A morel mushroom is a prized commodity and in my humble opinion their unique, earthy aroma and flavor are unsurpassed.
Unlike other ‘shrooms, morels are extremely difficult to grow commercially and must be foraged – by someone. Middlemen add to the cost, selling dried morels at $265 plus shipping per pound. Re-hydration yields about four to five times the weight, which makes the proportional cost a little easier to swallow.
Hunting The Morel Mushroom
You can eliminate the middleman, but good luck finding someone that will share their hunting ground. My own grandfather was so protective he refused to take me along until I was old enough to understand the importance of secrecy. I won’t divulge my own hot spots, but I will give you some pointers.
The season begins in spring, when the soil temp reaches mid-fifties and oak tree leaves are the size of mouse ears. They grow in very moist, but not too wet conditions and favor the edges of wooded areas around oak, elm, ash and aspen trees. Old apple and fruit tree orchards are productive areas and wildfire burns are known to precede a growth boom.
Morels are difficult to spot, emerging from dead leaves and ground cover, but if you find one there are sure to be more nearby. They can be black, brown, grey or yellowish and they all have that magical flavor.
False Morels
Foraging for mushrooms is dangerous for an inexperienced hunter. Many are toxic, can sicken or even kill you, so you must be careful. Morels are easiest to identify with their distinctive shape. There is only one imposter you may run across called the false morel. At first glance you may think it’s a morel, but with slightly closer inspection is easily distinguishable from the real thing.
A false morel is solid, wavier and shaped more like a wad of spaghetti or ball of redworms, compared to the hollow, honeycomb appearance of a real morel. Look HERE for images of false morels.
Making Morel Mushroom Cream Sauce and Puff Pastry
Foraging morel mushrooms is difficult and dangerous, so we will make this using dried and re-hydrated morels.
Saute the garlic and shallot, then add the mushrooms and coat in the sauce
Add the lemon and thyme and stir until it evaporates. Add the cream sherry and stir until it evaporates. Then add the heavy cream and stir until it reduces and thickens. Remove from heat and keep warm.
When your puff pastry is ready, spoon the sauce and morels all over it.
Morel Mushroom Cream Sauce and Puff Pastry
A dish fit for the King of the Funghi kingdom!
- Prep Time: 60
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 2–1/2 oz dried morel mushrooms – substitute fresh if possible
- 1 Pepperidge Farm frozen puff pastry sheet
- 1 egg white
- 1 small garlic clove – minced
- 1 small to medium shallot – finely chopped
- 2 TBL unsalted butter
- 1 TBL lemon juice – freshly squeezed
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1 splash of cream sherry
- 1 cup heavy cream
- Salt – to taste
- Ground black pepper – to taste
- Fresh dill weed – garnish – optional
Instructions
- If using fresh morels, clean and de-stem them. If using dried morels, rinse them, use a salad spinner to remove excess water then let them air dry on a paper towel for 30 minutes. Heat 3-4 cups of water to a simmer, then drop in the morels and let them steep for 30 minutes. Use a salad spinner to remove the excess water again, then transfer to a bowl, cover with a damp paper towel and reserve until ready to use, up to an hour
- Butter a cookie sheet and set aside. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees
- Remove the puff pastry from the packaging, wrap in paper towels and microwave for 15 seconds. Turn over and microwave another 15 seconds, turn one last time and microwave a final 5 seconds until the pastry is flexible. Unwrap and unfold on a lightly floured surface then cut each sheet into 4″ x 4″ square pieces. Place them on the cookie sheet and return to the refrigerator until ready to bake them
- Melt the butter in a large pan over low-medium heat, add the garlic and shallots, and cook until the shallots turn translucent – about 2 minutes
- Add the mushrooms and turn to coat them in the butter-garlic-shallot sauce
- Season with a sprinkle of salt and 2-3 turns of your pepper grinder
- Paint the puff pastry with an egg white wash. Place the puff pastry in the oven and bake 13- 15 minutes until golden brown on top
- Continue to saute the mushrooms for about 7 minutes, stirring on low heat and take care not to burn the garlic and shallots
- Stir in the thyme leaves and lemon juice
- Raise heat to medium and when the lemon juice has evaporated, add the splash of sherry
- When the sherry has evaporated, lower heat to low medium and stir in the cream
- Cook and stir with a spatula until it has thickened. Adjust the salt and pepper to taste. Set aside and keep warm
- Plate the baked puff pastry squares, divide the mushrooms in cream sauce evenly over each portion, garnish with dill weed and serve immediately while hot