The Morel of the Story

It is the first week of summer, and here I am teasing you with a picture of spring.  I am a bit late in posting this, and for that I apologize.  These little beauties showed up in my kitchen one day this spring.  I'm going to hazard a guess that is was in late April.  You may notice that I said they "showed" up.  Not that I didn't go looking for them yet again this year.  I've got the rules down, under old apple, elm and poplar, recent burned areas, when the apple trees bloom, when the trillium  blossom.   I even have some fantastic sites in mind, where I just KNOW they will appear.... I check and re-check only to come up empty.  I traipsed on several well-timed forays into the woodlands when I was just sure the path would lead to bountiful morels- yet, my eyes did not light on a single one this year.  That is, until these appeared.

I'm not saying that I have been lucky before this year either.  To be fair, I've only known enough about wild mushrooms to even LOOK for morels in the last 6 or 7 years.  Before that, I could've stepped on an entire field of morels and kept right on moving through.  That's how most things go, I guess.  But now I know when to look, I know what to look for, I just need to get lucky with the right spot.  The best part of finding them has got to be how good these little hard-to-find devils taste.  I did get lucky one year, and found 1 yellow morel.  That's right, ONE.  We took that yellow morel back to the kitchen, fried it up ever so lightly in butter, then spooned it over a crisped piece of toast.  And split it 3 ways.  Spartan yes, but oh so meltingly delicious.

So this year, when a kind benefactor (thank you, thank you!) dropped off this gift, I had an idea laying in wait: Morels in Cream Sauce. My plan involved not just serving it spooned over top of a piece of toast, but to grill a marinated steak and first layer slices over the toast, then crown the whole affair with the morels in cream.  (Is your mouth watering yet?)   After some quick photography, a simple marinade for a sumptuous T-bone steak (equal parts A1 sauce, worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, a spritz of hot sauce and a sprinkle of montreal steak seasoning), I got to washing the convoluted caps.  I decided to slice them right down the middle, cleaning out and rinsing as I went.   This is just about when the unexpected company showed up- lucky ducks!

I have to say, in my humble vegetarian-leaning opinion, the sauce was fully capable of standing on its own with the toast, leaving the steak to be somewhat superfluous.  However, the whole thing worked beautifully together, and for the steak lovers in the crowd, you will not be disappointed at all.  

I'm not sure when I will see the likes of another batch like this, but must accept the fact that it will be at least another year.  The short morel season, coupled with my incredible difficulty stumbling on them by chance, and everyone that's in-the-know being maddeningly tight lipped on their top secret hunting spots- all makes them taste that much better.   (Not to mention the price they can fetch at market!)

Thinking ahead, I secreted away one precious cap to dice up and sprinkle in my woods, like fairy dust, on the off chance that it would find a perfect landing spot to go forth and prosper.  Until then, these pictures must do.  Oh, and chanterelle season is just around the corner!

Morels in Cream Sauce (adapted from The Great Morel website)

15-20 morels, well cleaned, and sliced in half

1 shallot, finely diced

2 T butter

2 T olive oil

3/4 cup veal stock (or chicken stock)

1 cup heavy cream

salt and pepper to taste

Saute the shallot in the butter and oil over medium until just translucent.  Add the sliced morels and saute till starting to brown, about 5 minutes.  Add stock and allow to reduce for 2-3 minutes.  Add cream, reduce heat, allowing to simmer until thickened slightly.  Season to taste.