Morel mushrooms picking time

My niece picked 72 morel mushrooms yesterday. She gave 10 to try. Don’t know how to prepare them, any suggestions?

9 Likes


We just found these today. We slice them in half long ways (the big ones get quartered) then bread in flour and fry til golden brown. Add a little salt and down the hatch!

3 Likes

Congrats. I tried pan-fried like @dkr06022012 suggested. I also tried just pan frying with oil and salt to season. They shrink by quite a lot. I think kids prefer the breaded/fried method while I prefer the other.

1 Like

Do they get bigger if you leave them, or ??

Found these in our greenhouse but they are small.

3 Likes

I’ll elaborate a little on my process.

Like @dkr06022012 I slice in half ,1/4 for the big ones ( helps lay flatter in the pan).

Then soak in salt water with a plate on top to keep them submerged. This will aid in getting the bugs out. Rinse and drain.

We then egg wash, flour and fry in butter with some olive oil to bring the burning point of the butter up.

When golden brown put on a plate lined with paper towels. Lightly salt.

Enjoy!

We usually go a little darker than this but these are headed to the freezer to be enjoyed latter.

This pic to practice looking for them.

3 Likes

2 Likes

You lucky dog!

Those are fresh, let them go for a couple days and see.

1 Like

I have never tried a morel. I was very happy to see them, and my husband said he has seen them around the property so he’s going to tell me from now forth when he sees them (he hates mushrooms; I love them). He made that mulch on the bottom of the greenhouse floor. He must’ve had spores on something that he put in the chipper, I’m just guessing how the spores got there…….

5 Likes

Could be the start of a very good thing.

Morel’s aren’t just any old mushroom.

Just because he doesn’t like some other mushroom doesn’t mean he won’t like these.

1 Like

So true! Maybe he will love morels.

I will wait to see if they get bigger. Once spores are there, are they always there and come back every spring in same location? How can I try to get more, if I tap the mushroom over agar or something, can I grow more?

1 Like

I’ve been all through my woods multiple times in the last couple of weeks, looking in places where I’ve found morels in the past, and ‘likely’ spots, with no luck, but scored some nice Chicken of the Woods on Friday.
My wife and I prefer CotW over morels, so I’m not bummed.

6 Likes

I think I see 8.

1 Like

Great haul Lucky! It looks fresh.

1 Like

I have looked for that one myself and I think we had some on a piece of wood we use as a step in front of our pantry shed. Something came and nibbled it off. I haven’t really found a nice harvest like you did of chicken of the woods, so I have never tried it, we have so many different mushrooms here it’s crazy. We live in a forest and I love mushrooms but I’m afraid. I think I could identify morels and chicken of the woods but that might be it.
We had magic mushrooms on top of our blueberry dirt and also we had ink mushrooms on top of dirt in an apple tree. It was so cool because you see the mushrooms, and then it was like the whole thing melted and you just saw a white thread for the stalk left, and then they would come back again. It was actually pretty amazing, I read that those mushrooms might have cancer fighting properties.
Some of the mushrooms we found were huge and some were shaggy looking and there are a lot of of them, but I wish I knew which was which.

1 Like

I’m comfortable IDing morels, Chicken, chanterelles




indigo milkcap, and puffballs.
Feel pretty good about boletes, but so far, I’ve not found any that suit my taste.

5 Likes

I am going to follow your recipe sounds excellent, thanks.

2 Likes

It has been dry as dust here for years now. Once we get some rain they will start to pop. In the meantime less mowing is nice.

1 Like

It is too late for them here now… the first week in April… i found some and ate them with a grilled ribeye steak. Delicious.


TNHunter

3 Likes

Are they so much better than store bought mushrooms?

I checked my spot this weekend but it was a little too early. Still patches of snow on the ground up at 600 m elevation.

As for cooking, I like to sautee them with salt, no oil, then eat them plain on the side of something. I want to taste that deep meaty morel flavor without other stuff getting in the way. Putting them in soup is good too.