4/20/2008 Morels Party Food

Friday night we had a cookout-get-together in celebration of my brother and friend's visit. Considering that we had gathered and eaten hundreds of morel mushrooms over the past week, and still had plenty, we thought it would be nice to prepare them for our guests. Morel purists insist on simple preparation including sauteing with onions and butter, but considering the number of people we had to feed, this method wouldn't provide anything more than a taste; I wanted to make something more substancial that wasn't just for novelty's sake.
After looking on the skinnard-net for a while, we decided on some certain ingredients which had been used repeatedly, but in dip form. This is what we came up with:

Morel cheese dip
small white onion chopped fine
one clove garlic chopped fine
4 tablespoons butter or olive oil
1.5 lb chopped morel mushrooms
2 cups chopped imitation crab meat (I know, I know. Sounds gross)
1 lb fresh wild (or store bought) asparagus spears

Saute onion and garlic in oil (or butter) till golden brown but not burnt.
Add mushrooms and cook till soft. Add a teaspoon of salt.
Stir in "crab" meat and stir around; then add chunks of cream cheese, stirring constantly till evenly mixed.
Pour into a casserole dish and top with parmesan cheese.
Cook in a pre heated, 325 degree oven for 35 minutes, or till the top is brown and bubbly. Serve with bagel chips, corn chips, or crackers.

This recipe was excellent and everyone identified the flavor of the morels. The imitation crab meat is kinda sweet, so it compliments the otherwise salty, savory mixture.

Yesterday evening after our guests had left, Jason and I decided to go over to the forks of the river park and look for more mushrooms. We found about 35 smallish ones and decided to make soup for supper. Here is the recipe:

Morel and butternut soup
1 lb butternut squash cut into small chunks.
1 lb morel mushrooms
1 small onion
3 tablespoons butter
1.5 lb asparagus spears cut into 1 inch pieces
two quarts chicken stock
3 tablespoons flour
.5 cup milk
1 tablespoon garlic powder
.5 teaspoon onion powder
.5 teaspoon white pepper
1 small habenero or scotch bonnet pepper

Again, saute onions in butter till golden, then add mushrooms and squash. Cover with a lid and allow to steam for 7 minutes or so.
Add onion and garlic powder, and white pepper, and chicken stock.
Simmer for 20 minutes till squash is really soft.
In a small bowl whisk flour into milk till smooth, and slowly pour into simmering soup. Use the whisk to stir mixture into soup, and smash some of the squash up into the broth. Throw in asparagus. Cover and reduce heat to low for 10 minutes or more.
Mince hot peppers and sprinkle on top of each bowl as they are served.

This soup was soooo delicious! The mushroom flavor is intensified with the boiling time, but sauteing them first makes the texture a little more firm.