Mushrooms in Cuisine

Pasta With Morel Mushroom Cream Sauce

1 lb. homemade pasta or ½ lb. Capellini or thin Linguine (Linguine Fina)
2-3 tablespoons butter (or your favorite substitute)
As many morels as you can find or substitute 6 ounces dry morels or porchini mushrooms* or one pound of fresh white button mushrooms, Cremini mushrooms or Portabello mushrooms.
½ cup of cream or half and half (you can substitute any soup stock or the water from reconstituting dry mushrooms instead of cream if you want to go low cal.)
1 Tbsp chopped wild leeks or garlic
2 Tbsp fresh coarsely chopped parsley
Grated Parmesan or Romano cheese (to taste)
Pinch of salt and pepper (to taste)

Slice mushrooms into bite size slices. *If using dried mushrooms reconstitute them in a bowl by covering them in warm water for half an hour. Then, lift them from the water and squeeze out most of the liquid. Reserve the liquid.

Melt butter in a large sauté pan. Add sliced mushrooms and sauté on medium heat. As the mushrooms begin to release their juices, stir in the wild leeks or garlic, the chopped parsley and a pinch of salt.

While the mushrooms are cooking, cook and drain the pasta so it will be ready as soon as the mushroom sauce is done. If the mushrooms begin to dry out, add a little water (use the mushroom water if using dry mushrooms). Cook the mushrooms until they begin to brown in spots. Stir in the cream.

Heat through until the mixture thickens a little (you can add more cream if you are serving 4 or more people.) Stir in a tablespoon or two of grated cheese and add some black pepper. In a large serving bowl mix pasta with the cream sauce a little at a time. if you add too much pasta it will be dry. Serve with fresh ground black pepper and grated cheese. Garnish with fresh parsley sprigs.

This should serve from 4 to 6 people, depending on appetites.

Reprinted from http://www.grantcounty.org/ci/muscoda/recipe5.html

HOW TO PRESERVE MORELS

The easiest, fastest, longest-lasting method of preserving morels is DRYING. Simply place your young, healthy specimens (whole or cut in half) on a non-metal screen, directly in the sunshine, raised off the ground for some air flow. Do this early in the morning, remove mushrooms before sundown. Process usually takes 8-10 hours, depending on conditions. Place completely dry morels in paper bags to store. Keep in a dry place. Will last years!

2 ounces of dried morels will re-hydrate to 1 full pound. Re-hydrate in cool water for at least 2 hours. Use the caramel-colored water for soup, stock and gravy.

Hint #1. Hard or reflective surfaces (like a deck or driveway) below your screen will help dry the mushrooms more quickly.

Hint #2. Do not leave outdoors overnight (dew!) or allow rain to get on the drying, or dried, mushrooms.

Hint #3. Do NOT WASH the mushrooms before drying. The moisture can change the chemistry, making the morels hard and dark.

Hint #4. Morels can also dry indoors on screens, but it will take longer. Provide heat and air if possible.

Hint #5. If you’re concerned about bugs inside the mushrooms, cutting them in half and placing them in the sun on the screen will eliminate “critters”.

Morels can also be frozen or canned. The shelf life is more limited. You need a perfect seal, and it takes up more space. The top chefs “sweat” or half-saute. High temperature. In a frying pan saute onions or garlic in butter or oil. Add mushrooms. The liquid from the morels will create a “soup”. Remove from heat, cool, put in ziplock bags and freeze. To re-use, put frozen mixture into a HOT frying pan. It will finish the saute.

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