Spring is here and that means it’s time to look for morel mushrooms. It’s been a few years since we have been able to find any because we didn’t have any good local spots. This year we have been searching the timber at our new house hoping the promise of mushrooms wasn’t just a sly sales tactic. After several fruitless searches, we were able to find about two pounds of grey mushrooms last weekend. Once you’ve found some mushrooms, you need to decide how to prepare them.
There are plenty of methods and people can be very opinionated as to which way is best. I personally like several different ways, but my favorite by far is making crab stuffed morels. I actually prefer to make these from yellow morels in the three to four inch range, but since it has been so long since I have had them and there’s no guarantee we’ll find any more, I wasn’t going to take any chances. These take a little bit of work, but it’s not that bad and it’s well worth it in my opinion.
You’ll need a brick of cream cheese, a can of crab meat, a sleeve or two of crackers (Ritz is my favorite, although you can also use your favorite breading) and three or four eggs. You’ll also need a couple quart sized zipper bags and a means of frying the mushrooms. Start by soaking the morels in a bowl of water for a couple hours to get any dirt and bugs off of them.
Next, mix the softened cream cheese with the crab meat. After it is mixed thoroughly, scoop the filling into a zipper bag and seal it. Carefully cut a small piece of the corner of the bag leaving a hole just big enough to fit inside the stem of the mushroom. Carefully fill each mushroom with filling and set aside. Beat the eggs in a small bowl and place a sleeve of crackers in another zipper bag. Using a rolling pin, crush the crackers into a powder making sure to not pop the bag.
Spread the crushed crackers out on a plate, then dredge the stuffed mushrooms through the egg wash and then the crackers to get a good coating. Once you have them coated, put them in the fryer for two or three minutes until they are golden brown. After removing from the oil, place them on a paper towel to soak up the excess oil.
The trick here is to eat them while they are hot without burning your entire mouth on the hot filling. These have always been a favorite of ours, although they are pretty rich so we don’t make them more than once or twice each year. Good luck in your hunts this spring and remember however you decide to cook your morels, you really can’t go wrong.
