Tuesday, May 31, 2011

One Little Mushroom

Morels are perhaps the most prized mushroom.  Unable to be grown in captivity, they can only be found through foraging.  Which also means they are only available for a short, seasonal period.  You can buy them in the stores, when the season comes, but with these factors, they carry quite a hefty price tag - usually $25/lb, though this year they were coming in at $30/lb.  Unfortunately, too rich for our blood.

Morels grow wonderfully in Wisconsin, so morel hunting is big business.  Bryan attended a lecture at the library presented by the Wisconsin Mycological Society, followed a few days later by a foraging outing in the Kettle Moraine Forest (North).  We were hoping he would get a few, so we could have a few tastes this spring, at least, but we didn't get our hopes up too much.

Well, you'd never have known Bryan was a novice, because he got a TON!  12 oz. in total, which is no small take.






With so many morels at our fingertips, we were excited to find the perfect recipe to showcase them.  Some quick research yielded two common tips: less is more, and cream tastes good with morels.  We settled on a Lasagna with Asparagus, Leeks and Morels.


Oh, it was good.  So, so good.

And we even had enough mushrooms leftover to have some with our eggs for breakfast.  Not bad for a first time out!