Cook Local

I don't like mushrooms. In fact, I pretty much categorically refuse to eat them. John never liked them either. They always smell good cooking, but I've never liked the taste or the texture. But Orangette (one of our favorite food blogs), had a post about morels. The recipe intrigued us, as did her beautiful narrative about morels.

Then, a few days later, Roots and Grubs (another of our favorite food blogs) did their own post on morels.

At the farmers market this weekend we saw morels at Foraged and Found. We were sunk. Resistance was futile.

We brought about a quarter of a pound home with us and had to wait until tonight to cook them.

Ingredients

• Morels
• Whipping Cream
• Butter
• Bread

We used local morels, Organic Valley whipping cream, Mother's Choice butter, and Tall Grass Bakery Walnut Levain bread.

Brush the morels lightly with a vegetable brush to remove any dirt and slice them in half. Don't wash them unless you have to.

Melt a tablespoon or two of butter in a large saucepan. Throw in the morels.

Here's where I had a little trouble.

Orangette says to let the mushrooms release their juices and then reabsorb the juices again until the morels are almost dry.

Well, I cooked ours for about 10-15 minutes. They did release their juices, but they never got to the almost dry stage.

At this point, the smell alone had me salivating. I turned off the stove and added about 2 Tbsp of whipping cream and some salt.

I gave the mixture a couple of stirs, just so the cream combines with the morels.

John took a couple slices of walnut levain bread and spread a bit of butter over them.

He toasted them on the grill for a couple of minutes and we assembled the masterpiece.

At this point I feel it necessary to repeat: I DO NOT LIKE MUSHROOMS! I do not eat mushrooms.

 

 

 

I ate these. I salivated over them. I savored them. They were buttery, creamy, salty, earthy, and rich. I could have licked the bowl. When they were gone, there was an appreciable sigh of sadness. It will be at least a couple of days before we can get more morels.

After we'd both finished our two toasts, the following conversation took place:

J: "I almost wonder if the bread was a little overpowering."

P: "Maybe. We can try it again with a plainer bread."

J: "Ok!" (said with such enthusiasm that I wondered if he loves morels more than me)

This weekend at the market, we will surely return with more than a quarter of a pound.