First, clean and wash the morels. If you are a fussy eater, either pierce the end of the morel with a skewer or split the morel lengthways, immerse in warm salty water and rinse, to remove grit, spores and the occasional insect. If you are less particular, simply soak in warm salty water for several minutes and rinse.

Having experimented with dozens of different recipes for morels, though, I find that the simplest recipe is the most enjoyable. But, you must love garlic! After cleaning, draining & drying the fresh (or reconstituted) morels, melt 1/4cup butter for each 3 cups of morels in a frypan. Add one tablespoon of crushed garlic, one half sliced onion and a sprinkle of pepper to the mix, and sauté for about 10 minutes at medium heat. Using a slotted spoon, remove the morels and enjoy!

Want a great “grandma’s” recipe? In a large bowl, beat together one egg and two cups of milk. Handful at a time, drop in morels and let soak for a few minutes. Remove from the mix and sake to drain the morels. In a bread bag containing 1c fine graham or Special K crumbs, 1c corn meal, ¼tsp pepper, add the egg-coated morels and shake to cover. Sauté in a pan of ½ bacon grease and ½ butter. Drain & enjoy!

Try this connoisseur’s recipe – stuffed morels. Cut 2 dozen morels in half. Mix one can of crabmeat, 2 beaten eggs, 1/4c olive oil, 2tbsp mayonnaise, 1tbsp lemon juice and ¼ c medium bread crumbs, and stuff into morel half-shells laid in a casserole dish. Sprinkle 1/2c fine breadcrumbs over top, and bake for 20 minutes at 375F.

For the barbeque diehard, grill morels laying them on lightly perforated sheet of tinfoil sprayed with cooking oil or melted butter , sprinkle finely chopped onion over top along with liberal amounts of garlic powder, 2 tsp of sugar and mist a little bourbon as they cook over medium-high heat on the grill.

Last recipe – a morel sauce. Use 2 cups rehydrated or fresh morels. In a thin layer of melted butter in a frypan, sauté the mushrooms. Add 1/4c heavy cream, 3 tbsp chopped green onion. Cook. Remove from pan, and heat 1/2c red wine in pan, stirring in the pan drippings. Add the mushroom mix, 1 tbsp parsley, and a little starch mixed in cold water to thicken. Reheat and serve.

Morels can be served hundreds of ways, but always work well served with meat. Over red meats, they stand alone. Over chicken and pork, use a morel sauce. With seafood, a little breaded morel as a side dish or a sauce is ideal. Get those taste buds singing!

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