Are Morels worth it?

[yankeefan]

I "think" Ive eaten them before and when I was at Whole Foods I was going to buy some dried morels, until I saw they were priced at about $18 for an ounce. Are they worth it?

Are they really that good? I didnt want to buy them and just screw them up.

[Snackish]

Absolutely.

[HungryLetsEat]

Oh yes, they are worth it!. They are yummy in a nice butter/white wine/garlic sauce....maybe over scallops? You don't need a lot of them per serving. I have purchased them from WF before and they weren't $18/oz... but I don't remember the price exactly. I would have never spent that much. I think my total price for a cup or so (unchopped) was $4.00-$5.00. I'm sure it depends on the time of year.

[yankeefan]

were they dried? I think thats why they were so expensive. At least that is what I assume.

[HungryLetsEat]

Nope. Fresh!

[Melanie Wong]

Yes, absolutely, especially the fresh ones. But be careful as some people have an allergic reaction to them. Due to the cost, I'd never eaten enough to go over my threshold and had mostly had dried morels. But once I was served a big portion of fresh ones and had the classic symptoms afterwards.

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/29781...

[The Dairy Queen]

Wow! I wish I'd known this before I went out to dinner this spring at a restaurant that was featuring fresh morels on its menu. I think I ordered a morel dish for every aspect of my meal. Thankfully, I had no adverse reaction, but it probably would have been wise to have been more cautious.

And, yes, morels are worth it.

~TDQ

[cayjohan]

The flavors chazzerking uses with the morels are exactly those that i use, although I veer off into sherry and marsala territory occasionally for finishing. A morel sauce is a miracle with any veal dish, and I also make one for a croquette dish of mock veal, i.e., gound chicken with ground beef (Russian style). Morels also make for a fine risotto.

If you really love morels, do try to get them fresh in the spring. We're in Minnesota, and a rite of passage every spring is to pony up for the fresh morels. In that case, we "stretch" them a bit with some criminis and white buttons, since the price is outrageous. Still, the flavor and texture of fresh morels comes through beautifully.

As others have said, YES! they are worth it.

Enjoy!

[Missy]

If anyone in the mid-Atlantic area would like to learn about morel hunting, you can contact me. My oldest son is a crazy mushroom hunter. Last spring we had more morels than we could eat and also sold 12 pounds to local restaurants. It was especially poignant becasue during that time I ate dinner at Cashion's Eat Place in DC and had a morel/frisee/duck egg appetizer that was $18 and contained TWO morels, each of which were cut into 4 TINY pieces.
They grow like mad around here-you just have to know where to look. We live in the northern Shenandoah Valley.
[e-mail]

[phneale]

I agree with all the suggestions above. For a first timer, the simple morel cream sauce for pasta or the risotto are probably the best. They ARE worth it and fresh are amazing. I also would not buy from Whole Foods and get ripped off. Go to www.earthy.com. They have the most amazing selection of dried mushrooms of all types, and fresh in season at great prices. Their price for 4 oz of morels is $50.

[cayjohan]

Diried or fresh for 4 ozs.? Curious - I get my morels for 12 USD in a pint basket.

[yankeefan]

I would have to assume dried?

Ill try this week and give feedback on how they tasted, look forward to it.

[chazzerking]

One dish that really shows them off and which produces a wonderful marriage of flavors is to soak the morels in a small amount of warm water , pressing them down with a weight, so they are fully submerged. reserving the soaking liquid, and sauteeing some scallops of veal loin, pounded thin and lightly floured, in butter with a little garlic, nutmeg and fresh ground white pepper, add the morels and a little heavy cream and the soaking liquid, to which you add a little veal base (if you have it, or some consomme concentrate if you don't have the veal base)cook to reduce. finish with some cognac and chopped flat leaf parsley and serve with rice. the morels will suffuse the whole dish with their wonderful earthy essence and aroma and makes a terrific enhancement to the veal.

[yankeefan]

These all sound really good, thank you. I was thinking of actually throwing them on a pizza with carmelized onions and possibly a little quality oil and balsamic. Would that take away from the quality?

I had a feeling Id need to reconstitute.. but Im happy to hear that this adventure should be worth it. Thanks for ideas.

[chazzerking]

Morels(especially reconstituted dry ones) can get tough when cooked dry. also the flavor doesn't "spread" as much. dishes with liquids seem to work better unless you're using fresh ones in which case there are more options such as tempura fried.

[Carrie 218]

They would be wasted on a pizza if you are using tomato sauce. They would fare better on a white pizza but even the balsamic oil would overpower the 'shrooms.

[hungry_pangolin]

Yes.

I like Carrie's pasta suggestion, but because of the meaty texture of the morel, I'd be careful about the shape of the pasta; I'd go with penne, rigatoni, something like that. They would be lovely in a simple boeuf bourgignon. I firsted tasted them many years ago at L'Auberge Gavroche (where Boba is now located), in a potage des escargots. It was a revelation.

[Carrie 218]

Yes.

For a first-timer, do something that will showcase the morel -- simple scrambled eggs, quiche, or pasta. I'd also suggest risotto as when you reconstitute the morels in warm water, you have some lovely mushroom jus that can be incorporated into the risotto with added flavor. They have a very distinctive flavor which is a favorite amongst mushroom lovers.