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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