Morels 2012

[Chris Hennes]

Morels are starting to pop here in Oklahoma, after this week's heavy rains and warm weather: here is today's haul, about a pound and a quarter

Anyone else out hunting?

[David Ross]

Those are beautiful. Yes, I am waiting with anticipation for our morel season here in the Northwest. Not sure when they will be available as we had a late winter with snow as recently as Thursday. The morels were early last year, but I'm thinking a bit late this year and I probably won't see anything for a couple more weeks.

[Tri2Cook]

Very nice! It's still early for where I live, an unusual warm spell got rid of most of the snow but it's going back down below 0c tonight and supposed to be colder all next week. I don't usually have a lot of luck with them here anyway, I don't know if they're sparse in this area or if I just haven't found them. I usually do well with chanterelles and matsutakes in the late summer/early fall but the morels are few and far between.

[Shelby]

Gorgeous, Chris!

I smelled them a couple of days ago before the rain started. I need to go and see if I can find them.

What is everyone's favorite way to use them?

I had the most awesome morel pasta sauce a few years ago. *drool*

[lstrelau]

It will be another month or three before we get fresh morels, sadly! But my favourite thing to do with them is:

Take largish specimens (maybe 2 inch long, sans stem). Cut the stem off so you can have good access to the hollow centre. Stuff with small pieces of pate de foie gras (canned works fine). Plug the hole with some breadcrumbs mixed with a bit of egg so that the foie will stay in when it gets cooked.

Melt butter in a saute pan and cook the stuffed morels for a few minutes (maybe 10 or so) until they are starting to get tender and smell good. I usually start of standing them vertically on their bottoms to cook the breadcrumb plug first.

Once the morels look cooked, add a bit of cognac to the pan and ignite to deglaze and finally finish with a bit of heavy cream and some veal glace if you have it (I usually keep a jar of that on hand that I buy from a local shop.

Simmer for another two or three minutes to meld the flavours and serve. Fresh thyme is a nice garnish and a bit of fleur de sel and fresh ground pepper. They are good served on toast or at least with some nice bread to soak up the sauce.

Decadent and rich... but as a first course of 3-5 morels per person it isn't too bad - though I am happy to eat more than that if I had the chance. The recipe is my version of Antonio Carluccio's favourite morel dish in his mushroom cookbook.

Can't wait for the first morels of the season

edited - forgot to ignite the cognac.

Edited March 24, 2012 by lstrelau (log)

[Chris Hennes]

I'm not sure I can say it's my favorite, but an excellent way to use morels is in an omelette. Tonight I made a sauce of morels, thyme, cognac, and cream (I think it's one of Peterson's, but I'm not sure of it).

[KennethT]

Have you tried subbing tarragon for thyme? To me, one of the best combinations in the world is morels, butter, tarragon and cognac.

[Chris Hennes]

I haven't yet, but since I have so many, perhaps tomorrow. The tarragon is huge right now anyway, I need to find a use for it!

[kayb]

So where does one go to hunt for morels? I'm sure we have them here in the Ouachita Mountains. I just don't know where to go look, but am well willing to head out, given directions.

[janeer]

Absolutely gorgeous. My favorite mushroom, I think. Well, a tie, but love them. That omelet looks like a lovely supper.

[conifer]

They appeared in La Boqueria in Barcelona about a week ago. At 80 euros a kilo, I won't be having any!

[Paul Bacino]

Kayb..

If you have rivers, creeks or lakes. That is a good place to start, forage around the edges early, around decayed, broken down trees. Here in Nebraska, I look for Cottonwoods and elm. Waters edges are usually early then they move in-land ( sometimes known as the hills ) as things warm up

For me I look for my Lilac bushes to bloom, as an indicator. But I love to go out anytime before and after.

PB

Chris Congrats!! MY hunting grounds were destroyed by the floods last year.. I'm having to move to higher ground.

[Shelby]

So where does one go to hunt for morels? I'm sure we have them here in the Ouachita Mountains. I just don't know where to go look, but am well willing to head out, given directions.

Ours are usually around a tree that has fallen and rotted. Also in mossy areas. The Little Arkansas runs through our property so I hunt around there.

[kryptos1]

Kansas City River Market had them for the same $15/box as last year. They were picked yesterday morning and still a little damp.

[Chris Hennes]

I played around today with a "new" way of extracting the flavor from the morels, borrowing from a Modernist Cuisine technique for infusing cream: I took four big morels, washed and chopped, and added them to about a half cup of cream and vacuum sealed it. I infused that sous vide at 185°F for 4 hours, and then used that as the cream for making a pasta sauce today. It was really effective, it amped up the morel flavor incredibly. I also used tarragon instead of thyme today: a nice change of pace, though to be honest I think I prefer the thyme all else being equal.

(Ingredients in the sauce were morels, morel-infused cream, cognac, and tarragon.)

Edited March 25, 2012 by Chris Hennes (log)

[pep.]

(Ingredients in the sauce were morels, morel-infused cream, cognac, and tarragon.)

Did you discard the morels used for the infusion or were they included in the sauce?

Edited March 25, 2012 by pep. (log)

[Chris Hennes]

I kept them in there, it didn't seem worthwhile to strain them out.

[Paul Bacino]

These are absolutely the best Morels I have ever found- fresh/clean/thick cap

Contemplating the uses!!

I'm thinking something with Foie..

[mm84321]

Those look beautiful.

[Paul Bacino]

So..I did use Foie!!

Hudson Vally Foie Gras

Keller Veal Reduction Stock

Butter Poached Local ( self harvested ) Morels