Friday, May 16, 2008

Venison Morel Glaze

Grandma did it by feel and couldn't tell me the recipe. I'll try to do the same here - from memory, an improv recipe I love... adjust the ingredients to suit your taste.

1# venison loin
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 scallions, finely chopped
1 small bay leaf
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1 tsp kosher or sea salt
2 tbsp red raspberry preserves
1 tsp balsamic vinegar - the richer the better
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4# fresh morels, sliced lengthwise
1 bunch white asparagus spears

Cube 1" thick slices of venison loin into flat medallions. Heat olive oil in sautee pan until almost smoking. Add bay leaf, garlic, rosemary and 1/2 of the salt. Sautee until garlic just starts to turn dark. Add venison medallions and sautee for 2 minutes each side - they should be browned outside and lightly rare on the inside. Salt and pepper the medallions, remove and set aside on a serving plate and cover with foil to keep warm.

Cut the asparagus spears in 1" diagonals and steam until lightly done. Remove to serving bowl and add a dollop of butter and a pinch of salt.

Place the scallions, balsamic vinegar and raspberry preserves in the sautee, and heat until the mixture slightly simmers. Add the morels and cook them for several minutes - don't fry them, just cook them.

Serve the venison medallions with the morels and raspberry glaze drizzled on top, alongside a generous helping of asparagus. A nice crusty sourdough bread and a fruity Missouri red wine compliment the meal. When the wife and kids say, "ewww, mushrooms and deer meat!" give them $10 and send them off to McDonalds. Enjoy this feast alone!

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Culinary Ecstasy

Morels again.

Most commonly I egg wash 'em, flour them, and fry them in oil. Tonite I lightly egg washed them, dredged them in plain breadcrumbs, and fried them in pure, unsalted butter, with just a hint of salt and fresh ground black pepper.

Aw my freakin' chakras opened up! Oooooh! I'll never go back to flour and oil.

This weekend I'm gonna repeat the exercise, but this time with leeks, asparagus and medallions of venison loin.

If I die soon after, it will be with a grin the mortician will not be able to remove.

If morels grew year-round, I could easily give up meat.

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Goodbye Missouri Morels

Farewell until next year, little spongy friends. After a serious ass-busting, bushwhacking last foray, all I could find was one solitary dried-out M. Esculenta. All of the half-frees, all of the gyromitras, all of the blacks, all gone now. With another rainstorm coming in, there's a possibility for more commons by this weekend. But with a freezer full of breaded shrooms and literally a bucket full in the refrigerator, I believe I've given it my all this year.

Last night, I went to the only location likely to produce. I was clouded by black mosquitoes biting me right through ounces of DEET, getting in my eyes and nose and ears. A wise sage once told me that morels put off a scent that drives mosquitoes away, and when the morels have gone the mosquitoes attack. Maybe so, maybe no. But it is a ripping yarn nonetheless.

If you are pure in heart and respect Mother Gaia's sacred places, the morel will find you, too.

Saturday, May 03, 2008

More and More Morels

More and more morels.  37 thursday eve.  Morel huting has consumed my life so I had to lay off a few days to meet my pink-assed employer's demands and my whinin' assed family's insecurities.  If only they knew how easily they could be summarily dismissed in favor of a lowly fungus.  Come to think of it, this magical morel season has caused me to re-think quite a few things.  But I digress...

Anyway, tonight, I egg-wash, flour and flash-freeze five pounds of my best M. Esculentas.  There'll be a fried morel feast at the C3 summer solstice show.  I just egg-wash 'em with 50% egg, 50% water with a generous portion of salt and coarse ground black pepper.  I put 'em on a cookie sheet with waxed paper, egg 'em, flour 'em, put 'em on the sheet, and toss 'em into the deep freeze.  Once frozen they go into a gas-tight bag (I use baking bags and suck the air out of them) and back into the deep freeze.