Local Mushrooms!

Turns out a wet, cool spring does have an upside: local mushrooms! I even did some impromptu foraging last weekend -- I found a few morels, and tons of white coral mushrooms. They made a beautiful risotto that evening. I am not an expert mushroomer, but morels are distinctive, and there aren't any other mushrooms that look much like them. There is such a thing as a faux morel, but they don't really look like real morels, and they aren't hollow inside, so it's pretty easy to tell them apart. I've never seen corals before, but I saw the exact same mushroom the day before at the Farmer's market. After intense consultation with my father, who is a forager, and some internet research, I decided to risk it. They didn't seem like much until I sauteed them with butter and garlic (which, honestly, makes everything better), and then -- intense mushroom-orama!

But, you don't need to risk foraging to enjoy the bounty of the season. At the Farmer's market, there is a lovely gentleman who has done the foraging for you. He has morels, corals, and local porcini. Local porcini! Who knew? In Italy (and on the western part of the Northwest, according to the market's forager), porcini are a fall harvest, but here they grow in the spring. Apparently, it is a bad year for morels around here, but not so for porcini. Rocket market also has an enormous bin of porcini right now.

I basically believe in simple mushroom preparation: saute with garlic and salt, butter or olive oil, maybe some shallots. Whatever you want to do with the lovely little funghi, this saute is the basis of bringing out their flavor. Porcini are firm mushrooms, like crimini or portobello, so they benefit from some high heat and a little caramelization. Morels (and corals) are delicate, and overcooking them kills their flavor and texture. That means medium heat just until they exude their liquid and then suck it back in again. Then, take them off the pan and away from heat, to be added back in right before serving.

From this saute, you can go any number of directions. Mushrooms like wine, cheese, cream, and onion flavors. If you want a soup, then add a little white wine to deglaze the beautiful fond (the brown bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pan during the saute), and then stock and cream. Puree half the mushrooms with the soup with an immersion blender, and then garnish with the rest of the mushrooms (this works particularly well with porcini). You can do the same thing for a stock, just leave out the stock and reduce a little more -- great on pork chops, chicken breasts, or just on pasta. If you want a risotto, just add more oil and onion or shallot to the pan, then the rice, and prepare normally. Fold the mushrooms in at the end with a little butter and cheese.

But, for the morels, I would put the saute straight on some bruschetta with maybe a few leaves of fresh herbs -- I like lemon thyme or chives. Why mess with something so delicate and delicious?

I have three large, beautiful porcini in my refrigerator. I went to Saunder's this morning, where they have some lovely taleggio. Tomorrow, my wonderful parents are in town tomorrow, so I think we will make a very simple white pizza tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes.

But, one need not forage to enjoy the mushroom bounty.