NEW FLASHES OF MAGIC WITH FRESH MORELS
May flowers with more than blossoms. It is now high season for morels. And those who know them easily slide into morel foraging and eating modes. They are among Spring’s most treasured wild offerings. They come from the same phylum as truffles do, so it’s no surprise that morels also inspire cults.
They range in color from tan, blonde, and gray, and intensify in flavor as they move to deep dark brown. They are one of the first species to populate a newly burned forest floor. It is their multi-layered, smoky, voluptuous full-mouth experience that captivates your attention. Food52 is now posting an interview they recently conducted with Eugenia Bone, featuring the recent paperback edition of her book, Mycophilia (Rodale, 2013). Bones talks about her omni-mushroom passions, and specifically cites her scouting for “burn morels” in last summer’s campfire pits.
Morels are not a good raw mushroom choice. They can make your tummy wish you hadn’t eaten them that way. Besides, cooking them brings out a symphony of flavor notes. The music to one’s mouth is so sweet, morels are a favorite ingredient of chefs who seek to seduce your tastebuds and send them home with haunting memories.
(Photo: Zach Reinhart)
They are the ultimate umami. We recently bought something called Umami Powder in London, and the key ingredient was powdered morels. As spring begins to push fronds and shoots up through the dark crumbs of black forest dirt, it’s the earthy flavors, scents and textures that play together.
Morels can get down country, as they do in Wisconsin at the Muscoda Morel Mushroom Festival, this year May 18-19, amongst pig roasts and tractor pulls. There, they can do a mean carnival-fry thing, upstaging the blooming onion.
Morel funk is also a favorite of leading edge creative chefs who like to push flavor boundaries. This spring, Thomas Keller, works new magic with morels, laying their plush musky caps against soft pierogi pillows, shreds of ramps and frisee, and scrolled with Béarnaise. Look for “Four Story Hill Farm Poularde Pierogis” on the French Laundry menu.
OpenTable is now finding morels trending on their restaurant reservations site. Some restaurants cited for their new morel dishes include:
* Bouchon at The Venetian, Las Vegas, Nevada: Morel Mushroom and Asparagus Tagliatelle in Lemon Butter Sauce
* Crush, Seattle, Washington: Lummi Nation Halibut with Morels and Nettle Sauce
* Harvest, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Smoked Ricotta Ravioli with Morels and Asparagus.”
* Marché Modern, Costa Mesa, California: Morel Mushrooms with Asparagus and Egg Custard
* Measure at Benaroya Hall, Seattle, Washington: Gnocchi with Fava Beans and Fresh Morels
* Park Kitchen, Portland, Oregon: Morel-stuffed Cabbage Leaves
* Ripple, Washington, D.C.: Lobster, Morels, and Fresh Peas
(Photo: Jason Hollinger)
Returning to our prehistoric roots, a growing number of chefs and foodies are finding joy in foraging for wild foods . Morels, are a foragers fave. They are both taste and nutrient powerhouses. Loaded with B vitamins, D, copper, selenium, and antioxidants, perhaps our ancestors, in seeking rich sources of these elements, developed a biological hankering for these elusive fungi. People compete, hoard, keep secret harvest spots, and manage their springtime lives around the pursuit of fresh morels.
Morels are not easy to find, even in morel country, like rural Michigan. Their season is short. They quickly lose their fresh blush. You can’t keep them long. The trick to holding them luscious for a even day or two is to store them in very slightly damp cloth towels and to wash them only just before using.
We searched the best shops in NYC and couldn’t find fresh ones for weeks just now. We found Earthy, one source for mail order morels, fresh and dried. It’s great resource for a variety of quality exotic wild exotic, fungi and other umami delights. Also, check out their fresh black trumpet mushrooms, a chanterelle cousin, also in season and beautiful right now.
Inspired by a recent Wall Street Journal recipe for Lamb Sausage Stuffed Morels, our tastebuds drove us to create a vegetarian dish that captures the essence of the ancient and fresh flavors of morels. Here it is:
Beautiful Inside and Out Stuffed Morels
Ingredients:
1 cup silken tofu, mashed
1 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons finely grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 tablespoons dry bread crumbs
12 to 16 large fresh Morel mushrooms
¼ lb. cremini mushrooms, finely chopped
¼ lb. porcini mushrooms, finely chopped
1 Tbsp Umami Dust (or powdered dried mushrooms, such as porcini)
¼ cup chopped toasted hazelnuts
8 tablespoons butter, divided
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Saute chopped cremini and porcini in 1 Tbps butter and Umami Dust.
Use a mixing bowl to combine the tofu, cream, sautéed chopped mushrooms, nuts, fresh chives, egg yolk, Parmesan, and bread crumbs. Season with salt and pepper.
Stuff each morel with the tofu mixture.
Heat an oven-proof skillet or sauté pan and melt four tablespoons of the butter. Transfer the stuffed morels to the skillet and sauté quickly, turning on all sides to brown.
Add the remaining butter and garlic to the skillet and continue cooking for another minute.
Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for about eight minutes, or until the mushrooms and the filling are heated through. The morels should be golden brown.
Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the fresh parsley. Serve immediately with garlic butter drizzled over the top.
More beautiful recipes we discovered in our recent troll for morels:
Here is a simple ramp and morel fricassee from Michael Ruhlman’s post How to Cook Morels that elevates both iconic spring wild ingredients:
Ruhlman’s Scrambled Eggs with Morel Sauce:
(Photo: Michael Ruhlman)
Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan over medium heat, sauté some minced shallot or sliced ramp whites, add the morels, and cook just till heated through. Add about a quarter inch or half inch of cream to the pan, simmer and reduce it by half, adding salt and pepper to taste. Toss in minced ramp leaves if you have them. Serve as is and eat very slowly. Or spoon over an equal quantity of gently scrambled eggs. Very gently scrambled, as described in Ruhlman’s Twenty; almost no one scrambles eggs right these days.
We just paired this next farro dish with mushroom braised veal short ribs and toasted sesame rainbow chard.
WIld Mushroom Farro Risotto
Ingredients:
1 cup assortment of dried wild mushrooms (we prefer chanterelle and morel)
28-32 ounces low sodium chicken broth
3 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup farro
1 cup dry white wine
2 ounces (1/4 cup) mascarpone cheese
4 ounces Parmesan, grated and divided
salt and pepper to taste
1. Bring medium saucepan to a boil, add dried mushrooms, cover, and remove from heat. (Allow mushrooms to rehydrate for about 30 minutes)
2. In a large pot, gently simmer broth.
3. Pour 2 tablespoons oil into a large sauce pan, over medium-high and saute onions and garlic for 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium, add farro and toast for 4 to 5 minutes until fragrant, frequently stirring. Lightly season with salt and pepper.
4. Deglaze pan with the wine and stir. Allow the liquid to almost completely evaporate.
5. Ladle hot broth over farro mixture until barely covered. Allow mixture to simmer, stirring frequently. Once half of the liquid has evaporated add another ladle of broth and continue stirring.
6. Once all broth has been used and grains have softened, but are still chewy to the bite, stir in the mascarpone and 2 ounces of grated Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
7. Pour remaining oil into a medium sauté pan and place over medium-high heat.
8. Saute rehydrated mushrooms for 3 to 4 minutes. Lightly season with salt and pepper.
9. Stir mushrooms into farro risotto and adjust seasonings. Top with remaining parmesan and serve.
Serves four.
