Once a year these delights appear in our forests and we eagerly hunt them (or buy them). They are worth their weight in gold, I think.
However, I only know two ways to really use morels, sauteed or breaded and fried (the traditional way). Does anyone have any recipes that really bring out the wonderful flavor of morels? I had thought of making a risotto, but I’m not sure about cooking them for so long. I have one pound that are sitting in water ready to be prepared one way or another.
I love fresh morels, but I never see them around here. When we lived in Oakland I used to be able to buy them from time to time. I generally made pasta with a white wine, cream, and morel sauce.
Thanks! Where do you live, Cher? Right now is prime morel time. In fact, it’s just the beginning, we should have 'em for at least a month.
Indiana may have it’s problems (ugh, winter), but in warm weather, it’s one of the most beautiful, fruitful places there is. Mmm, I’m hungry. I can’t wait for strawberries and fresh tomatoes.
I live in San Diego. The place I used to get them was in Berkeley, but they had an amazing variety of produce, even by Bay Area standards.
I don’t know that there aren’t any to be found here–I haven’t checked the really upscale grocery stores or farmer’s markets. Probably I could locate a source if I really tried, but they aren’t in the budget this month. Thanks for the reminder, though. I may go on a hunt.
Fettucini alfredo with morel mushrooms is one fantastic way of using them. (My ex-wife used to swear that it was an aphrodisiac – maybe I should have made it more often.) And although I made it with fresh, when fresh were unavailable, dried morels were also good in this one.
They are excellent in a risotto and they make a good mushroom soup, although the dried ones tend to be a bit more intensely flavored.
When I was a kid, my dad would go morel hunting every year (he still does) and return with grocery sacks full. We ate them all the time…imagine my surprise when, years later, I find that these things go for big bucks in gourmet shops. The woods were full of 'em!
What a timely thread…my telephone contractor just brought me a bag yesterday. Perfect size, too…1.5 - 2 inches. I find that the smaller ones have more flavor.
Delicate, yet meaty. Almost truffle-like in it’s perfumey, mushroomy goodness. And apparently, they can’t be cultivated. They can get pretty big…6 inches tall isn’t too uncommon, but the smaller ones are the tastiest.
Finding them is an art form. Avid morel hunters keep their sources a secret, as they tend to grow in the same places every year. Dad swears they only grow around the base of dead elm trees, and the tree can’t have been dead for too long. Now, me, I wouldn’t know what a live elm tree looks like, let alone a dead one, but Dad can be in the woods and spot the top of a likely candidate two ravines over. And he’s usually right…
They’re hard to spot, too. Unless you’ve got a trained eye, you can be standing in the middle of the Morel Mother Lode and you’ve already walked on half of 'em. There can be dozens under a single tree. They freeze really well, too, so if you do hit the jackpot there’s no pressure to use them all right away.
By the way…those pictures on the site link above…these aren’t like your normal button-type mushroom. There are no gills, and the Christmas-tree shape is actually hollow.
Wow…I just had a great idea. What if you took the larger ones and stuffed 'em?I’m thinking a subtle stuffing, maybe with a little crabmeat, lightly breaded and sauteed or quickly deep-fried…
I have heard people talk of “mushroom hunting” but I’m not much on 'shrooms myself except the occaisional sliver on a slice of pizza. I had no clue there were a specific type out there so highly sought after.
