I got my supply yesterday. Last night was pasta with asparagus and morels, some shallots and tarragon in a cream sauce. It might have been the best pasta I ever had - I'm new to the morel thing.

Darren72 wrote:There were Morels at the Green City Market yesterday morning. I can't remember the per pound price.

$49.95

River Valley Kitchens had them for $48/lb at the Evanston Farmer's Market this morning.

WOW, Kitchen Monkey! That is quite a haul, and what beautiful creations you made with them!

I really miss the morel hunting of my youth. Growing up in a state park, before mushroom hunting was popular, my mom would send me and the dog out every afternoon before dinner to pick morels and ramps in season...good stuff.

I love the taste of morels, but have never cooked with them.
Is there anything I need to do to cook them (I really don't have a clue -- what part is edible? My knowledge is limited to "when I see it on the menu, I order it").
I was thinking of doing something very easy -- morels shaved over a pasta sauce or something.
Any advice?

They're all edible. But I wouldn't shave them over a pasta - I'd slice and sautee them instead. You want to be able to see the morels' distinctive cells.

One important tip for morels, cut them in half longways and soak them in salt water for about 30 minutes once you're ready to cook them. This makes sure any unwanted guests(ants and the like) exit the tiny crevices in the morels. I agree that just shaving them over pasta will not do the morel justice. I like to cook them to release their strong flavor. I use them as an addition to a basic cream sauce or feature them in soup or risotto.

DML wrote:I love the taste of morels, but have never cooked with them.
Is there anything I need to do to cook them (I really don't have a clue -- what part is edible? My knowledge is limited to "when I see it on the menu, I order it").
I was thinking of doing something very easy -- morels shaved over a pasta sauce or something.
Any advice?

Widely varying opinions abound on this subject. Before addressing the cooking question, you’ll have to decide how to clean them. Morels are often quite gritty, and almost always have some creepy crawly guys nourishing themselves within the craters. Many people will tell you to wash morels thoroughly, perhaps even leaving them to soak for an hour in a bowl of heavily salted water. It’s true that the salt water bath is the best and perhaps only way to remove the critters prior to cooking.

The salt water bath is heresy, in my opinion. In fact, when I see morels on a restaurant menu, I always ask how they are cleaned before I order them. If any kind of soak is involved, I pass. Water and salt sap morels of their woodsy flavor, and usually cause them to come out slimy after cooking. I’d rather have some extra protein from the worms, et al. It’s a little disconcerting when the morels hit the pan and a little red critter scurries out the top of one, but when this happened last night I just turned my head and pretended not to see it. The cooked product was none the worse.

My method also ignores exaggerated warnings about raw morels being toxic. I always taste my batch raw – if it’s got just a little grit, then I don’t do any cleaning. If it’s especially gritty, I’ll run each morel briefly under the sink sprayer, then immediately dry them thoroughly with a hair dryer set to blow cool air on low (yes, I am obsessive when it comes to my morels).

One precaution I do always take is to split the morels lengthwise in half or quarters before cooking. Every now and then I’ll find one that’s just swarming with hundreds of ants inside. A little extra protein is fine, but that’s too much. I toss these (after shedding a couple of tears).

Morels, like all mushrooms in my opinion, are best cooked like meat rather than vegetables: pan roast rather than sauté. I set a pan to medium, and add plenty of butter. Add the morels to the pan in one layer and leave them alone for about 8 minutes. Then use tongs to flip, and add plenty more butter, some thyme and black pepper. Another 8 minutes on the second side and, when they’re almost done, I turn up the heat and add a splash of dry white wine which cooks off in a couple of minutes. More butter, a quick stir, and serve over toast points (or, as in last night’s dinner – as part of a dish of yukon gold gnocchi with asparagus puree, asparagus tips, and morels).

Beautiful as the guys pictured below were, one was an unsalvageable host to about a thousand ants – only discovered after splitting it open, which I highly recommend before cooking…

Kennyz wrote:Water and salt sap morels of their woodsy flavor, and usually cause them to come out slimy after cooking.

Washing does remove the "woodsy" flavor of dirt and bugs, but the mushrooms taste just the same. The saltwater adds salt, but that's easily accounted for by not adding any when you cook them.

They will not be slimy if you let them dry thoroughly before cooking. (A twirl in a salad spinner can help get excess water out of the crevices to speed this up.)

LAZ wrote:

Kennyz wrote:Water and salt sap morels of their woodsy flavor, and usually cause them to come out slimy after cooking.

Washing does remove the "woodsy" flavor of dirt and bugs, but the mushrooms taste just the same. The saltwater adds salt, but that's easily accounted for by not adding any when you cook them.

They will not be slimy if you let them dry thoroughly before cooking. (A twirl in a salad spinner can help get excess water out of the crevices to speed this up.)

LAZ,
As I noted, there are widely varying opinions on this subject. I think you sometimes confuse yours with fact.

On the subject of opinions, in mine, it would be an absolutely horrible idea to put morels through a salad spinner. They're way too delicate, and you'd end up losing lots of tasty morsels. I also doubt the accuracy (an opinion of mine, again) of your claim that not salting morels when you cook them somehow cancels out the undesirable flavor and textural effects of soaking them in what amounts to a brine. While I have no double-blind placebo controlled studies that prove my opinion, it is based on many years of cooking them in home and professional kitchens.

Regards,
Kennyz

Can somebody refresh my recollection? Who was it that decided that we should eat a fungus overrun with insects?

DML, can I have your morels, pls?



Geo

Geo wrote:DML, can I have your morels, pls?



Geo

And do you plan to wash them, Geo?

Hi Sazerac--how's Pgh this Spring?

No, I don't plan to wash them. Brush 'em a bit, cut in half, cook. Hey! Protein is protein!

You have anything good to eat lately there in Da 'Burgh?

Geo

Pardon the interruption, folks

Geo wrote:Hi Sazerac--how's Pgh this Spring?

Cold.

Geo wrote:You have anything good to eat lately there in Da 'Burgh?

Yesterday's lunch at my desk* click for larger image


okay, okay so that was from Chicago - the last of the (cooked) 'goodies' from a quick trip.
But Pgh is great too - for lunch on Friday I walked 6 mins. (to Craig&Center) to
Istanbul Grill

(will have to post and update the PghIndex)
Let me know when you are here next...

* Nuevo Leon Restaurant
1515 W 18th St
Chicago, IL 60608
(312) 421-1517
(312) 563-0828

Istanbul Grill
305 N Craig St
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
(412) 325-3346
-----
Dept. of let's focus this laser
It has been a while since we've been out foraging. But little Feinschmecker should be big enough in time for chanterelles to start foraging in the Pgh area. Then maybe next season she'll be able to spot these things

Spring Trio: Morels, Ramps, Fiddleheads:



Sauteed and baked on a white pizza:





Bill/SFNM

Jeez Bill, those were from the woods 'round SFNM? That is sort of a mind-bender, if true! Why do I remember its being pretty dry there, if you get such provender via a foraging expedition?

Geo

Geo wrote:Jeez Bill, those were from the woods 'round SFNM? That is sort of a mind-bender, if true! Why do I remember its being pretty dry there, if you get such provender via a foraging expedition?

Geo

Geo,

These were shipped to me from Michigan. Many mushrooms, including morels, porcini, and chantrelles are collected around here. Too early right now - it has been a cold spring, but a wet one which bodes well for fungi futures. This area is surrounded by verdant National Forests. Check out this thread.

Bill,

I indeed checked out that thread and nearly died in green envy! What a treasure trove you've got in those forests round there! We've got nothing like the porcinis or chanterelles in the KC region.

Outside my office, underneath a stand of white pines, is a pod of boletes, yellow capped rather than red, as yours. Unfortunately, they don't have much taste and their texture is slimy. So, so much for foraging 'shrooms in KC.

I'm hoping to have some more possibilities in Quebec...

Meanwhile, I dream enviously green dreams of you in your paradise!

All this, and Frito Chili, too.

Geo

Recently, I saw these at a farmstand:


$59.00/lb!

$21.00 got me this much:


Asparagus was a much more reasonable $1.95/lb:



They were delicious sauteed in butter and later added as a garnish to a pasta.

Wow!

My first harvest ever and it netted 6 1/2 lbs! A wooded area inbetween subdivisions in Bolingbrook.

The first two lbs



Closeup



I never imagined...

I wanted to cry this weekend when, at a farmer's market, I saw huge, gorgeous morels at every single stand selling for about $10/ pound. I was in Missoula, MT - where recent forest fires have left extraordinarily fertile morel ground. They were everywhere. The local bakeries had morel croissants and tarts for $4, the diner was making morel omelettes for $7.50, and the gas station had a roadside stand set up with huge bowls of morels for $10.

Kennyz,

I feel your pain. I lived in Missoula for a number of years and the morels are easy to come by, cheap, and plentiful when in season. They have a very nice farmers market along with another market under the bridge by the Clark Fork that focuses more on local meat and prepared foods. I was there last October and miss that place quite often. For the size of town it is, Missoula has some surprisingly excellent restaurants, bakeries, and markets (Good Food Store.)

e m,

I completely agree. Much as people out of the know seem surprised when I say Madison, WI is a great-eats town, I was surprised by the outstanding bounty of good, local food in Missoula. Both cities have large, agriculturally focused university, which probably explains at least part of it.

And yes, Good Food Store is terrific. We have nothing like it hear in Chicago. Cassie's Green Grocer is the closest, but Cassie's - good as it is - is not on the same scale.

Kennyz

I checked not 30 mins ago and morels are $45/lb at Marché Jean-Talon here in Montréal. Provenance: B.C.

Other interesting things—local boletes, Polish ceps, etc.—are typically $35/lb.

Geo

Saturday's Oak Park FM: $32/lb

I bought 1/2 lb that's about to become today's lunch.

Diannie wrote:Saturday's Oak Park FM: $32/lb

I bought 1/2 lb that's about to become today's lunch.

not a bad price. My guess would be that these are coming from Oregon or Washington - did you happen to find out where they're from?

Found Morels at the Treasure Island on Clybourn last night! Not a bad price and fairly good quality-

anniee8m wrote:Found Morels at the Treasure Island on Clybourn last night! Not a bad price and fairly good quality-

Fantastic! First of 2010 that I've heard. I hope I can find some a bit closer to Rogers Park soon. The shakes are setting in.

Spent a small fortune on WI morels at the Green City Market yesterday, but it was worth it.

Morels cooking with thyme, black pepper and heavy cream:


On toast:

Feeling the need to burn off yesterday's beers, I thought I would dodge some raindrops and take a brief walk in the local woods. With the recent rain the morrels are popping up and should continue to do so for a while.



Cut in half (to seek out intruders) and fried with butter and evoo.

I think I'll be getting more walking in later this week...

Ron