Morel Mushrooms three ways

Spring is here and with it are things that only spring can bring. Straight forward simplicity, if morel mushrooms sauteed in butter are the be all end all then this sandwich is the top of the pops. Morel mushrooms sauteed in butter on a baguette from Balthazar Bakery would most certainly turn some heads.


Want to put a little more twist in your step? How about a nice crispy fried morel that was dipped in seasoned flour, then egg then seasoned cornmeal and cooked until golden served atop a bed of melted goat brie? Yup, thats right!



No, thats not enough? Then how about a souffle pancake with roasted orange peppers, spinach and morel mushrooms?


Spinach lightly sauteed with morel butter.


Fresh morels in butter.

Souffle Pancakes

3 egg whites
3 egg yolks
1/2 c flour
dash of salt and fresh ground pepper
1/4 water (or less)


Beat the whites to form stiff peaks. Mix together egg yolks, flour, salt and pepper with water to form a stiff batter. Fold batter into whites incorporating completely. Spoon palm size dollops of batter onto hot pan and cover so cake can rise. Let cook two minutes on one side turn gently and cook 30 seconds on other side. Remove from heat and eat. (souffle pancakes are also great as a sweet treat with your favorite fruit compote)


The lightness of the souffle pancake, the earthiness of the spinach and morels played nicely with the sweetness of roasted orange peppers, this would have been even better with a nice crispy Pinot Grigio. Thanks to Justin at MarxFoods for hooking me up with such plump and wonderful fresh morel mushrooms. If you want to experience this delight you need to act fast the window of opportunity for fresh morel mushrooms is slowly drawing its blinds.

Mycophagy

Well I made mushroom omeletes and mushroom quesadillas and mushrooms alfredo with linguine and I also made a mushroom



chile and sauted mushrooms with early peas as shown here but I still have some left. Oh I failed to mention there is one food my onivorious child will not eat and that is mushrooms, so I am at this one solo. What i usually do when I have too many mushrooms is to let them dry. Dried mushrooms have a lot of flavor, they pulverize into a fine powder very nicely and they can act like a secret ingredient when added to soups or breads or sauces or even scrambled eggs. I am going to make a pissaladiere next, well actually I am not going to make the whole pizza thing just the topping to spread on other things, crackers, celery who knows.