While lobster mushrooms don't have the legions of fervent aficionados that porcini and chanterelle mushrooms command, they are equally delicious. A classic accompaniment to seafood recipes, mushroom risottos, and all foods Italian.
Lobster mushrooms are actually two different fungi, one parasitizing the other. Hypomyces lactifluorum is a parasite that grows as the signature orange skin on two otherwise inedible species, Lactarius piperatus and Russula brevipes, rendering them delicious. There have been anecdotal accounts that Hypomyces lactifluorum may potentially parasitize a poisonous mushroom species instead of its normal hosts and create a mushroom that looks like an edible lobster mushroom that is actually poisonous. This is unlikely and has no research to back up the postulation. Lobster mushrooms have hundreds of years of documented edibility and they are generally considered a great mushroom for beginner foragers. There really is nothing else in the woods that they resemble!
Lobster mushroom caps are always irregular, a side-effect of the parasitizing fungi warping and manipulating its host, gills are non-existent and are instead a ridged surface that won't bend or move with touch. The inner flesh of a fresh specimen when cut is almost always pure white. They do tend to brown a bit when old or rotting, and sometimes have an orangey hue. Check out David Spahr's website to help with identification. He's a Maine mycologist that has a wonderful book on wild mushroom identification in New England called 'Edible and Medicinal Mushrooms of New England and Eastern Canada.' Always remember the mushroom forager's primary rule: when in doubt, throw it out! Aren't 100% sure what it is? Don't eat it!
Close to all the lobster mushrooms I've ever collected found their way into two quintessential mushroom dishes. In the fall I love to make wild mushroom risotto, there is something therapeutic about spooning wild mushroom broth over simmering arborio rice. I tend to make my risotto with lobster mushrooms, black trumpet chanterelle, and porcini. I almost always use dried mushrooms for risotto. We typically sauté fresh sliced lobster mushrooms with a couple tablespoons of butter until they have browned slightly, add some dry white wine, garlic, and whatever fresh herbs we have growing in the garden, and spoon it generously over a grilled white fish like halibut! It's great with a chilled wild-rice salad or farro.