Morels, bringing them back to life

 

      For years thousands of folks have been foraging for the elusive mushroom, and perhaps the most coveted per capita is the Morel.  We spend a week or two each year on our return foraging for shrooms around our area.  They are most prized in many cuisines, if not just cleaned, dipped, battered and fried for a snack. These come in two varieties, both white and black.  The black rise earlier than the whites.  In my case here in NW Michigan this means about mid-April.  The whites come on a bit later, peaking about Mother's Day or a bit after.  This all depends on temps, both air and ground, as well as rainfall.  I do love the Black Morels for their taste in dishes.  They have an earthier flavor, but the whites offer their own tastes as well and hold up well to cooking.   The season doesn't last long, perhaps a couple of weeks.   

Black Morels

White Morels

      Morels are perhaps the easiest to determine edible for inedible.  False morels have a separated cap from main stem whereas the edible variety is one continuous stem up and joined with the cap with no visible separation.  

      My wife, although a voracious hunter, is unfortunately allergic to them, but it is an activity we do enjoy together.  I like to have a few fresh ones cleaned, dipped in egg wash, dredged in cracker crumbs and fried for a snack.  Delicious.  

      But most of our larder is rinsed in salt water (for bugs) and then put in the dehydrator for several hours to dry.  Make sure these are 'cracker dry'.  This begins our process.  We continue to gather what we can till the jar is full or we stop finding shrooms.  Our spots sometimes change from year to year and as with any other good mushroom lover/hunter we NEVER SHARE OUR SPOTS.

Space them out plenty on racks to allow air flow

Dehydrated Shrooms, about 100

      Dried morels will last months in a sealed jar or vacuum sealed bag.  The advantage of the jar is the mushrooms will not get crushed as they may in bags.  We are able to use these for nearly a year after harvest and sealing.  For those that need some help in this process we simply take whatever shrooms we need from the jar and then prep them as needed.  This can involve rehydrating in any number of liquids.  You can simply rehydrate them in water to use as you please.  The majority of ours are specific.  If I am making beef stroganoff, I rehydrate several shrooms in sour cream for a day. Just tuck them in there and cover.  This not only restores the shrooms, but releases plenty of flavor throughout the cream.  When I want to use them in beef dishes or with steak, I rehydrate them in either beef broth or red wine.  Morels are delicious with pasta, but I prefer Alfredo (white sauce) as it seems to suit the shrooms better to our tastes.  You can rehydrate them in egg wash (Egg Beaters works well for this) and then dredge them in cracker crumbs and fry, but they're nowhere near as good as fresh.  The secret here is to NOT discard the rehydrating medium for its wealth of shroom flavor, use it in the cooking.  Morels are stronger flavored when you 'bring them back'.  

Rehydrating in Alfredo Sauce

Rehydrating with herbs in red wine

      I am sure there are many other methods with which to preserve these wild mushrooms, but for now this works very well for us.  Whatever your methods, take your time in the woods and enjoy.  Don't hinder your imagination hinder your ideas on how to rehydrate them as well.  The joy of cooking.  

"Life is too short to stuff a mushroom"

Shirley Conran

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Bang Bang Cauliflower

 

     No, I'm not really on an Asian kick, but this is a nice detour to the usual 'Salad Night', this dish provides a depth of flavor and whatever spice and heat you wish.  I offer a somewhat a lesser level of spice/heat, but the adjustments and where needed are pretty easy to figure out.  Still healthy and yet very tasty.  

1 head of cauliflower, broken into individual 2” florets

3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp lime juice

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

3 cloves garlic

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp salt

2 Tbsp. sweet chili sauce

½ tsp smoked paprika

1 thinly sliced green onion, green only

¼ cup sesame seeds

1 cup Panko Bread Crumbs

(you can add Sriracha Sauce here to your liking)

      You can make these in an air fryer or baked.  Mix EVOO, lime juice, soy sauce, garlic, salt, pepper, chili sauce, and paprika in a bowl.  Add cauliflower and soak for several minutes, then remove and dredge in Panko Crumbs.  

      If baking, place in single layer on PAM’d baking sheet in oven for 22 minutes, flipping once.  Remove and toss with green onion and sesame seeds and serve. 

       If air frying place a single layer in the basket and cook at 360F for 12 minutes, flipping once.  Toss with green onion and sesame seeds and serve.  

      Usually eaten dry, you can also add this dipping sauce:  

½ cup mayonnaise

¼ cup honey

½ teaspoon sriracha

1 teaspoon rice vinegar

      You can serve this with just about any side dish, but perhaps Ramen noodles or Miso Soup work the best.  Regardless, this dish is delicious. 

Miso Soup

5 cups chicken broth

1 cup water

4 TB (more or less) Miso Paste

½ cup chopped green onions

Several sliced Shitake mushrooms

1 thinly sliced stalk Bok Choy 

2 handfuls of Ramen or Udon Noodles

White pepper to taste

2 poached eggs (optional)

      Mix water, broth, and miso paste with whisk over medium heat till dissolved.  Bring to boil and add noodles, and mushrooms.  Boil while stirring 4 minutes.  Poach eggs in a different pan.  

      When noodles are done, remove from heat and add Bok Choy, scallions and eggs.  Serve topped white pepper.

"The art of Chinese cooking," says Master James Wei, Taipei gourmet and prince of hospitality, "is to make the meat taste like vegetables and the vegetables taste like meat without either the meat or vegetables losing their original texture."

Richard Hughes 

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Got Kalbi?

      This is the first of two Flanken Rib recipes this summer.  We were turned on to this particular recipe by our good friend, Buck Best and his lovely wife Yung in Oklahoma City.  I was eager to try this due to our love of flanken style ribs and let me tell you his wife can flat out cook. 

       As I said this recipe makes use of flanken style beef ribs, a recent discovery of ours last winter in Texas.  This is a smaller, bone in flat rib that is delicious and lends itself well to many different recipes, including this one.  This is an 'over the grill' recipe and I can think of none better than wood fired with cherry or maple.  

3 pounds of beef flanken style ribs

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

3/4 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup water

1/2 small onion, peeled and finely grated

1 small ripe pear, peeled and finely grated

2 Tbsp dry white wine

2 Tbsp minced garlic

2 Tbsp dark sesame oil

1/4 tsp black pepper

2 green onions, thinly sliced

       Sprinkle brown sugar over beef and mix well to evenly coat.  Let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes while preparing marinade. 

      In a bowl, whisk the remaining ingredients, except sesame seeds and green onion.  Transfer beef into a large sealable freezer bag. Add marinade, press out excess air from bags, and seal.  Turn bag over several times to ensure beef is evenly coated.  Refrigerate for at least 4 hours but preferably overnight.

      Heat grill to medium-hot.  Drain excess marinade off beef.  Grill short ribs, turning once, to desired doneness, about 3 to 4 minutes per side.  

       Garnish with thinly sliced green onions and sesame seeds.  Serve whole pieces as a main course or cut into smaller pieces.  Serve with choice of vegetables, egg roll, and either rice/orzo/taters.  Delicious.

"Is this so hard?  Bibimbap, Lumpia, and Kalbi, I love it all"

Anthony Bourdain

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Turning 70....Time's Exponential Curve

 

      Yes, that's right, me and my pal George Strait are 70.  In fact so are Liam Neeson, Vladimir Putin, Sharon Osborne, Jeff Goldblum, David Hasselhof, Mr. T, Dan Akroyd, and Pat Benatar to name a few.  Wrap your noggin' around that one.  The road has been long and only recently did I recently realize how long.  Like most of us I look in the mirror each morning and wonder where the years went, why I look the way I do, regardless of how my mind feels.  This year I feel some retrospection is in order.  Change is a part of life.  Not many of us accept this well. 

      I'm not going into the details of my life, career and family except to say I wish I had have spent more times with my kids.  Due to my USAF career, I am only still close to my oldest son.  There was a lot of dynamic living and instability and my daughter never got over that.  We are, to this day, not close; in fact, estranged.  This hurts my wife and I more than you can imagine.  

         My choice of teaching as a 2nd career was a challenge easily accepted given my love of children.  I loved the job and like many other teachers worked many hours past the normal school day/year.  It's what it takes, a labor of love.  I worked with nearly 400 children over my career and met some wonderful parents as well.  The teachers I worked with were a fine group of professionals, although I was nowhere near ready for the politics.  I entered the profession full of hope to perhaps change some of the opinions about public schools.  I completed my EdD in Educational Psychology in 2010 and worked a bit with the curriculum but could not seem to make any headway against the 'system'.  My last year or two were very subpar for me and I am ashamed to say that I only survived by playing the same games I despised.  I shrank to within the world of my own classroom and children.  The union is no small part of that.  It is sometimes said that most new teachers don't make it to the 5-year mark, but those that do make it a career survive only through assimilation.  I have always believed that you can be a pillar of society and a credit to your profession, but you have to get your foot in the door first.  I wasn't anywhere near as successful as I hoped to be.  

      My one 'claim to fame' was the Chess Club I founded.  No one believed that 4-5 graders were mature enough to play such a strategy game.  We only existed due to PTO funding as the school district was unable to help us in any way. I was never paid for this, nor did I expect to be.  I found the dollars every year somewhere and if not, I paid out of my own pocket.  We taught children valuable skills in problem solving and situational awareness, attending the Michigan State Elementary Chess Championships every year and even finishing 10th in the state one year.  I was honored to mentor several bronze and silver medalists over the years.  Upon my retirement the chess club no longer exists. 

       I do miss the children and in fact I am still in touch with many of them.  Several of my alumni attended Michigan State, Michigan, Grand Valley State, Northern Michigan, Ferris State, and Cedarville University.  Several are pilots, either military or commercial, USAF intelligence linguists, civil engineers, fire fighters, insurance agents, dog trainers, golf course owners, and nurses, while many of them have established their own families, raising children, and are living their own dreams as well.  One is even pursuing his post graduate degree in Global Health at Ohio State University.  In January I discovered that one of my recent favorites is doing her student teaching in Elementary Education in Anchorage, Alaska.  Recently, I was informed that she was offered a full-time position after she finishes her student teaching and graduation.  I guess I made the difference where it counted.  I couldn't be prouder of them.  Sometimes I receive messages etc. from students thanking me for the influence I made on their lives; how much they learned from me about life and school (plus, the dog and cat stories).  But these days I have realized just how much richer my life has become because of all I learned from every one of them.  "Teaching; all this and a paycheck too"

Micah Lajewski, All Great Lakes Conference Rugby

2013 Cherry Street Intermediate "Knightmares from the North" Chess Team

Silver Medalist Hunter

Silver Medalist Logan

Rich & Alexa, now a student teacher in Alaska

Chess Club lessons and strategy

Lady Katy

Rich & Shelby, my first graduate class

      I move slower now with my share of aches and pains, like many of my friends and relatives.  This started about 12 years ago and the onset was insidious.  First, blood pressure issues although minor, then gout, then a torn meniscus in my knee, and then the diagnosis of COPD.  Additionally, I suffered a fall last May and my back even with P/T including deep tissue massage hasn't been the same since.  Some days are fine, but some days require an Aleve just to do 'some' of the things I used to.  

        Introduction to Tri Care for Life, Michigan Retired Teachers Insurance, and Medicare has been its own adventure.  Who covers what and on what days of the week under which circumstances.  Lots of 'jumping through hoops', but so far I don't have too many complaints.  Of course, all of this, most notably the COPD, makes physical chores harder and accompanies the inevitable weight gain.  Dietary concerns and weight loss are much higher now on my list of priorities.  For the first time in my life, I am pacing myself.  I don't like the situation, but my health could be much worse and for that I'm grateful.  My annual physical exams go pretty much uneventful, so far.  Carpe Diem is my new motto.  My wife still loves me and that goes A LONG WAY.  She has always been better to me than I deserve.  

       Since our retirement, Barb and I have traveled not only to see this great nation, but to renew old relationships with friends and family alike.  We've been to Mexico and Alaska twice each and recently purchased a winter place in South Central Texas we love.  We still have three items on our 'bucket list':  harvesting a black bear, a trip to Ireland, and one more trek to Alaska.  Barb's health is pretty good, except for her terrible allergy and sinus issues which can be an issue when traveling.  Mom lives with my sister in Salem, OR and although she has good days and not so good ones, she will celebrate her 95th birthday in July.  My next youngest sister and her husband have done a wonderful job taking of mom.  My youngest sister is currently in the hospital after a lifetime of suffering through Lupus and smoking.  She is intubated and they are medicating her for fluid in her lungs and around her heart.  

      We take it one day at a time now.  Time has become a palpable reality and every single day is a precious thing.  I have been blessed with the love of a good woman, strong children, and 3 incredible grandchildren; all of which I revere.  This is in addition to the finest group of friends anyone can have.  I have several friends who have already passed on or lost loved ones themselves, which does put things into stark reality.   I do have my share of regrets when it comes to the past but am not bitter.  I have enjoyed my life.  Be generous with your love and your time, make every day count. 

 

Here's to the next 70 

"The great secret that all old people share is that you haven't really changed at all in 70-80 years.  Your body changes, but you don't change at all.  And that, of course, causes great confusion."

Doris Lessing

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