Morel mushrooms: a delicacy for today and the future

There’s more than one way to cook a mushroom, but there’s only one great way.

There are many recipes for morels, and I have never found a bad one, but breading and frying is still my favorite way to go.

Morels have no fat and one medium mushroom has about five calories but frying and breading add both, of course.

The best way I have found for turning morels into a not-to-be-forgotten gastronomical delight is simply to fry them (halved, or quartered lengthwise) with a good breading. While they are frying, they should be flattened softly into the bottom of the skillet with a spatula. Each side, of course, should be treated equally. The pieces should be well-browned in plenty of cooking agent, but not burned, Caps and stems of morels are hollow. Stems are eaten.

My breading consists of equal parts of good crackers rolled very fine and mixed with an equal part of flour and a trace of cornmeal. Dip half a mushroom or pieces in a mixture of egg and milk (equal parts), then roll in the cracker-meal mix and fry in real butter.

Big morels may be stuffed and many recipes are available the call for spinach and onion mixtures. They can also be baked with pasta or vegetable, then served with cream sauces.

They can also liven up stuffings, gravies, soups, or veggies. I’ve never found a veggie dish that did not improve (especially a creamed dish) when cooked with morels.

Mushrooms are usually not quite as tasty after being frozen, but if breaded, half-fried before freezing, they can easily be thawed and re-fried. I bread and half-fry them before freezing on a cookie sheet, then store them frozen in bags or airtight jars. They will keep nicely for years.

You can also dry morels and keep them at room temperature in their dried form. When you are ready to eat, soak them to revive and cook. They can be dried with a food dryer, or threaded on a string and suspended in a low-heat oven before being stored in freezer bags or jars. If they are dried well, there is no need for freezing.

Written by Bill Scifres, an outdoor writer who has been named legendary communicator by the Fresh Water Fish Hall of Fame.