The Morel Mushroom (Dry Land Fish)

[Night Stalker]

It's that time of year here in Kentucky and probably where you live also! While out searching for new places to detect, keep your eye peeled for these mushrooms. They're good to eat and taste great fried like a piece of catfish (dipped in egg mixture, rolled in cornmeal and fried in a cast iron skillet).

You can probably find them in shady areas, around dying or dead Elm trees, Sycamore and Ash trees, old apple orchards and maybe even in your own back yard. Ground cover vary's and it is very likely that each patch of mushrooms you come across may be growing in totally different conditions.

Cut them in half, soak them in salty water for 30 minutes and then fry.

 

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[jglunt]

Oh yeah!!
Every spring I look forward to two things (besides MDing), the trout opener and morels.

I've got secret spot here in N. Michigan. It's a Poplar sapling grove on cutover bottomland.
I usually get near 20lbs a season and have enough to give to friends and dehydrate for future meals.

Put a big pile of sauteed morels on the same plate with a filet and I'll gobble up the morels and leave the steak...

I believe your pic is a white morel...even tastier than the blacks and larger.



Jim

 

[halfdime]

Found my first one of the year on Thursday!

 

[silverswede]

It'll be a little later here in the mountains but I gotta have some. They really flourish in areas that were burned over last summer. My personal receipe is rinse em' throw in a tupperware container with large pad of butter and nuke em' for 15 seconds then eat like candy.

 

[bruizr]

a tasty prize in every bite. i get a lot of memories and enjoyment not to mention good exercise outta huntin' all kinds of edibles but the morel is my favorite.

 

[jopher]

Every Mothers day weekend in Michigan the family heads to the Pigeon River forest in search of the tasty tidbits.We dry them...bone dry and put them in dry seal jars for use throughout the year.My personal fav. is swiss cheese burgers stacked high with shrooms!....Joe

 

[treasurejack]

Which to do first? Dig the good target, or pick the morrels? Man, now that is a tough call to make......

 

[Boltz]

Ahhhh, another of natures best keept secrets. When I was growing up in Iowa, my brother and I would haul out grocery sacks full of morels. Here in Ok, where they "spring up" is a closely guarded secret, and never any gurantees they will return from season to season. I've heard some stories where in Iowa they can get to 18" tall As a side note, be very carefull when harvesting mushrooms. For every edible mushroom, there are close looking poison mushrooms. I don't know this for a fact, I'm stupid, but have been told this. Just be carefull.
Jim

 

[coolbeans]

thats what i miss most from up north, cant wait to get back up there! i hope its a good year for all you hunters! did you guys ever see what people pay for those on e-bay? its crazy!

 

[rumme]

I have a question....I know many varieties of mushrooms are poisonus...but someone once told me that all mushrooms that grow on the sides of trees are edible...is this true ?

 

[Boltz]

rumme, if in doubt, toss it out. Or, check it with experts. If your goin huntin for edies, make sure they don't - eat - you

 

[Sandman]

I can't wait to collect morels this spring. I look for them every year and they are best sauted in butter. I don't want to try a different way to prepare them either. You just need to learn the differences between morels and the false ones, which are poison, but look just like them till you cut them down the middle.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

I have a question....I know many varieties of mushrooms are poisonus...but someone once told me that all mushrooms that grow on the sides of trees are edible...is this true ?

NO! Autumn skullcaps will grow in the bark of standing trees. Lots of posionous mushrooms grow on decaying/dead/downed trees. I even would be uncomfortable saying all shelf fungus that grows on the sides of tree is safe, though I can't find a posionous example in my "Pederson's Field Guide to Mushrooms. Several are "not recommended". Morels and Hen-of-the-woods are the only two I've ever been brave enough to harvest and eat on my own. I used to work with a man who's grandparents came from the Ukrane and he tool me mushrooming a few times
and knew of many in this area that were safe (and delicious), but it seems for every mushroom there is at least one that looks similar and is nasty.

Watch out for two mushrooms that look similar to morels (False Morel and Hooded False Morel) that are decidedly posionous! I don't think they're very common, luckily.

 

[jglunt]

if in doubt, toss it out.

That's the best advice you can get.


Jim

 

[treasurejack]

The biggest morel I ever found was in a thicket under a huge cottonwood tree down along a creek, thing was about a foot high and shaped like a small chubby pine tree, oddly, it was a late bloomer and an apparent loner.

 

[halfdime]

Found about a dozen yesterday in a quick five minute search; they're out dehydrating in the truck right now!

 

[Night Stalker]

I'm going searching for some tomarrow, I'll post some pictures if I find any.....I'm hoping for a bag full.....we'll eat them all for dinner!

 

[BobinSouthVA]

never had or seen them myself, but this page may help identify the "False Morel"

http://www.thegreatmorel.com/falsemorel.html

Happy Eating

 

[halfdime]

Found nine more today. Yes, I'd rather have been out with my XLT, but circumstances were against me so I harvested some morels.

 

[Night Stalker]

Found nine more today. Yes, I'd rather have been out with my XLT, but circumstances were against me so I harvested some morels.

I walked for over two hours yesterday, looking in all the likely spots...came up dry, not even one! I ended up stopping off at the market and buying some giant portabellos, took them home and fried them up --- it just wasn't the same.