After 10 years of searching... ( 10 years? Has it been that long since we moved to Iowa?) We finally found a Morel Mushroom. Now, I know you must be thinking... "You guys must Suck at hunting Mushrooms!" I mean, that is what I would think... But No. We are pretty good at finding them... once we find a spot where they pop up. We used to find them in Grand Haven all the time. But we had time to search for them AND we "accidentally" stumbled upon them several times on our walks. Thus, accidentally finding a spot where they would grow. Then it was simply a matter of hitting the same spot year after year when the time was right.
But here in Iowa... we have no clue where to search for them. Mostly we are working at this time of year.. So we do not have the time to search thoroughly. Or the conditions are questionable. But the last three days have been cool, overcast, and tempered with periodic sprinkles. I would say this seems like the perfect conditions.
But it appears Morels do not like growing in the same forests as the Boletes, Chanterelles, or Russelas. After a failed hunt yesterday, I was beginning to think we would only ever find one if we accidentally stumbled upon it on our runs/rides.
That that is pretty much what happened! Today, along the river trail, I saw one near a large cottonwood tree. A few steps away, there were two more! Cheryl and I became very excited.
I'm not sure of the exact species of Morel this is, But I would guess it was one of the larger species. ( Yellow? Giant?) They reminded both of us of the ones wwe found on Harbor Island in Grand Haven. They were near the water, only a few at a time, and HUGE! One of those mushrooms was easily larger than a Coke can! They were so big, I almost did not ID them because I have never seen Morels that size.
After a few more searches, Cheryl and I find 4 more. A passing walker also gave us one she found. Bringing the grand total to 8 mushrooms! Would it be enough for a Wild Mushroom Tart?
Well.. Almost. The recipe calls for 8 ounces of mushrooms and we had only 4. But Cheryl thought the last attempt at this recipe was a little heavy on the mushrooms anyway. So... 4 ounces of Morels was all that was used.
It was enough! I'm thinking that Morels are potent enough to flavor the entire dish with only a handful of mushrooms. If you add more, you are just enjoying more mushrooms, but the flavor remains the same. None of that really mattered though, we both found the tart to be AWESOME! In fact, Cheryl thinks this was the best tasting way to eat Morels ever since we first found them. ( 10 years ago!) I must agree. I have only ever had them in some form of Gravy or omelette. It almost seems like a waste eating them that way now.
Well, They are officially out now. Meaning: Cheryl and Ethan will now begin to search in earnest. If we can discover another few spots where they may grow, perhaps we will be able to start a tradition of Morels into our Mushroom hunting Calendar.
1 comment:
Nice fish were they sharks? You had good luck hunting mushrooms! :)
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