly is growing in my forest.
1. The earlier (from September) and light flammulin grows on aspen, logs and stumps. Growth is abundant under favorable conditions. After strong frosts practically does not renew.
2. Later (since November, during the winter long thaws) and brighter colored flammulin, it grows exclusively in willow. We have a little of her. This mushroom solely for beauty and photography.
3. Sometimes flammulin is found on the birch. For some reason, all that I came across on a birch tree was with dark spots on the cap.
4. Very rarely I met flammulin growing on buried wood, light, in small bunches.
Of all the listed forms of flammulin, in my forest only aspen is of commercial importance.
As I have already said, aspen flammulin begins to grow seriously from the second half of September, and at the end of the month I usually begin to collect it. High-quality, fragrant and truly delicious flammulin happens only until severe frosts. After a small night frost, it survives well, only becomes mucous, especially in wet weather. Wet and slimy bonnet can even be zonal, almost like summer spotting.
And in the dry - the cap also remains dry.
There are small blackish specks, but this is normal. The color is not necessarily whitish, but there are no very bright colors. The legs, by the way, aspen flammulin are not necessarily dark, but always velvety. And young fungi visible longitudinal grooves on the leg.
But such a flammulin, seemingly quite lively, but darkening from the center, in fact, has already died. And there is a very simple way to identify it - live is a mushroom, or just a well-preserved corpse. If you cut the leg right under the cap, then the cut should be white. If it is gray (looks like a gray ring), then the fungus is already inanimate.
2. Weakly fermented flammulin.
Somehow I tried to ferment winter mushrooms. The easiest way: per liter of water 70 g of salt and 20 g of sugar (this is about 2 tablespoons of salt with a slide and 1 tablespoon of sugar without a slide). Filled with this pickle mushrooms, put under the yoke (at room t-pe). In the literature, it was said that any mushrooms can be boiled like that, but you have to wait a long time: russula - 3 weeks, a load - a month ... Flammulin was eaten on the fifth day :) Because after a day the spicy aroma of pickled mushrooms began to spread around the room, so tasty, that I could not sleep well ...
Mushrooms were very tasty!
And you can simply chop dried flammulin in a blender and add to any dish or gravy ... Brew tea, eat like dried chips ... The product has the most valuable taste and healing effect ...
In the totalitarian sect, the Flammulians have the standard of the TRP: to dry at least 20 liters of flammulin and freeze 50 liters, and to eat 50 liters fresh for a year ... Otherwise, out of the sect ...
