What do morels look like

When you dry a morel you concentrate the flavour, think of raw fresh nuts versus roasted nuts. The flavours are quite different.

When dried in the sun, the morel absorbs additional vitamin D, like the human skin, and most of us could use a little more of that. Dry morels can be enjoyed all year long. Time and time again, when eaten fresh and dried with our fellow harvesters out in the bush, dried is the clear winner.

Drier and older better? We think so, but decide for yourselves. Drying morels is a bit of an art. The components are time, air flow, and heat. If you are lucky, it is warm and sunny enough that you can let the sun do most of the work. Just lay the morels on screens, with plenty of airflow, and rotate them occasionally.

We let the sun work first and we finish with wood heat in a portable commercial drier. The product has a lovely wood aroma and flavour, and we can do a large batches that meet food safety standards.

Be careful about drying too hot or too fast. With experience, you learn to adjust the heat, airflow, and drying times to what each batch of mushroom requires. While drying morels is a bit of an art, reconstituting or rehydrating morels is so easy a 3 year old could do it as long as the mushrooms were dried properly to begin with. Add some water from the tap and wait a few minutes. Pinch them every now and then and when they are plump they are ready to use.

Morels, like most mushrooms and most delicacies, are best prepared simply so you can really savour them. Some purists would scoff over using olive oil or even salt! It depends on how discriminating and curious your palette is.

When cooking dried morels, add some of your soaking water back into your pan and reduce. We advocate for cooking low and slow until their is a nice colour for the best flavour extraction.

Some prefer fried, breaded, stuffed… really the possibilities are endless! You do have to cook them though.

If it is your first time, be moderate. Lip smacking, plate licking good! Every fall I add these to my basket for an indulgent meal. Always top notch, and now I add them to my loved ones stockings at Christmas! Perfection Delicious morels, great product, well packaged, excellent service! The Morel is certainly one of Nature's finest edible offerings. It's a true pleasure to have morels in your life, whether it be in the forest or the kitchen.

If you enjoyed this post you might also like:. Close menu. About Us. Contact Us. Find Us. Morel Mushrooms. What are Morels? What do Morels Look Like? Why are Morels so Popular? Why are Morels so Delicious? Are Morels Good for You? Why are Morels so Expensive? Do What You Love. Where can you Buy Morels? Add a little wild to your plate. To purchase premium, wild, Canadian morels mushrooms, check out:.

Safety If you are picking remotely, you should have some back country skills. Cutting It is best to cut the morel with a knife an inch or less of the stem. Storing Fresh morels keep for about a week refrigerated, depending on the condition you found them in.

What Makes Morels Grow? When do Morels Grow? Zooming In On Morels. Where do Morels Grow? Which Morels Can you Eat? I hope this instructable has helped you and good luck in the woods next spring!

Question 2 years ago on Step 1. Answer 2 years ago. Question 2 years ago. It might be too late for me this year. I go to college in Mobile, AL. Warm practically all year. Reply 7 years ago on Introduction. Dear tv, Late March here in south-central Indiana. I feel as though they "bloom" as a wave moving north. Your local hunters will know best. Thanks Dorybob! We come from Illinois and surprisingly most of the people we have talked too here hardly know anything about shroom hunting!

Same thing here in Alabama, tvance The only shrooms around here that anyone knows about are the "magic" kind. Reply 6 years ago. Reply 6 years ago on Introduction. The best guide on when to start hunting that I know is to start when the leaf buds on the oak trees are about the size of a squirrel's ear. Very well explained, and while Morel's are reasonably safe, most of the time mistaking a false morel for a real one only brings on "the gummy bear from hell" syndrome, As I was told by my mentor in mushrooms over 40 years ago, "Never eat a mushroom that someone who knows hasn't told you is safe, don't rely on books" We then spent a year, off and on, wandering around the various micro-climates of the Mendocino coast till I could tell them all: Poisonous, Magic, Tasty, not so tasty, and ones that taste down right foul but won't do you serious harm.

To this day, I can still identify them for that area but, you know what, don't really like to eat them much. Also the information is regional. While many are similar in other areas, it's the not so good ones that become problematic. I found a very large one growing on our garage wall! Imogene Cunningham was visiting my father was an accomplished photographer and scientist and photographed it.

My son has the only print that I know about, for it was not in the Cunningham catalog of prints, but she signed it. There is some slight water damage as a result of the print being stored improperly by my parents.

Reply 7 years ago. I've generally avoided mushroom gathering because of their low nutritional value and the risk associated with them, but your instructable has seriously peaked my interest. I can honestly say I've never had a morel before and will definitely follow your instructable. However, I'm concerned that there isn't enough caveat info on your instructable.

You spoke of the 'false morel' which led me to research and I think you should include some pics of them as well so people can clearly identify them.

It'd go a long way to rounding out the instructable anyway which I think is fantastically detailed. Also, it mentioned issues with eating them raw, or with alcohol and I thought you may want to give that a mention as well.

Again, you taught me something and I do appreciate that. Great job. By catman Follow. More by the author:. Did you make this project? Share it with us! The darker the color of the morels, the nuttier and earthier the flavor will be. If you're foraging for morels yourself, be sure to go with an experienced guide who can spot false morels.

Fresh, unwashed morels should be stored in a paper bag and used as quickly as possible. You can also store them in the fridge for up to a week, but this can also dry them out and alter the texture.

To prolong the life of your morels, you can dry them by laying them out in the sunlight and rotating them. Dried morels will last up to six months stored in an airtight container. When you're ready to use them, simply tap them with some water and wait.

Pinch them a few times until they are plump and ready to use. Dried morels can also be frozen, and thawed for use in soups or purees. To prepare morels, clean them with cold water and dry quickly before they soak up the water.

Then, slice them up and cook them however you choose — keep in mind morels shouldn't be eaten raw as they can cause stomach cramps. It's best to cook morels simply so you can truly savor their flavor. You can also add morel mushrooms to this savory wild mushroom sauce that's perfect for grilled meats. Fresh morels are put on display in this morel mushroom bisque.

Morels pair beautifully with asparagus , another springtime vegetable that will shine in this asparagus and morel risotto. Some cooks even prefer to fry morels; learn how with this simple fried morel mushrooms recipe.

In addition to their luxurious taste and texture, morels are loaded with all kinds of vitamins and minerals. They will generally contain significant quantities of iron, copper, manganese, phosphorus, zinc, vitamin D, folate, niacin, riboflavin and a decent dose of potassium, magnesium, calcium, selenium, thiamine, vitamins E and B6.

The fresher the mushrooms, the better the nutrient content. There are multiple varieties of morels that appear at different times throughout the season.

In North America, black morels are usually the first to arrive, typically in large colonies around ash trees. They're followed by yellow morels, which are often scattered alone or in small groups, making them harder to spot. And finally, late morels will arrive last. They have small, yellow caps and are the most elusive of all morel varieties.