Morels in February!

[Gellar]

Sorry, I didnt find any Morels we have 12 inches of snow on the ground and it was below zero all day yesterday! Last spring I tried dehydrating some morel mushrooms mostly because I had found a couple pounds, ate a bunch and we were headed out of town. I stored them in glass mason jars and last night reconstitued a jar to use in stuffed chicken breasts. I boiled a pot of water and dumped the dried morels in there and let them sit for a half hour. They did not feel the same texture as fresh morels, but I stuffed the yard bird anyways with 2-3 morels each breast, cream cheese, peppers and onions and wrapped them in bacon. I used the water that mushrooms were reconstituted in to boil wild rice and added a few mushrooms to it as well. Just out of curiosity, I sauteed about 10 in butter with salt to see if they tasted the same as when fresh. They were not bad. Not as good as in late April or early may next to a plate of crappie fillets, but for February I cant complain! If I am fortunate enough to find enough this spring I will be dehydrating more.

To Dehydrate:
split mushrooms longways in half
wash with water and gently scrubbing to remove dirt/bugs
place on paper towel and pat dry
place single layer, not touching on dehydrator racks
dehydrate until done. (this was purely by feel, I let them go for probably 8 hours to make sure the moisture was all out)

to reconstitute:
boil 4 cups of water
turn off heat
place dried mushrooms in boiled water and cover for 30 minutes
reserve liquid for making rice or whatever else, I read to use it as a soup stock, so I will try that this weekend.

Sorry no pictures!

 

[Big Sky Guy]

I just freeze them. My dad is more anal and slices them and puts them in solid containers but when you have 40 gallons to process that isn’t real efficient. They taste the same when sautéed or fried but they do lose their rigidity if wanting to use them raw in salads.

 

[duckhunt]

I just freeze them. My dad is more anal and slices them and puts them in solid containers but when you have 40 gallons to process that isn’t real efficient. They taste the same when sautéed or fried but they do lose their rigidity if wanting to use them raw in salads.

This is what I like to do also.

 

[dcopas78]

I slice them in two and clean. Then dust in flour as if to fry them, lay them on wax paper in the single layers in the deep freeze over night. Take them out and bag the next day and put back in freezer. You can get out as many as you like..the flour keeps them from sticking together.

 

[Gellar]

I just freeze them. My dad is more anal and slices them and puts them in solid containers but when you have 40 gallons to process that isn’t real efficient. They taste the same when sautéed or fried but they do lose their rigidity if wanting to use them raw in salads.

My freezer is usually full of venison, fish, and turkey with the odd rabbit, duck or pheasant during morel season.