A basket of Morels and a stick of butter, now what?

May 11, 2008 12:51 PM

My girls and I just came across these Morels in the backyard. How should we eat them?

I've found and eaten Morels before but they were always much smaller. These are 6 to 8 inches long. I've never found them this large. In the past I've sauteed them in butter and thrown them in pasta or stew. But these are like steaks. Any idea how to maximize this bounty?

Yes, the stem and cap are hollow.

posted by Toekneesan to food & drink (14 comments total)

Jealous.

Seriously, with something that tasty, just sautee them in butter, maybe with garlic (or ramps, if you've got 'em).

Again, jealous.
posted by Stewriffic at 12:59 PM on May 11

Or, you could try this page. The favored method seems to be a quick coat and fry. Stay away from saltines, Ritz, Corn Flakes or potato chips as breading, though.
posted by Stewriffic at 1:03 PM on May 11

With eggs, garlic, and shallots, on toast.
posted by lester the unlikely at 1:22 PM on May 11

Damn! sounds like you got a great back yard.

Why not with some steaks in a quick brown sauce?

Jealous here too.
posted by Max Power at 1:22 PM on May 11

Wow. Morchella Esculenta. Nice find! When I collect wild mushrooms, I almost always end up sauteing them. After all, I want to savor the flavor of the mushroom, not the sauce. Morels, though, are equally good sauteed or deep fried in tempura batter.
posted by shinybeast at 1:30 PM on May 11

They look fine. To clear up any doubt, just slice one open to ensure that it's not a false morel - a true morel will be hollow all the way up into the cap - more info here. Morels should not be eaten raw, and you should probably avoid consuming alcohol for a few hours on either side.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 1:33 PM on May 11

If you do saute them, here's a simple and tasty method. Use as little olive oil as possible. Add a wee bit of miced onion to amplify the flavor. Sprinkle on a tiny bit of salt and maybe some pepper. That's the easy part. Now you have to find the right combination of pan heat and cooking time. Mushrooms taste best when browned a bit. Experiment with a few slices. Cook some slowly on low heat. Cook some quickly on higher heat. Don't burn them! Taste the difference. Now find the combination of heat and time that works the best for your particular mushroom.
posted by shinybeast at 1:48 PM on May 11

I'm full of envy!

Funghi Trifolati
Soak the morels in salted water to clean, rinse well, dry and chop.
In a skillet melt 2 tablespoons of butter, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add 2 tablespoons of chopped garlic (I know it is a lot), and the morels. Cook on low heat for 15 minutes, then add 1/4 cup of minced parsley. Salt and pepper to taste.
posted by francesca too at 2:45 PM on May 11

And...watch that spot in your yard. As long as it stays undisturbed, you should be getting harvesting morels every spring for many years.
posted by OlderThanTOS at 2:53 PM on May 11 [1 favorite]

I had some beef tenderloin stuff with morels the other night...it was frickin' fantastic. The morels were sauteed with butter and onions briefly, and then the tenderloin was cut down the middle and stuffed and then tied back together. Grilled on a gas grill for a few hours, until about 125-130°C in the middle. mmmmm....Iowa....
posted by sararah at 3:35 PM on May 11

Well here's what we've tried so far.

Made brunch for Mothers Day and had a cast iron skillet on the stove that still had a bit of bacon grease in it. For starters, I re-heated that skillet and threw in a couple of pieces. That was very tasty. It may be my favorite way to eat these.

Then I called a biologist friend who knows a lot about this stuff. He suggested (as did Francesca too) that I soak them in salt water to clean them. He noted that with all the nooks and crannies, they were probably full of our woodland friends. Sure enough, it was like a mini Titanic with quite a few critters floating in the brine. I sure hope that bacon grease killed who ever dwelled in that first batch. Lord knows it's killing me. I found this stuff in the pantry so I whipped up a quick tempura, and beat a couple eggs for dredging. I put on a big pan of oil and and a smaller skillet for pan frying.

First, the tempura and cracker crumbs.

The tempura mix is from Taiwan and only required water. I should have read the bag at the Asian market. Any tempura that doesn't involve beer is probably not worth the oil it's fried in. This stuff was quick but dull, and with an odd yellow color. I should have made it from scratch but when done right, that takes a day. The cracker crumbs were pretty good but they got better with an additional ingredient in the second set of skillets.

Second round started with the cracker crumbs with the addition of the Bookbinder's breadcrumbs, but rather than pan frying, we deep fried them. The kick in the Bookbinder's was rather tasty and I think with all the crannies, deep fry works better on a crumb coating. Simultaneously we tried just a bit of butter and olive oil and in a hot skillet, sauteed a few plain. Also very nice. As others have noted, simple here is probably best. At this point we were kind of getting full, so we sauteed a bunch more with some onions for later in the week, and then we threw the rest of the egg from the breading into the skillet with some sauteed morels and a little salt and pepper, ate with fresh bread. Simple and scrumptious.

We've got about six more, and we left a few under the tree. It seems the area is having something of an epidemic. I understand that morels are currently filling the local shops and restaurants, even my father-in-law found a few in his yard after I showed him what they looked like at brunch. They had them with pasta butter and garlic.

If you're in the central Mid-Atlantic region, check under apple trees. This looks like it's a good spring for these delectable fungi.
posted by Toekneesan at 6:08 PM on May 11 [1 favorite]

An epidemic of morels? Score one for global warming.

Those look delicious. Thanks for the update.
posted by ikkyu2 at 7:22 PM on May 11

I had a great Morel omelette once. Your basic french omelette with morels added. Amazing stuff.

Bread and fry is how I always ate them as a child.
posted by jeffamaphone at 9:26 PM on May 11

Those are a little past their prime. Still edible, but maybe not enough to hold up to stuffing with crab imperial, dipping in tempura batter, and deep frying. I suggest just chopping them up and using them as if they were smaller morels. The taste is the same. Which is to say, unbelievably delicious.

I believe less is more with morel preparation. My go-to recipe is a simple flour dredge followed by a quick frying in either butter or bacon drippings. Put on a piece of white toast, crack a bit of pepper on top, a touch of sea salt, and enjoy as an open-faced sandwich. Food of the gods.
posted by Patapsco Mike at 5:15 AM on May 12