Morels In The Kitchen

Morels in the Kitchen

So you found a bunch of morels and you are wondering “what to do now?” The seasoned morel hunter knows just exactly what to do – head to the kitchen and prepare for the “classic morel mushroom fry.” There are many morel hunters who bring their rewards home and success is known throughout the house because there is a shout of  “Let’s heat up the skillet!”

It is almost as if the pre-foraging checklist should be something like this:

• Hiking stick – check
• tick spray – check
• mushroom bag – check
• butter and crackers – “ummmmm??? Hold on let me check before we head out”

 

Enough of the silly humor.  Let’s get serious now.

Arguably, the most classic morel recipe is the simple battering of the morel and then sauté in butter in a cast iron skillet.  Without a doubt – delicious by most taste buds in the world. There are many of morel enthusiast who feel anything less than a plate of egg and cracker/flour battered morels is a waste of morels. Although it is not official, it very well could be titled as the “Classic Morel Recipe” by many.

 

However, the title of “Classic” is always being challenged. Over the years the creative culinary minds in all of us have decided there is more for the morel than the blessing of butter in a cast iron skillet.  The Great Morel is proud to have some of these wonderful recipes on the web site (many have been there since its inception back in 1999).  No matter your culinary expertise, The Great Morel’s Recipe pages  should have about everything you would want to do with the morel.

Over the years the creative culinary minds in all of us have decided there is more for the morel than the blessing of butter in a cast iron skillet.

 

Morels with Pasta seems to be a favorite – which most chefs in the kitchen can tweak to their own liking.  Morels with breakfast is another favorite of old time Shroomers. Yet for some reason the classic Morel Recipe always has room to be tweaked in various ways to make it just a little different and specific to various taste buds. The day where Mom and Dad, or Grandma and Grandpa working their magic in a big cast iron skillet has given way to new ideas.

 

 

So here is where we are at today…..you have morels on fresh greens, morels with eggs, morels and pasta, morels stuffed and things stuffed with morels. You’ll find the morel getting splashed with all types of seasoning beyond the typical salt and pepper. Then somewhere along the way we find out the Morels like to be splashed or smothered in a little wine. Even though butter may be the morel’s favorite; olive oil, bacon fat, and others are challenging good old fashioned butter.

 

If one were to scour the Internet these days, you’ll find some very interesting and delicious recipes incorporating the morel, as well as the morel being the star of the dish.  Five star chefs and culinary experts are changing how we look at the morel.  Fresh morels are a fine chef’s dream in the spring and many restaurants will offer spring specials with the Morel being the highlight of the plate. Food bloggers such as Health Starts in The Kitchen have put fresh ideas and easy to prepare recipes at our finger-tips.

 

The Great Morel is always looking for new recipes and/or creative twists to the “Classic”.  Here is the link to the winner of one of 2018 Monthly Contests – featuring Sautéed Morels with Wild Turkey Pate & Shaved Spring Asparagus.

 

Make sure you hit The Great Morel’s Recipe pages and check out the contributions of your fellow Shoomers from throughout the years.  The Recipe Links page has a listing of some of the best culinary pages relating to morel preparation. If you have way too many morels to cook up – check out The Great Morel’s Preserving pages for various ways to preserve these tasty morsels.

 

No matter how you choose to prepare your harvest, most importantly make sure to share your blessings with family and friends!