the morel of the story...

As I am sure many of you are aware and happful for, Spring has arrived! And for food-minded people such as ourselves, Chef and I anxiously await the arrival of Spring for the goodies of the Forest. Morels being the prime target. And while many children may have been hunting gifts from the Easter bunny this past weekend, Chef and I were hunting goodies of our own. As another 'hunter' put, the "natural" Easter egg - the famed morel mushroom.

Behold! The morel: Sneaky little devils 

that hide behind vegetation and

pop up from below the leaf litter.

But in case you weren't aware, mushroom foragers, or hunters, are a secretive bunch. So don't expect me to blurb too much about these fungi... other than the basics ... Morels are edible wild mushrooms found in the woods. They are so prized and so tasty, they are referred to as a choice edible. That's high acclaim in the world of fungi. Finally, morels are only 'out there' for 4-6 weeks in the early Spring. So people get ramped up and hot and bothered and such when it comes time to forage. And, yes, we are guilty of that as well, but to a lesser degree...or so I think :)

If you are thinking, "Are you nuts! Wild mushrooms are poisonous! You're going to die! But there might be bugs on them!", I say to you - pssh! And just to test that dying theory, I started typing this entry Sunday night, after I ate some of our find, then went to bed. Guess what? I'm still alive, and there was no weird bathroom experiences. And no, no bug parts stuck to my teeth. By the way, I did dream of morels, and I liked it!

A few more morel facts for those of you whose panties may have slipped up into an uncomfortable position. The morel is a distinctive mushroom period; there really isn't any other mushroom out there that you can mistake for this choice edible.  Albeit, there is a mushroom called the false morel and it is poisonous, but it really doesn't look anything like the tasty ones. The false morel is all blobby looking, and there are none of the pockets or pits and ridges that the 'literature' refers to that the choice morel boasts. (heehee, literature, don't I sound like such an expert? i'm making up for the use of the word blobby).  Another quick and easy field test is cutting your morel in half, lengthwise. The good ones will be totally hollow inside. The ones you don't want will not be hollow: you will see little compartments as well as a cottony-type filling. Additionally, there are several species of the edible variety, varying in color and often depending on habitat. And the most important fact about morels: it is fun as heck to go out and collect these things. It can be hard work, but totally rewarding!

And here they are, cooked up. Chef took an ol' timer's recommendation and cooked them up with heavy cream. Sherry was also recommended with the cream, but we did not have any sherry in the house so we just stuck with cream and parsley. These little gems topped el pierogie and were joined by chived mashed potatoes and sauteed cabbage with caraway. You might also see another tasty wild fungi in the photos above, the oyster mushroom. I will restate, I am still alive and have not had any sudden dashes to the bathroom.

And the morel of the story is .... don't be an un- fun-guy and scoff at people who eat wild mushrooms! Let me try that again .. if you are going to eat wild mushrooms, do your homework! Nah, that's too authoritarian. And the morel of the story is ... there ain't nothing like freely foraged food!  I'm going with that.