Morel Mushrooms (again! in Video...)

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i could not resist going back for more. I ate them up in a stir fry... soooo good!
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xxoxox

Good Morels (mushrooms!)

On my way back from the 'stairway to ramp heaven' I made a foraging find that made the day seem like it was born of magic, unicorns and rainbows... i found some morels! And not the kind I have to kneel down a pray for, but the kind I kneel down and pluck from the earth... Huge wild morel mushrooms. The most morels I have ever held, the most I have ever seen, the biggest most beautiful... morels the size of a f-en pine cone! we literally stumbled upon the patch of morels when walking back through the forest and (not) trespassing past someone's house... (omg, i stole someone's morels--- does this mean deep down i have no morals?) I did take the mushrooms, and shook them all around the area where i plucked a few... trying to spread spores in what seemed to be a perfect environment for growing them- there were sooo many! I made sure to leave many morels growing too, so spores could take wind and make many more.

WHEN I GOT HOME WITH MY MORELS :::::

i know it can be futile to attempt to grow morel mushrooms on purpose, but it's always worth a try. I wrapped the mushrooms in a cheese cloth and took them into the woods - shaking the cloth lightly to let spores loose into the air.

and my second trick, in hopes to grow my own... i filled a bowl full of spring water, let the morels soak for an hour or so --- then i took the spore filled water outside and spread it around in spots I thought they'd enjoy propogating.

THEN I COOKED Um' UP! :::::::

mmmmmm

• I cut each one down the middle (after rinsing it) , added ramps (wild leeks), parsley and rosemary to a pan.


• Alot of moisture came from the mushrooms, which i drained off twice. Once the water was drained off enough, i added some oil and let them cook on low/medium for about 7-10 minutes (until darker brown.)


• I put it over (gluten free) rice pasta with olive oil and pink salt!

SooOOOooOOo delicious, it felt like a sin.

XoxoxoX

The Morel Hunters

Meet the morel hunters. Me... (looking tough enough to split the rock wall with my knife and possibly lacking regular morals).... And Bort...(looking like a moonshiner mountain man who knows whats up but don't care)...

Morels (not to be confused with religious morals) are edible mushrooms that are really popular to hunt in the woods and old orchards, but can be difficult to find because they are so camouflaged into their natural setting. They blend right in with the dead leaves and decay on the forest floor - but once you actually spot one you begin to spot them all around the area. They have a look alike morel mushroom that is slightly poisonous, but you can identify it by the fact that it's head pops off too easy as if it's not attached at all. Real morels are in tact, all in one piece... just like the puritans hope our morals are too. :)You can see in this picture above how well the morels fit into their environment - if their noodle looking stem gets long enough though it makes it much easier to spot the seemingly invisible mushroom. Below you can see how large some get, although in the patch we found they ranged in size a great deal. Bort cooked them up in a frying pan to eat - but I declined to eat any on the crack pot premise that a Chinese Med doctor once told me to only eat mushrooms growing on trees for my particular disposition. Once they hit the frying pan they looked like they melted and it was not appetizing anyhow - but let me tell ya, if i was starving I would gobble up any man's morals.... I mean morels.

XOXO