More on Morels
When the cherry blossoms are in full bloom, the Mayapples are peaking, and the wild ramps are just beginning to turn brown on the tips of their leaves, then the biggest culinary event of the year is just about to take place at the Cottage Kitchen. The morel mushrooms are up.
Some years are better than others. The morel harvest depends on the vagaries of nature, including uncontrollable conditions such as humidity, barometric pressure, sunshine, and warmth. This year was a big year, and we made a huge haul. My nephew, Spencer, his irresistible two-and-a-half year old son Jacob, his significant other, Tara, and friends Bethany and James joined us for a trek through the fringes of Aunt Judy and Uncle Lance’s abandoned orchards, the horse pasture, the long vacant pig lot, and the periphery of the forest. James, Bethany, Tara, and Spence had the sharpest eyes, and very quickly filled their net bags with several dozen prized specimens: very large morcella esculentas – the highly prized blonde morels that grow to perfection in Michigan.
If you’re hunting for your own morels, be careful to avoid the poisonous morel look-alike. The true morel has a “fake” stem. It’s hollow, and it’s only attached to the mushroom at the base. The poisonous look-alike has a solid stem that ascends through the center of the mushroom and attaches at the top of the cap. Be very cautious. If you want to take the guesswork out of the job, call Earthy Delights at 1-800-367-4709, or go to their website at WWW.Earthy.com and order as many as you like.
Some ‘shroomers may debate about whether morel hunting may be almost equal in enjoyment to morel eating. True morel aficionados, however, will agree that there’s no contest.
While there is something magical about combing through the long grass underneath a brilliant sun and billowing mounds of white clouds, looking for that telltale mottled mushroom cap, it’s tough to impossible to compete with a skillet sizzling full of cleaned and trimmed morels dunked in beaten egg, coated with seasoned cracker crumbs, and cooking to tender perfection in butter.
That’s the way I prefer my morels: fresh out of the field, so plentiful that no one has to be shy about reaching for their third helping, cooked in real butter with maybe just a touch of garlic. I dunk the cleaned mushrooms in beaten egg, then in seasoned cracker crumbs. I make sure the butter is good and hot when I add the mushrooms to the skillet, but not so hot that the butter browns and burns. This is a delicious meal when served with English muffins, tossed greens with vinegar, oil, and crumbled bacon, and an icy cold glass of white wine.
It was a perfect day from every perspective. The successful haul took some of the sting out of last night’s game of Texas Hold ‘Em, when Tara and Spence and I cleaned out Bethany and James. Little Jake spent the day up on his father’s shoulders, looking hard for mushrooms and pulling on his dad’s ears in the excitement. As perfect as the day was, the best part is yet to come. We have plenty of butter, plenty of family and friends, and several pounds of delicious morel mushrooms ready for the kitchen.
Some years are better than others. The morel harvest depends on the vagaries of nature, including uncontrollable conditions such as humidity, barometric pressure, sunshine, and warmth. This year was a big year, and we made a huge haul. My nephew, Spencer, his irresistible two-and-a-half year old son Jacob, his significant other, Tara, and friends Bethany and James joined us for a trek through the fringes of Aunt Judy and Uncle Lance’s abandoned orchards, the horse pasture, the long vacant pig lot, and the periphery of the forest. James, Bethany, Tara, and Spence had the sharpest eyes, and very quickly filled their net bags with several dozen prized specimens: very large morcella esculentas – the highly prized blonde morels that grow to perfection in Michigan.
If you’re hunting for your own morels, be careful to avoid the poisonous morel look-alike. The true morel has a “fake” stem. It’s hollow, and it’s only attached to the mushroom at the base. The poisonous look-alike has a solid stem that ascends through the center of the mushroom and attaches at the top of the cap. Be very cautious. If you want to take the guesswork out of the job, call Earthy Delights at 1-800-367-4709, or go to their website at WWW.Earthy.com and order as many as you like.
Some ‘shroomers may debate about whether morel hunting may be almost equal in enjoyment to morel eating. True morel aficionados, however, will agree that there’s no contest.
While there is something magical about combing through the long grass underneath a brilliant sun and billowing mounds of white clouds, looking for that telltale mottled mushroom cap, it’s tough to impossible to compete with a skillet sizzling full of cleaned and trimmed morels dunked in beaten egg, coated with seasoned cracker crumbs, and cooking to tender perfection in butter.
That’s the way I prefer my morels: fresh out of the field, so plentiful that no one has to be shy about reaching for their third helping, cooked in real butter with maybe just a touch of garlic. I dunk the cleaned mushrooms in beaten egg, then in seasoned cracker crumbs. I make sure the butter is good and hot when I add the mushrooms to the skillet, but not so hot that the butter browns and burns. This is a delicious meal when served with English muffins, tossed greens with vinegar, oil, and crumbled bacon, and an icy cold glass of white wine.
It was a perfect day from every perspective. The successful haul took some of the sting out of last night’s game of Texas Hold ‘Em, when Tara and Spence and I cleaned out Bethany and James. Little Jake spent the day up on his father’s shoulders, looking hard for mushrooms and pulling on his dad’s ears in the excitement. As perfect as the day was, the best part is yet to come. We have plenty of butter, plenty of family and friends, and several pounds of delicious morel mushrooms ready for the kitchen.
posted by JTH at 7:03 AM
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