Morel Recipe

March 14th, 2010

Well it is official, the morels have (supposedly) been spotted in Indiana! A friend of the HMC (supposedly) found a small morel, about 3 mm this week AND our local grocery store here in Brown County Indiana is already selling morels from CA! To get everyone in the mood for your up coming fungi finds here is a recipe for Frittata with morels. Shiitake mushrooms and shelled edamame can also be substituted if you cannot find fresh morels or fava beans.

Frittata (Italian omelet) with morels:
1/3 cup shelled fava beams
1/2 cup fresh morel mushrooms (about 2 ounces)
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 tablespoons grated fresh romano cheese
1 tablespoon finely choped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1.8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 large organic eggs
2 large organic egg whites
fresh tarragon leaves for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook favabeans in boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and plunge beans into ice water, drain. Peel tough skin from beans.

Place mushrooms in a small bowl of cold water. Swirl mushrooms gently to remove grit. drain and rinse well. Place on paper town and pat dry.

Heat oil in an 8 inch ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms to pan and saute for 5 minutes or until browned. Combine 1 tablespoon of cheese, parsley, sour cream, tarragon, salt, pepper, eggs and egg whites in a medium bowl. Stir ingredients together with a whisk. Add mushrooms and beans to egg mixture. Add egg mixture to pam and cook for 1 minute, stirring gently.

Place pan in oven and bake for 8 minutes at 350 degrees or until edges are puffed and center is almost set. Remove from oven.

Preheat broiler (that funky thing at the bottom of your oven, you know, where you store your pans. Yea, you can cook with that : )

Sprinkle top of frittata with remaining 1 tablespoon of cheeks. Broil 1 minute or until cheese melts. Garnish with fresh tarragon leaves.

Yields 2 servings.

Calories: 356
Fat: 20.3g (sat 6 g; momo 9.4; poly 2.6g)
Protein:26.2g
Carb: 19g
Chol:435mg
Iron:3.9mg
Sodium:586 mg
Calc 153mg

Recipe from Cooking Lightly Magizine, April 2010 from Chef Scott Ketterman of Simpatica Dining Hall, Portland, OG.

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What is a Wolf-fart?

March 8th, 2010

I recorded these video during a morning walk with my trusty companion – Kais. This is only the third 50 degree day so far this year, so there are not many mushrooms out yet. There are, however, a number of species that are left over from last fall. One of them is a small puffball that resembles an upside down pear as it grows – hence the name “Pear Shaped Puffball.”

Most puffballs grow on the ground, but these puffballs are one of the few species that grow on wood. I have only seen this puffball growing on trees that are well along their way in the decomposition process. Not on lumber that has been recently fell.

Several of the key characteristics of this mushroom are its size. The large part of a pear is rarely larger than a nickel in size.  Also, many books refer to these puffballs having very small nodules or spikes on the outer skin early in their life, often quickly wearing off, making the puffball appear smooth for the rest of the season. I normally only see them with a smooth outer skin.  Something else to look for are prominent mycelial  threads around the base of the clusters. They are pictured below:

Pear Shaped Puffball Mycelia

Pear Shaped Puffball Mycelia

There are not many lookalikes to this mushroom, making it very easy to identify. During the fall, if you cut or tear the mushroom open, it should be white, and have the texture of a marshmallow. If it is any other color than a bright white, then it is not good to eat.

But the title of this article talks about wolfs farting? What gives?

Going a little more in depth, the scientific name for this mushroom is Lycoperdon pyriforme.  In Latin, Lyco=Wolf and perdon=”burst of wind,” with the latter name pyriforme meaning “pear shaped.” This is one of the most common puffballs in the woods, so you should be able to find it often if you are looking.  The weather is getting better every day, so the mushrooms will not be that far off!

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Morel Mushroom Hunting Seminar 3/9/10 – Ft. Wayne

March 7th, 2010

The following was posted at the Indiana forum on Morels.com. Alex Babich is going to be showing clips of his morel hunting documentary and will be conducting a seminar on morels. We are going to go up and check it out on Tuesday evening.

GanderMtnLarge

From Alex Babich:

I am doing a Morel Mushroom Hunting Seminar at Gander Mountain in Ft Wayne this coming tuesday the 9th at 6pm. This year I am showing clips of my morel hunting documentary for the 1st time to public. We will also have different morel mushroom T-shirts, sweatshirts, magnets, sticks & more.
I designed the shirts myself, I will see if i can post some pix on here after the seminars.
I also will be at the Ft Wayne Lake & Cabin show.. on the 12th, 13th, & 14th.. doing 5 seminars for them. Check out the website for times & info ( www.OutdoorSportsLakeCabinShow.com ) They are going all out & giving out free prices like kayaks, canues & mountain bikes at the show.
We will have a booth there with all the morel stuff as well.
Hope to see some of you there :)

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