I found my first Morels! It’s actually kind of a sad story but one must still eat.
There were only a few of them, so I gathered three of the larger ones, just enough for a taste.
The Cream
I no longer use milk from animals (or humans), so I had to decide which cream alternative to use.
My favourite commercial plant cream is Oatly Cream alternative, made from, you guessed it, Oats!
It’s organic, affordable, nice chilled on puddings and works well in savoury dishes. Plus it has a lovely creamy taste and consistency!
But… I didn’t have any!
Experi-mental
Usually I would make a quick cashew cream but for some unfathomable reason, I decided to try making my own Oat cream.
Why on Earth I chose this exact moment to conduct such a risky experiment is beyond me! My first meagre morsel of Morels and I decide to try and be clever. Tut!
I’ve had success making oat milk to use on cereals, so I figured I would just add less water for a cream…
Wrong!
As soon as the cream hit the hot pan, it began to demonstrate it’s porridgy origins by thickening at an alarming rate!
PANIC!
I hastily began to add water, pouring and stirring like a lunatic! Camera cast hastily aside… Funny, I never think to take photo’s when things are going horribly wrong. I will try to remember in future, otherwise I might present an implausible portrayal of perfection!
Rescued
Thankfully, I managed to get the sauce under control but I had to adjust the seasoning and it was more like a Béchamel than a cream-based sauce.
The Morels
Having never cooked, or even eaten Morels before I wasn’t sure exactly how to prepare them.
I know you shouldn’t wash or soak mushrooms generally, but the hollow stems were housing several resident slugs who left an unappetising residue, having been gently evicted.
So I put them into a bowl of cold water (the morels, not the slugs) while I went off to seek further advice from my Wild Food book.*
According to Roger Phillips, the author, a wash under the tap and quick blanch would have been the way to go.
So I removed them from the cold water and blanched before frying.
The Basic Recipe:
Given my trial and errors, you would do better to learn from my mistakes than to follow my methods but here is a brief summary:
Ingredients:
- Morels
- Wild Garlic
- Spaghetti
- Plant Based Cream
- White Wine
- Salt and Pepper
Method:
- Cook the Spaghetti in a large pan of salted water.
- Wash and prepare mushrooms and Wild Garlic.
- Cook the mushrooms in Olive Oil over a medium/high heat.
- When the mushrooms look crispy round the edges, add the chopped stems and buds of the Garlic.
- Throw in a splash of white wine and let it reduce.
- Add the Garlic leaves.
- Pour in the cream and stir.
- Season with Salt and Pepper
- Drain the Spaghetti but add some of the cooking water to the sauce if it’s too thick.
- Add the Spaghetti to the sauce and toss to combine.
- Serve with a sprinkling of nutritional yeast* and black pepper.
More Morels Please
I hope I’m lucky enough to find Morels again one day. It would be nice to try again.
Leave A Comment:
Have you eaten Morels? How do you prepare and cook them? I’d love to hear your experiences.
Also, if you have any tips on how to make a stable Oat cream, or other alternative please share!
