Morel Mushrooms!
I have to admit a strong personal bias on the subject of morel mushrooms. I’ve prepared them myself in soups, sauces, gratinees, crostini, and casseroles. I’ve fried them, baked them, pureed them, battered them, stuffed them, and grilled them
My favorite?
When it comes to morel mushrooms, I stick to the K-I-S-S principle, which is “keep it simple, stupid!” The natural flavor of the morel mushroom is elusive, subtle, and impossible to duplicate or to improve on. I can’t think of anything more delicious than freshly picked morcella esculentas, rinsed lightly, quartered, and sautéed in butter with a bit of garlic and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Try this with toast or better yet, English mushrooms. Without any persuasion, I could make a meal of it. This is a gourmet experience that is best enjoyed outdoors, on the deck, basking in the May sunshine.
Still, there are times when we like to get “fussy” in the Cottage Kitchen. We want to polish the good silver, get out the crystal, and dine in elegance. We want to create meals with “high points” that saturate our taste buds, “low points” that neutralize our taste buds, and “mid points” that round out the meal. We serve good wines that complement the full range of taste experiences available on the table, and we start with an appetizer and drinks.
Uncle Lance has found morel mushrooms in abundance growing on daffodil hill, near Aunt Judy’s horse pasture. You can tell how many he’s found just by measuring the grin on his face, so we know we’ll have more than enough to go around. Kathryn is back for the summer from California, Aunt Pitty-Pat is recently in from Virginia, and in charge of the puff pastry, and Bob and Michael are working on dessert – charcoal grilled banana and pineapple spears drenched in homemade butterscotch sauce.
The early evening sky is gray and filled with lowering clouds, and there’s a fine mist in the air. Lake Michigan is chopping with waves as the breeze changes from the south to the north. Indoors we light a log fire, put on some rockin’ music, and we do what we do best of all when the morels are plentiful.
My favorite?
When it comes to morel mushrooms, I stick to the K-I-S-S principle, which is “keep it simple, stupid!” The natural flavor of the morel mushroom is elusive, subtle, and impossible to duplicate or to improve on. I can’t think of anything more delicious than freshly picked morcella esculentas, rinsed lightly, quartered, and sautéed in butter with a bit of garlic and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Try this with toast or better yet, English mushrooms. Without any persuasion, I could make a meal of it. This is a gourmet experience that is best enjoyed outdoors, on the deck, basking in the May sunshine.
Still, there are times when we like to get “fussy” in the Cottage Kitchen. We want to polish the good silver, get out the crystal, and dine in elegance. We want to create meals with “high points” that saturate our taste buds, “low points” that neutralize our taste buds, and “mid points” that round out the meal. We serve good wines that complement the full range of taste experiences available on the table, and we start with an appetizer and drinks.
Uncle Lance has found morel mushrooms in abundance growing on daffodil hill, near Aunt Judy’s horse pasture. You can tell how many he’s found just by measuring the grin on his face, so we know we’ll have more than enough to go around. Kathryn is back for the summer from California, Aunt Pitty-Pat is recently in from Virginia, and in charge of the puff pastry, and Bob and Michael are working on dessert – charcoal grilled banana and pineapple spears drenched in homemade butterscotch sauce.
The early evening sky is gray and filled with lowering clouds, and there’s a fine mist in the air. Lake Michigan is chopping with waves as the breeze changes from the south to the north. Indoors we light a log fire, put on some rockin’ music, and we do what we do best of all when the morels are plentiful.
posted by JTH at 12:00 PM
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