The mighty morel mushroom. to find them is to earn bragging rights to one of natures most wonderful bounties. You either love mushrooms or you hate them. I come from a family of mushroom lovers, toddling through the woods at a very young age alongside my parents. In truth, I’ve never been good at finding them. My mom loved to tell the story of how I tripped and fell and there was a mushroom right in front of my face, in which I proudly exclaimed, “I found one!” That actually may have been the last time I actually found one. These were in my own front yard and I didn’t even find them!
Considering my grandmother Mid was always cooking for family, I used her bowl. Certain things belong in my parents kitchen. Their recipe box, the mixer they got for their wedding 55 years ago and this bowl. After the mushrooms have soaked in salt water to remove any dirt, sand and bugs they are lightly dried with a paper towel. Mix a softened package of cream cheese with any flavors you want. I know it’s vague but that’s literally how I cook most of the time. I added chopped crab meat, old bay seasoning, lemon pepper, pink salt and mix well by hand to combine.
Okay so this is the tricky part. When preparing the cleaned mushrooms for stuffing there are a few simple suggestions. First make sure your mushrooms are large enough to stuff. If you’re going to go through all the work, make it worth it. You want to trim the stem of the mushroom so that it stays intact. I find that using a spoon works best as I can use the straight end to push the filling in after mounding it on the top. You should be able to feel the mushroom get firmer as you pack it in. Be careful, if it starts to split, stop.
Now that they are stuffed, it’s time to rock and roll. Well to roll and drink anyway. Shameless favorite mead plug coming now. Rhythm and Blues Mead by St. Ambrose Cellars. Definite fave in this house.
Now it is very important that you have everything set up and ready to go. 3 separate bowls, one with beaten egg, one with all purpose flour and the final one with bread crumbs. I used panko crumbs here but to be honest next time I’ll use regular. Since the mushrooms have to be dipped twice to keep the filling in, there seemed to be a lot of breading with the Panko crumbs. Next step. Take a sip of mead, then another because your hands are about to get very dirty. Roll the prepped mushroom in egg, then flour, then bread crumbs and then do it again. Continue on until all mushrooms are double breaded. Time to wash your hands and, “oh look, mead!”
When all the mushrooms are breaded, place them in the fridge for about 20 min to harden the cream cheese a bit. This is the perfect time to get your oil started for frying. Mid lived in Southern Indiana, so I learned to fry at a very young age. I prefer to use an actual deep fryer so that I can do other things in the kitchen with the exception of fried chicken which is always made in a pan with crisco. (Mid’s rule for her chicken and I always follow her rules) Canola oil is great for deep frying so fill according to the fill line on the fryer and wait for the oil to come to 350 degrees. While the oil is heating I made the Caprese Salad. I always keep loads of fresh basil around for those tomato filled summer nights.
Once the oil has heated to either 350 degrees or when a slight splatter of water sizzles in the oil. Carefully drop no more than 2 mushrooms at a time into the oil and wait until they become golden brown usually around 5 minutes. Remember these are double breaded so it may take a bit longer.
Once they reach that perfect color, take them out and drain them well on a plate prepared with paper towels.
Now it’s time to plate them up and enjoy. I paired them with the salad and roasted sweet potatoes and broccoli.
And yes they are as good as they look. Follow the blog for more recipes, adventures and ideas.
Grocery List
- Morel Mushrooms large enough to stuff
- 1 package cream cheese
- Salt and Pepper
- Lemon Pepper and Old bay if using shrimp or crab
- 3 eggs
- 2 c flour
- 1 c breadcrumbs
- Your choice of finely chopped cooked crab, shrimp or sausage just make sure it’s small enough pieces to stuff in the mushrooms. You can also omit and leave vegetarian. Be creative with the filling just remember you want to taste the mushrooms.
