Magic Time: Morels

It’s the magical time of year in the Driftless Region and that means morel mushrooms. I look forward to mushroom hunting every spring because it reminds me of my mom. She LOVED walking the woods, foraging for morels. She also loved dredging them in flour and frying them in butter until just crisp.

I didn’t find many my first outing this spring, but there were enough for my dinner. I tried something a little different when I cooked them up: dry sautéing. I’ll be using this method again. It uses less butter yet delivers a richness Mom would enjoy.

1. Heat a dry cast iron pan over medium-high heat.
2. Once warm, add a single layer of morels. Don’t crowd them; work in batches if you have a lot.
3. Let the liquid released by the mushrooms to cook off as the morels brown, flipping occasionally to prevent burning.
4. Once the shrooms are brown and the liquid is gone, add a little butter and a sprinkling of salt.
5. You can stop now and serve them up. Because I didn’t have a lot of morels, I tossed them with pasta and blanched asparagus (found in the ditch near our place), splashed on some olive oil and topped with freshly grated parmesan. Yum!