Morel is the first long-awaited spring mushroom. In the middle lane, depending on the weather, you can go on a quiet hunt in the second half of April - first half of May. In especially cool and damp years, morels can be harvested until mid-June.
How to collect morels
When getting out into the forest for morels, you need to put on high rubber boots - snow can still lie in the ravines, a lot of melt water. Clothes should fit snugly around the neck and arms, as hungry ticks can attack in spring. Morels often grow on higher elevations, warmed up by the sun, on the southern slopes of ravines. They love aspen trees. They often appear in those places where the forest burned a year earlier.
To fill the basket, you have to walk a lot - morels grow in small isolated groups. Usually, at the same time, several subspecies of mushrooms appear - conical, as well as morel caps, consisting practically of one leg with a light "headdress".
You can also find their relatives - stitches, large, stocky bright red mushrooms with the same curly hair as in the morel. However, if the latter has high taste, then the line, which is called an amateur. Its pulp is coarse, with a strong iodine aftertaste.
What to cook from morels
Before cooking, both morels and lines are soaked for 1 hour in clean cold water, washed and boiled for 15-30 minutes. After that, the water must be drained. You can fry morels with eggs, then you get a very tasty and satisfying dish. To do this, chop the boiled mushrooms, fry in butter for 15 minutes, drive eggs into the pan at the rate of 4-5 eggs per 300 g of morels and salt. Bring the dish to readiness, stirring occasionally, serve hot with chopped herbs.
The first spring mushrooms are also excellent raw materials for the first course. To make 4-5 servings of morel soup, place a few handfuls of boiled chopped mushrooms in boiled water. After 5 minutes. put chopped onion in a saucepan, salt to taste; after 15 min. - 2 tbsp. spoons of washed millet, 2-3 chopped potatoes and bring the soup to readiness. Before use, the dish should stand under the lid for 20-25 minutes.
If you are lucky enough to collect enough mushrooms for harvesting for the winter, it is recommended to dry them. To do this, you need to remove the legs, clean the hats dry from dirt, chop coarsely and spread them in one layer on a baking sheet, having previously covered it with parchment. Beanies must look up! Dry morels in the oven for 1.5 hours at 50 ° C, an hour at 70 ° C, another hour at 80 ° C. After that, you should set the temperature regime again to 55 ° C and keep the mushrooms in the oven for about 1, 5 hours, stirring from time to time and checking their readiness. Dried mushrooms are kept cool in closed jars.
