Below are our 5 steps to cooking morel mushrooms.
Morel mushrooms are not only delicious, they also pack a nutritious punch with medicinal benefits that make them worth adding to your recipe.
Morels are also a bit difficult to find, but discovering them in the wild or your local store is well worth it. Once you find them, cooking morels is easy enough.
1. Select Your Mushrooms
An important factor in enjoying mushrooms is the selection process, as choosing good mushrooms makes all the difference. Look for morels that are small and firm on the outside. They should be relatively free from bugs and debris, although you’ll look after cleaning them in step 3. Also look for morels that are as dry as possible, as any kind of moisture creates a spongy texture.
If you’re foraging for morels in the wild, be aware that there is a poisonous species of mushroom that looks identical to a morel. The primary way to tell these two mushrooms apart is by cutting them open. In a true morel, the inside is hollow when you cut it open. Its poisonous counterpart is not hollow. A simple short video here helps differentiate morels from their poisonous counterparts.
2. Gather Your Ingredients
Before you begin, you need to have the right ingredients to accompany the morels:
• Cooking oil. (Extra virgin olive oil is one good option, although any cooking oil will work).
• Butter.
• Garlic.
• Onions.
The utensils you will need are your favorite frying pan and a sharp kitchen knife.
3. Clean And Rinse the Mushrooms
The next step in preparing your mushrooms is to clean and rinse them. Make sure you go over them carefully, taking care to look for wormholes, bugs, and dirt. Remove any bugs from the mushroom, and dust off any debris with a small kitchen brush.
This step may take longer if you foraged for morels in the wild, rather than getting them at the store. The advantage of wild-picked morels is that they are fresher, since you can eat them directly after picking.
Once you have removed all bugs and debris from your morels, rinse them briefly under cold water. Be sure to only rinse them for a few seconds, so they don’t absorb water and get soggy.
4. Cut The Mushrooms
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ext step is to cut the morels. First, chop off the hard stems. Using a sharp kitchen knife, cut carefully, as close to the body of the morel as possible. Then dice the morels in half or in quarters, depending on your personal preference. Be sure to notice if the insides are hollow (morels) or not (poisonous).
5. Cook The Mushrooms
Now you’re ready to cook the morels. Start by heating the oil in a frying pan for a few seconds on high prior to adding the mushrooms. Then add morels to the pan and stir them around, allowing the cooking oil to coat the outside of the mushrooms. Be sure not to “crowd” the mushrooms in the pan. Lower the heat to medium-low and continue frying for several minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning.
Once the morels have turned a nice brown color, add some garlic and onions (if desired) for added flavor. Let the mixture simmer for several more minutes while the garlic and onions brown. Then, add a couple of tablespoons of butter to the mix and let it melt. Stir the morels and butter around, making sure the butter coats the mushrooms completely.
From there, you can add this delicacy to any dish, or simply enjoy them plain.
Wrap Up
Now you know how easy it is to cook morel mushrooms, in 5 simple steps. Add them to any dish, as they are delicious and nutritious. Enjoy!
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