Sunday, June 20, 2004

Morels

My birthday gift from my father-in-law this year, was a box of fresh morels.
What a wonderful gift. My only problem was to figure out how to best use them. After thinking about a bit I settled on an omelet.
The omelet might be a plain dish, but the simple eggs are such a neutral canvas to build the flavor on.
Here is what I did (as with all cooking I do, I just sort of wing it, so no exact measurements are provided):
  • I cut the morels into tiny pieces, except for a few pieces that I left larger to provide texture.
  • I slowly and lightly fried them in a bit of butter, just enough to bring out the aroma and to start caramelizing the butter (but not all the way).
  • In a bowl, I mixed some half-and-half and some soft plain chevre until it was thick and creamy. (Next time I do it I will make it even thicker than I did this time. It easily gets runny when it gets warm.)
  • I poured the morels from the pan I had fried them in, into the half-and-half/chevre mixture while leaving a bit of the butter in the pan (since the pan I used was going to be the one I made the omelets in).
  • I mixed the morels and the chevre mixture and tasted—several times—to make sure it was right.
  • Then I cracked the eggs (six eggs for two omelets) and added a bit of milk, a pinch of salt, and a touch of pepper. I also added a small amount of thyme, basil, and oregano.
  • Then I just made two omelets, put the morel filling in the middle, tipped it on to plates...
...and then we ate it! (Excuse me for a moment. I'm beginning to drool in my keyboard.)
Thanks Ron!

PS
Ron, if you bring some more, I'll make you one too. :-)
Update 2012-08-29: Sigh. Normally I would never update a posting this old, but it have come to my attention that morels (wonderful, succulent aromatic morels) have neurotoxins that don't go away when cooking. They might not get you right away, but every time you eat some, there is some damage to your liver etc.. Not much, but in the end it adds up. I'm going to miss my morels.

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