Morel mushrooms are one of the many reasons I'm not a very good turkey hunter. In the woods, my mind is often on these spring delicacies when I'm supposed to be concentrating on gobblers.
The mushroom that inspires such skewed priorities ranges in height from two to six inches, and in color from gray to yellow-tan. Morels are hollow, with a white stem and a head that, according to Alexander H. Smith's The Mushroom Hunter's Field Guide: "varies from globose to elongated, and the distribution of pits over the surface is such to break up the longitudinal ridges into a distinctly irregular pattern." In other words, you look for a mushroom with the complexion of a bath sponge.
Some of the so-called false morels (the Lorchels, cousins to the Morchella) can be poisonous, but no one who has seen even a good picture of a real morel would confuse them with the false morels. Lorchels are more wrinkled than pitted, and their caps are brain-shaped, not elongated.
The small black morels precede the larger yellows by at least a week. You can find them near evergreens and around aspens, birches, or conifers. Often they grow in sandy soil and some hunters believe they thrive in recently burned fields. The yellow morels grow in old orchards, beech and maple forests, oak timbers, and in old grassland. Fencelines and railroad tracks often make productive hunting spots, as does the occasional lawn. Many people key their search to dead elm trees.
Some hunters look for oak leaves in the "mouse ear" stage to know when the woods are ripe for mushrooms. The best time to hunt is on a warm, sunny day following a good rain, especially when temperatures climb into the 70s and above. Morels literally pop up overnight, so if you don't find any in a prime spot, check again a few days later. The same places are often productive year after year.
Early in the season, south slopes in the open will often be home to small gray morels. As the weather warms, you'll find yellow morels in the timber, with the last mushrooms of the year appearing on cool, shaded northern slopes. The season lasts roughly three weeks with the very best hunting often coming right at season's end.
If the mushrooms you bring home are especially sandy or dirty, rinse them quickly under running water and carefully pat them dry with paper towels. This method of cleaning is more time-consuming than soaking, but it preserves more flavor and keeps the morels from becoming waterlogged.
Where I come from, people eat their morels fried. My Dad's secret to great mushroom batter was to replace the milk in any batter recipe with beer. He'd let the batter sit in a refrigerator for at least two hours, but preferably overnight. The resting period allowed time for the yeast in the beer to break down rubberiness in the batter. Some people split their mushrooms lengthwise before dipping them in batter, others fry them whole. Either way, deep fry at 375 degrees for three to five minutes or until golden brown.
At my house, we like to slice our morels in half, saute them in butter, then scramble them into eggs along with tarragon for breakfast. For dinner, we're likely to use my all-time favorite morel recipe:
Gloria Galask's Mushrooms in Blue Cheese
If you're lucky enough to pick more mushrooms than you can eat, dip them in batter or flour and fry them for just a minute or two, then freeze. They'll keep for several months this way. To cook, heat some oil and drop them into the skillet still frozen. You can also string morels up to dry and keep them until winter, reconstituting them in beef or venison stews.
When we have too many morels now, I make duxelles.
Morel Duxelles
To make mushroom gravy with duxelles, melt 1 tablespoon butter. Stir in a tablespoon of flour, then add 1 mushroom cube. Gradually add 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth, stirring constantly for about 4 minutes as the gravy thickens.
I like this on chicken breasts or even better, on roast pheasant, for a taste of my two favorite seasons, spring and fall, at once.
Copyright (c) 1997 Philip Bourjaily. All rights reserved.