MOREL MUSHROOMS hold a place at the head of the table as one of the finest tasting wild mushrooms. They’re elusive, exclusive, and expensive. The season is short, only a few weeks mid-spring, and their location can change every year – although commercial pickers know that a bumper crop may follow the year after a conifer forest fire. Morels excite and capture the imagination of foodies and find their place in every kind of cooking.
Last weekend, between 3 people, we picked and brought back 100 pounds of fresh morels from a burn in the interior of BC. I was tired, very sooty, dirty and extremely happy. Morel mushrooms are truly magical creatures. They are the fruiting body of mycelium which forms a connective network under the topsoil and has a symbiotic relationship with the forest trees. How amazing is that?! The trees and the mycelium need each other to survive and communicate and the mycelium puts up fruit when the forest comes under stress, such as a fire. The morels are one of the first things to fruit during the rejuvenation process the following spring after a forest fire. Picking morels is similar to picking fruit from a tree, therefore making it a sustainable resource for recreational picking.
When I went to bed after picking all day and closed my eyes, all I could see were the valleys and ridges of the morel honey-combed skin scrolling down my eyelids. Picking becomes addictive, your eyes learn to search out the shapes from the earthy camouflage of the forest floor. Like gold fever, finding and filling your bucket becomes the single minded focus.
For the last week I’ve been living, breathing and eating morel mushrooms and I wanted to share my current favourite way to cook them. Morels have a meaty texture with an earthy flavour which lends itself so well to rich sauces and stocks. They are amazing sauted in butter and eaten on toast. I love them with pasta, over a moose steak, for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Basically any way except raw (don’t eat raw morels, they have a mild toxicity until they are cooked) . But I have a favourite. Stuffing them full of delicious goat cheese, breading and deep frying them.
Fried Morels Stuffed With Chevre
Ingredients
- 12 large morel mushrooms
- 2 cups higher heat oil such as grape seed or canola for frying
1 cup flour- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 package (113 grams) soft unripened goat cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2-3 sprigs dill, chopped
- A few healthy grinds of black pepper
Directions
- Step 1 Clean morels, inside and out, by soaking them in salted water for a minute or two. Shake off excess water and let sit on a paper towel to absorb water while preparing filling.
- Step 2 Heat oil in a medium cast iron frying pan or dutch oven over medium/high heat. You’ll want about 1/2 inch of oil up the side of the pan to shallow fry the morels.
- Step 3 While oil is heating, mix up flour, salt and pepper in a shallow pan such as a pie plate and set aside.
- Step 4 In a separate bowl, beat eggs and milk together and set aside.
- Step 5 Prepare filling by mixing goat cheese, lemon zest, dill and pepper. Spoon filling into a medium sized ziplock bag. Cut off one corner of bag to make a piping bag and squeeze into the hollow centre of the morels until stuffed.
- Step 6 Roll stuffed morels in flour mixture.
- Step 7 Dip into egg mixture.
- Step 8 Coat in flour mixture a second time.
- Step 9 Now it’s time to fry. The oil should be between 325°-350°. Using tongs, place the stuffed mushrooms in the hot oil so that they don’t touch. The oil level should come up at least half way on the morels. You may need to fry in two batches. Fry for about 4 minutes on each side until they are golden brown and the morel is fully cooked.
- Step 10 Remove from oil and let rest on a paper towel for a minute. Serve hot with a lemon wedge and a crisp salad.
If you want to experience Morel picking for yourself, I will be teaming up with EatWild to lead a Morel Hunting Adventure on June 9 & 10 on Secwepemc traditional territory. For information about responsible mushroom picking on traditional territory please see these guidelines: https://www.elephanthillfire.com
Learn all about this super fun workshop HERE!
