Morels
 

After going mushroom hunting this weekend, I realized I usually only cook them one way - saute' in oil with a bit of garlic. Yuummmmm!!!

How do you cook yours? I would love to hear other recipes. We have more to cook. :)

The same as you but with a nob of butter (as well as the oil) and some course sea salt, freshly ground course ground pepper, and some flat leaf parsley. All placed on a nice thick slice of toasted sourdough bread.

You are very lucky to have had a forage.:)

Since they are so delicate and don't keep well, any extras get dehyrated.
I keep them and then chop them up to put into a bechamel sauce. Incredible over chicken breasts. Fresh I saute them in butter and a touch of garlic and parsley as a side dish to grilled steak. No steak house could beat it.

Our pickings this year were much less than last, but the mushrooms themselves were huge!! Much bigger in size. In two hours, the two of us picked 13.

I do have some dried and frozed from last year. I have been working out of town since August and (obviously) not cooking as much. I will try some of these ideas with my other mushrooms that need to be used up.

They are great in an omelet or scrambled eggs - really add a zip of flavor.

Morels are a traditional delicacy here in Finland. Or, to be precise, false morels (Gyromitra esculenta) are. They are much like the morels found in the US except they are highly poisonous if not prepared correctly (boiled twice in ample water, changing the water between the boilings, taking care of good ventilation at all times). False morels can justifiably be called the the fugu of the mushroom world.

But that aside, they taste fantastic. One traditional Finnish recipe is to sauteé them with chopped onions and add a little double cream to make a very thick sauce. If you like herbs, tarragon is excellent with morels. The sauce is fantastic with steak and even better with fish (grilled salmon or gravlax are just out of this world with a thick morel sauce).

Cheers,
T.

PS. Naturally, we take some offense in the terminology. We call Gyromitra esculenta the real morels and the non-toxic ones false morels ;-)

the best way to eat those little gems
finely chopped shallots
little crushed garlic
be sure to have washed the morels they are full of grits
a little madeira
freshly chopped tarragon
on low heat sweat your shallots in butter with a pinch of salt nice and easy no colour ,once soft add the garlic ,stir well ,increase the heat and add your clean mushroom,let them cook till all the ater evaporate ,then add a good splash of madeira ,let it reduce ,correct seasonning with salt and pepper ,add the chopped tarragon
enjoy !!!!

Terrible. It's a lack of morelity.

My grandfather was an avid mushroom hunter but unfortunately he died before I had a chance to learn the art from him. The last several years I have attempted to stalk these elusive fungi fruits in an attempt to "reconnect" in a way to him (sappy I know) but had so far been shut out. This year, the family and I were hiking in a nearby nature preserve when my 3 year old son spotted a frog along the trail. Wouldn't you know, about 18 inches away from the frog was a morel! "They do exist" I thought. After we got home that day I went for a walk in the woods near our house and found about 30 - 40 more. It's funny how often I find something when I finally stop looking for it! Anyway, my 3 year old and I like them dusted with flour/cornmeal and sauteed in some clarified butter. Definitely worth the wait.

Mmmm. I love wild mushrooms. One thought: I incorporate them into risotto. Saute in olive oil, butter and a touch of white wine, with garlic and onion. Then cook the risotto in the same pot...delicious. Now, I'm starving!!!

Slice in half, saute in butter...the put them on a cracker thin pizza crust with olive oil, parm cheese shaves and droplets of goat cheese...ummmmm

With steak
 

I have had them with steak, made once at the Lufthansa first class lounge and once at a restaurant here in San Francisco. It is just delicious!

Here are photos of it from the LH lounge in Munich:
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5055/...84db06cdeb.jpg
steak in lounge! by sfflyer123, on Flickr

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5251/...4975836b4a.jpg
Steak in lounge by sfflyer123, on Flickr

Steak looks yummy, but I don't see any morels. :(

morels do not look like roons, but they do not look like a serving of ruth christ stake & tatters with gravy either.

Pricey!
 

I just saw some morels in the store the other day. Man, those things are expensive! $17 for a small little pack of dried ones!