It's about that time of the year here, with the overall extremely mild winter we've had, the warm night lastnight and the rain that's on its way, I'd say we should be seeing some Morels popping up. I havnt looked yet so there could already be some. I plan to go looking today after work, weather permitting.
How do you cook your morels? My favorite is to saute them in butter along with some asparagus. In the rare instance that I find a large crop of them, I'll add them to spaghetti or fry a few in flour with a small amount of black pepper and salt.
My favorite is to make angle hair pasta.
saute onions and garlic in butter and olive oil
Add mushrooms and pasta and a splash of white wine.
Tasty, tasty, tasty!
Anyone here eat "false morels"?
We find tons of them here. The old timers tell me Im an idiot for passing them up. They have a couple minor differences from normal morels. Most books list them as "not edible" but can be poisonous in large amounts. Just upset stomach or the poohs are the most common if not cooked properly.
The old timers here tell me they just need to be cooked to temp/time and they are good eating and not to leave them behind.
I know some folks get an upset stomach just from lobsters and chanterelles, so I wonder if the books are just too cautious.
Anyone here eat/cook morels with white cotton inside the stems?
I know of a road side restaurant that makes the world's best mushroom burgers, they pick daily in season so they are always fresh. I can't finish one with a plate of fries. They use morels and a couple of other varieties.
Quote from: Chop Shop on March 21, 2017, 03:14:14 PM
Anyone here eat "false morels"?
We find tons of them here. The old timers tell me Im an idiot for passing them up. They have a couple minor differences from normal morels. Most books list them as "not edible" but can be poisonous in large amounts. Just upset stomach or the poohs are the most common if not cooked properly.
The old timers here tell me they just need to be cooked to temp/time and they are good eating and not to leave them behind.
I know some folks get an upset stomach just from lobsters and chanterelles, so I wonder if the books are just too cautious.
Anyone here eat/cook morels with white cotton inside the stems?
I have heared of people eating them but it's too risky for me, it's a shame though because them false morels get prety big.
Here's a link with pics and I.d. info about false morels if anyone is interested. Here they are listed as "Poisonous", thats enough to keep me away from them :D
https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/false-morels
Quote from: Chop Shop on March 21, 2017, 03:14:14 PM
Anyone here eat "false morels"?
Anyone here eat/cook morels with white cotton inside the stems?
No Sir, not me and I don't eat puffer fish either!
If I recall correctly the poison in false morels is either hydrazine or methyl hydrazine ( basically rocket fuel ). Both compounds have a low boiling point so cooking them well done should eliminate the problem. I have eaten them with no ill effects but then I'll eat about anything. Try at your own risk.
This week end should be the start of it, just before and during Turkey season. Sauteed and fried, both ways are good.
I havnt seen any yet here but I'd say the rain and mild overnight temps we're expecting this week should get them started 8)
Quote from: Woodcutter_Mo on March 21, 2017, 10:50:17 PM
Quote from: Chop Shop on March 21, 2017, 03:14:14 PM
Anyone here eat "false morels"?
We find tons of them here. The old timers tell me Im an idiot for passing them up. They have a couple minor differences from normal morels. Most books list them as "not edible" but can be poisonous in large amounts. Just upset stomach or the poohs are the most common if not cooked properly.
The old timers here tell me they just need to be cooked to temp/time and they are good eating and not to leave them behind.
I know some folks get an upset stomach just from lobsters and chanterelles, so I wonder if the books are just too cautious.
Anyone here eat/cook morels with white cotton inside the stems?
I have heared of people eating them but it's too risky for me, it's a shame though because them false morels get prety big.
Here's a link with pics and I.d. info about false morels if anyone is interested. Here they are listed as "Poisonous", thats enough to keep me away from them :D
https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/false-morels
That is not what I would call a false morel. That is what we refer to as Beefsteaks around here. A false morel looks like a morel other than the sides are less curved, very hard for some to tell apart. They have a white hair inside the stem if in doubt, and I have picked some I thought were morels until I look at the stem, they are that much alike.
I am curious as well if anyone eats the false morels with the white hair inside the stem. I do eat the beefsteaks, well cooked, and have never had an issue.
I have Low Morel when it comes to Mushrooms. ::)
If it is the red mushrooms being talked about as false, I have eaten them my whole life. We just salt, pepper, flower and fry. I have never really ate the morels any other way. I can use bought musrooms for stirfry but morels are to be fried.
I was wondering if they would be early this year. We seem to be getting the rain now but maby alittle lacking on the heat. I bet the reds are up now but have not looked yet.
I always heard where I live that when the ground temp stays 50 degrees for a 24 hour period or by april the 11th even if cooler that they will start poping.
When I was young, we spent weeks driving the country roads over the whole county. We used to drive deer all day also. Now that I am a little older and lazier, We stay on just a couple of places and use atv and maby get off and walk the better spots. Since becoming lazy, we find fewer and you can really tell a differrance between years. I am hoping the year will be good this year with the rain we are getting.
Good hunting
gww
About an hour south of me they have been finding morels for several days and yesterday one of my neighbors found some, they're patch is a bit higher in elevation so my morel patch should start any time now if they havnt already. The May Apples are coming up so that's a good sign.
It's that time of the year my Ramps are up! 8)
Found a few of the small early gray morels yesterday.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/35112/IMG_20170329_173252073.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1490893293)
Woodcutter
Those small grays are bigger then the first few small grays I usually find. You have a taste now, congradulation and thanks for posting. I am now going to have to look on a map and see if you are south or north of me :).
Cheers
gww
Quote from: gww on March 30, 2017, 01:50:09 PM
Woodcutter
Those small grays are bigger then the first few small grays I usually find. You have a taste now, congradulation and thanks for posting. I am now going to have to look on a map and see if you are south or north of me :).
Cheers
gww
Yea a couple of them were fair size, mostly about thimble size though. Alot further south someone found a couple around 3" diameter, prety big for the early ones :o. I'm approximately the same latitude as Springfield, Mo maybe a bit lower. Good luck, hopefully the big yellow ones start soon. :)
Woodcutter
It was raining here off and on and I did not get out of the easy chair. I did call dad about your pictures. He lives on 180 acres and I usually let him find a few before I get to moving. He had already walked a little and had no luck. We talked about looking for some of the red ones cause they are usually quite a bit earlier and I think he was going to jump on an atv and go around a little more but I didn't hear back from him and so guess he had no luck.
We got the water but not the heat yet.
Cheers
gww
I'm still finding a few what I believe to be the early gray morels in the one patch where I've been finding all of them so far, havnt found any in my other patches yet. The neighbor is still finding alot.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/35112/IMG_20170403_180427758.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1491261512)
wood......
Nothing here yet. I went out today to see if anything was blooming for my bees and kept my eyes to the ground in case I ran on to a red one. It rained all day on and off and so wetness is not going to be the problim this year.
gww
It's a little early for them in these parts ,end of the month maybe .
Al.....
My season is usually winding up on may first no matter what the year.
gww
We found several of the yellow morels at one of my other patches and they had been up for a while, in fact I left a couple because they were too far gone. Keep an eye out, I'm not sure what part of Mo you are at but I'd say they should be coming up any time.
These ones we cooked in flour batter with a little salt and black pepper, turned out good.
wood.....
Yes, nothing yet. Your way is how we cook all of them we find. We eat them in place of meat if we have enough.
gww
Was at a relative's house yesterday who found a large amount of morels (grocery sack packed full) yesterday. They sauted some and added them to some rice, hamberger and asparagus in the skillet. That was a prety good combination.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10007/morel.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1491670538)
Yep, everything's bigger in Texas :D. Not warm enough up here yet.
I have to admit it is from Walnut, Iowa, but must be Texas stock! 1.5 pounds.
I grew up in Southern Illinois and have great memories of hunting for morels with my Grandpa,Dad,Uncles and brothers.One year we found so many we needed a burlap bag to carry them in.We were so giddy you would have thought we won the lottery.Nothing the size or Mr.Texas Ranger though.
Fried in butter with fresh caught bluegill was my favorite.I see them for sale on CL starting at $35.00 a pound.
When my brother lived in Michigan he used to set his GPS to past hot spots so he could re-visit them the following year.Just imagine driving on the Interstate when the fool in front of you brakes suddenly,parks on the shoulder, and makes a wild dash for the woods with an empty grocery bag.That was Larry.
Happy hunting,my mouth is watering.
My brother found a couple dozen yesterday. They're moving slowly north.
I had a niece find about five little ones in gerald Mo yesterday and mom found five little grays in one spot today in drake mo. It is forcast for 79 dgrees today and only getting to about 60 degrees at night, tomorrow might be the start of something good. I went over my 20 acres and found nothing but I have never found anything on it. I have never figured that out as if I get off of it but close by some can be found.
Maby tomorrow, no pictures unless I do better then I normaly do.
Cheers
gww
Glad to hear ya'll are starting to find some :)
So far, my morel patches aren't doing as well as I was expecting but some people are really finding a bunch. A good taste of them is better than none though so I'm not going to complain ;)
I went out today for a couple hours. I had my normal day. I found one (white not gray) at the very beginning which convinced me to try for two hours with nothing to show for it but the exersize.
gww
Found a fair batch yesterday, brought home about 80.. :o
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/35112/IMG_20170410_193038322.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1491921502)
Left about 10 behind because they were old and had already gone bad. I also stepped on one that was hiding behind a big sycamore leaf :(
I'm heading up to the tree farm this weekend, hope to have some in my eggs sunday morning.
Jon
My friend brought me about ten or so and at least I got a taste.
My uncle found these today and I might have pulled away but the grand kids were around and so I didn't. These are getting bigger and not the grays and look a little older.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/39533/2017-04-15_15-31-47_146.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1492295239)
This was my swarm of bees from two days ago though they are hard to see.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/39533/2017-04-13_15-45-15_536.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1492295351)
That was my best picture and was after already shaking twice in a 5 gal bucket and pouring in my home made with home cut boards on my home made sawmill.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/39533/2017-04-13_15-45-04_106~6.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1492295933)
Things keep getting in my way from finding more.
Cheers
gww
The neighbors have found a few more morels that were fresh so maybe this rain will get my last morel patch going. I'd think after this week they might start slowing down. Hopefully my asparagus will start growing so I can saute some with some mushrooms.
Gww- looks like a good bee hive, there have been a few honey bees get in my house that I had to catch and let back outside. I've been seeing quite a few around the yard so I think they may have a hive somewhere close.
Woodcutter
The bees were just to show that I have some fairly ligitamate things besides just being lazy getting in the way of my hunting. Yes hopefully the rain will help. I will say the last mushrooms are usually the most fun to find. They are usually the big old floppy ones like the picture of the Texas mushroom in this thread. Nothing more exciting the spotting a couple of those in the woods.
Cheers
gww
Surprisingly, I found a half dozen growing in my back yard a couple hours ago, they're in a zip lock bag in the fridge right now!
Lookin' forward to digin_2
Tammy and I had a wedding to go to last night, and we came homw we found this setting on the kitchen Island. 8) My Son likes to look for them but won't eat mushrooms. WIN WIN!
:)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/shrooms.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1495419631)
Nice Jeff, lookin' good!
That's a good son!
steve_smiley Just the thought. But my wife loves them.
I never realized how much later the morel season is up north :o, looks like some pretty good size morels Jeff.
Our morel season if long gone for this year. With as much rain as we've had lately, I'm hoping this will be a good year for the Chanterelles and Oyster mushrooms. The neighbors have been picking "Chicken" mushrooms (sulfer shelf), so far I haven't found any but I really haven't looked that much yet.