Blog 3 : Try Something New! Dried Morel Mushrooms
I have always wanted to work with dried mushrooms and have never had the opportunity to. I was able to get a small pack of dried morels for 4.99% at a local grocery – for it’s price I would have expected more. Which must mean they are packed with flavor.
At first glance, it is obvious that the morel is incredibly porous. Its outer shell has almost a honey comb structure that keeps the mushroom intact. The mushrooms smelled extremely earthy – almost nutty. It reminded me of maybe the smell of almond with a hint of bitterness. They were extremely light yet rock hard.
Moisture had already been extracted from the mushroom so I dehydrated it in some boiling water. Instantly, I saw the spreading of the brown earthiness seeping away from the pores of the mushrooms. The clear water is slowing becoming a deep earthy mushroom broth. The mushrooms were beginning to soften in the boiling water.
I left the mushrooms in the water for 6 minutes. By the end, the water was quite a deep dark brown and gave off a strong aroma.
I decided to take my mushroom broth and make a simple pasta with some heavy cream and parmesan. I took the mushrooms out of the pot and let the broth reduced down to further enhance the flavor and added some heavy cream in with some al-dente pasta. The taste of the morels were easily detected yet subtle – I usually like quite a strong flavor of mushrooms in my mushrooms pasta. I enjoyed the pasta, however, I feel that morels would pair better with protein – just because it has a very subtle taste when cooked out. Maybe some wild mushrooms would do better for pasta.
I can just think of the amazing ways dried mushrooms could be utilized and cannot wait to try more mushroom varieties!
“Great cooking is all about the three ‘p’s: patience, presence, and practice.”
― (Michael Pollan, Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation)
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Cooking and Alston 