It's Morel Mushroom Season

Mushroom haters, look away. Things are going to get really mushroomy in a very short time. It's springtime and in most of the country, springtime means rainy cool weather mixed with a few warm days combined with woodsy landscapes and lots of decaying leaves and wood and that makes the perfect climate for fungal things to start to grow. Things like moss, mold, and mushrooms! In Iowa, as in many other states, the big prize in the woods is the morel mushroom. People will spend entire days tromping through wet and squishy wooded areas, mesh bag in hand, eagle eyes focused, hoping to find that one in a million gem- the morel. Personally, I keep my eyes focused on the ground and scan the trees for my favorite spring mushroom- the pheasantback, which is also plentiful during morel season but it often overlooked. Anyway, the morel is the big draw here and if you're not a mushroom hunter, you better know someone who is and isn't stingy because these babies will cost you a mint in the grocery stores, upwards of $30 a pound depending on the season.

I have to admit, I no longer wander around the woods looking for mushrooms. Growing up as little girls my sister and I always went mushroom hunting with our dad, and in fact the last time I did go out was also with my dad. We found nothing, not even a tick, but ended up having a nice lunch in a small town café afterwards.

This year I had all but given up on the hope of having any tasty mushrooms to eat. Someone offered to sell me some, but they would have to be mailed and honestly, for $30 I wasn't sure what condition they'd be in by the time they arrived, so I declined. Then a miracle happened. One night, and we're talking everyday average weeknight, the kind of night you might do some laundry, or catch up on your DVRd shows or lawnwork, I got a text, from my daughter, and in that text was a picture. It was captioned "Is this a morel?" Incredibly, my daughter, who lives in the city even, was mowing her yard and doing her lawn thing and she found not one, but three nice morel mushrooms growing right  in her front yard. Of course, I exclaimed YES IT IS and then promptly asked "Can I have them?" I drove right over and claimed my prize.

It's pretty unusual to find a morel mushroom growing in a city yard. That's not really the ideal climate for these guys to grow, but on a shady slope in her front yard, apparently there is a pretty significant underground body to this mushroom because it sent up several of the fruiting bodies. Besides the three she found, we saw several stumps of stems where either a keen-eyed dogwalker had spotted a couple, or maybe a squirrel or raccoon found the tasty tidbits. Regardless, I still had two pretty big and one small morels to cook. I'm happy about that!

Most people, at least most people I know, egg, coat in cracker crumbs or flour and fry them. Like a vegetarian chicken nugget in a way, but to me this seems like a boring thing to do to such a delicacy that we have available for such a short time. I decided mine were not destined for the dredging plates but instead would meet some cousins, fellow forest dwellers porcini, wood ear and cute little white mushrooms and have a party atop a sizzling ribeye. Yes, that's definitely the way to go. My recipe is sized for dinner for two, so adjust accordingly if you're cooking for a larger group.

To get the most garlic flavor, use Sinful Food garlic olive oil. It makes a big difference in flavor! You can get your big clicking HERE.

Pan Seared Ribeyes with Wild Mushrooms

2 rib eye steaks

1/2 package (about 5 or 6) smallish mushrooms

3 morel mushrooms (fresh or dried)

4 or 5 dehydrated porcini mushrooms

3 or 4 dehydrated wood ear mushrooms

2 tablespoons chopped sun dried tomatoes

6 cloves garlic, chopped

salt and pepper

Sinful Food garlic olive oil

butter

1 cup beef broth

2 tablespoons cognac or brandy

1/3 cup half and half

2 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in a teaspoon of water

chopped fresh parsley for serving

Soak the dried mushrooms in hot water until soft enough to cup up. Slice the button mushrooms and place in a medium bowl. Drain and pat the other mushrooms dry. If using fresh morels be sure to soak and clean them well and inspect for insects. Cut the mushrooms into half inch pieces.

In a heavy skillet (I recommend cast iron) melt about 3 tablespoons butter and add 3 tablespoons olive oil. When sizzling hot, add the mushrooms. Cook over medium high heat, stirring occasionally to allow the mushrooms to brown and cook off any excess liquid. Add the garlic and the tomatoes and cook for a minute or two. Season with salt and pepper.

When mushrooms have browned, add the cognac OFF THE HEAT and the beef broth. Bring to a boil and allow to reduce slightly. Add the half and half and continue cooking until thickened, using the cornstarch slurry if needed. Remove to a bowl and keep warm.

Rinse out the skillet. Set back on the heat over medium high. Season the steaks well (I like to say season aggressively) with salt and pepper. Add a swirl of olive oil to the skillet and add the steaks, cooking to desired doneness, then remove to a plate to rest. To serve, slice each steak into strips and place on serving place, top with the mushroom sauce. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.

This dish looks so impressive when plated with the morels peeking through the rich sauce. We like our steak medium rare and the perfect side for this was a simple green salad with Dijon vinaigrette and shaved Asiago cheese. Simple, delicious food.

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Autumn Mushroom Season- Risotto with Forest Mushrooms

I was watching a rerun of the Food Network show Chopped the other day and this particular episode featured teen chefs. One of the teen chefs made a sorta-risotto that to me sounded like a pretty decent dish for an adult chef put in the hot seat, let alone a 16 year old. Risotto is not an easy dish to prepare well, especially under the pressure of a clock looming overhead and three competitors at your side. While this teen chef did a pretty good job and had what I consider a very successful dish, obviously it wasn't a true risotto. You have to invest the time and attention to have a well prepared dish, and you have to have the right kind of rice. Any old rice will not do.

So if you can't use regular rice, what do you use? Arborio rice. This Italian short grain rice is perfect for the long, slow cooking with constant stirring. It's high starch content keeps the grains firm, holds their shape perfectly and combines with the broth during cooking to make a creamy consistency. In the package it seems to be covered in a fine starchy dust. Other types of rice, such as long grain rice, could never hold up in this kind of cooking. The grains are too brittle and crumbly and your risotto would be more like Cream of Wheat.

Risotto is so much more than just rice though. Often times you will see recipes that include vegetables like leeks or asparagus, squash and even some greens. Mushrooms make a regular appearance in all kinds of risotto recipes and is a very unique way to use wild mushrooms, fresh or dehydrated. Every once in a while if my timing is just right I stop at the store in the city at the same time they have a huge selection of mushrooms. Today was my lucky day! They had all kinds of mushrooms I had never heard of, and one that many people forage for. 

The first mushroom I noticed was the Trumpet Royale. The price tag caught my eye as well, but I figured I was only going to need a couple....... This interesting mushroom is pleurotus eryngii, and is also known as a king trumpet, French horn mushroom, and a handful of other names. A native of the Mediterranean region this big boy is the largest of the oyster mushroom family. It has a thick stem, and a meaty texture. 

Another awesome score was a nice clump of grifola frondosa, known to mushroom hunters as Hen of The Woods. I remember my dad bringing these frilly delicate mushrooms home when I was a kid. In Japan this is one of the most widely used mushrooms, known there as maitake, and has many medicinal properties as well as being delicious. It's a clump of delicate petal-like mushrooms that cooks in a flash. If you ever see this one, you really should give it a try, it's a gorgeous mushroom.

Now I had never heard of Forest Nameko mushrooms before (philiota nameka) but I was definitely intrigued. They were teeny tiny and long like enoki mushrooms but had a more pronounced brown cap. I had to come home and do a little research to figure out exactly how to use these guys to their full advantage. If I ever decide to make miso soup, I'll be looking for these mushrooms. They are also great in stir fries.

Also on the shelf- brown clamshell mushrooms. Lyophyllum shimeji is native to the Asian region and is a mushroom that needs to be cooked thoroughly to remove the bitter taste it has in its raw state. It works great in stir fries and any dish with wild game. Agrocybe aegerita, or velvet pioppini mushrooms, are very similar and were also available at the store today, as well as the more common oyster mushrooms, cremini, and shiitake. 

I chose the trumpet royale, maitake and oyster mushrooms for my risotto and bagged up my mushrooms. While the trumpets were quite pricey, and the maitake not much cheaper, I figured it was worth the splurge since I didn't need a huge pile of each, and the maitake clump weighs just about nothing. A quick spin around the store and I finished up my shopping- a bag or arborio rice, a nice crisp white wine, and a carton of chicken broth along with something easy for dinner tonight, and I was on my way, with a recipe building in my mind. The resulting risotto is the perfect dish for a light dinner- just grab a glass of nice white wine. It also serves well as a side dish for grilled seafood, filet mignon, or grilled marinated chicken.

A couple bacon wrapped steaks seared in a hot cast iron
skillet make a great accompaniment to risotto.

Risotto with Forest Mushrooms

1 1/2 cups chopped fresh wild mushrooms
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large leeks, sliced, white and light green parts
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper
2 1/2 cups Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
6 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
handful or two frozen peas, thawed
chopped fresh parsley

Clean the mushrooms and chop into evenly sized pieces. Thoroughly clean the leeks of any sand or grit and slice; mince the garlic; set aside. 

Heat the chicken stock in a saucepan and hold, covered.

In a large skillet, melt the butter with the olive oil. Add the mushrooms and cook until they start to soften. Add the leeks and saute until softened but not browned. Add the garlic and cook for a minute or two. Add the rice to the skillet and stir to coat the rice with the butter. Add the wine to the skillet. Cook and stir until the wine has evaporated.

Begin adding the chicken stock a cup or two at a time. 

Stir while cooking. When the broth is absorbed, add more and continue until all the broth is incorporated and the rice is tender and creamy. Remove from heat and stir in the Parmesan cheese and peas. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and serve.

I have been seeing a number of "easy" risotto recipes making their way around the blogoshpere lately, even a baked version that promises to be no-stir risotto, but really, if you want the best dish, you need to invest the time to do it the right way, the real way, the Italian way. You will not regret it.