Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Morel Mushrooms

Right before Christmas, at World Market, I found a package of dried morel mushrooms.
They were pretty expensive, about $15.00, but they have been at the top of my list of mushrooms to try, so I got them. Morels are typically associated with forest fires. They are found the first two or three years after a forest fire, although they can and do show up in other areas as well. I put them in a bowl of water and watched them expand.

I may have left them in the water too long - they were quite waterlogged.

I fried them in butter and they were quite membrany. Nothing particularly soft or pleasing about the texture. It increases my desire to find some fresh morels and try them again. At a website devoted to the morel, a map of the United States showing where they are found, year by year, shows that the majority are found in the midwest and the east. There are just a few spots in Northern California, a surprise to me given the number of forest fires in California.

2 comments:

  1. My contact at Marx Foods says that the dried ones are only really good for sauces and stuff where you are pureeing them or chopping them up into tiny bits. Bummer. I'd die to try some fresh ones too!

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  2. Fresh Morel's are at least 10 times better than dried ones. Try looking by dead elm trees and apple trees in mossy areas. Once you have an eye for finding them you will see them everywhere. I just made steak and morel's for my family, with about five pounds of shrooms. I can die a happy man right now!

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