Wow your guests with a fancy morel appetizer that is easier than it looks

Even though Georgia’s morel mushroom season only spans a couple of weeks in March, morels are still one of the most popular and sought-after mushrooms in dishes all year round.

In Becky Selengut’s beautiful cookbook, “Shroom: Mind-bendingly Good Recipes for Cultivated and Wild Mushrooms” (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2022), recipes are grouped by type of fungi, along with helpful information on how to buy, clean, store and prepare each one. Chef Selengut offers 75 recipes, giving 15 types of mushrooms the same respect as any protein. Each recipe also has a wine pairing suggestion by Selengut’s wife and sommelier, April Pogue. This creamy, buttery morel dish is easy enough to make, while looking like an appetizer in a fancy French restaurant.

What makes morels so popular?

Unlike mushrooms like oyster or shiitake, morels only appear for a short period of time in early spring. They are difficult to farm because they grow in very specific conditions, meaning they have to be foraged. Their scarcity, in addition to their unique appearance and nutty flavor, makes them an expensive delicacy.

In my opinion, mushrooms of any type are delicious because their spongy textures are able to absorb any flavor of the sauce they are cooked in. But morels are idolized because of their honeycomb design; not only do they absorb flavors, they carry sauce in little pockets, similar to how radiatori pasta’s unique shape holds sauce in its ridges. Morels are also called honeycomb mushrooms for that reason.

Different types of morels

In “Shroom,” Selengut explains that Morchella elata (natural black morel) is the most common type, growing around fir and pine trees. Morchella conica, also called the fire morel, grows at burn sites. Morchella esculenta (blond) and Morchella tomentosa (gray) are the other two types of true morels Selengut talks about in her morel fact sheet section of the cookbook.

False morels are called Verpa and Gyromitra. Most false morels are poisonous and can lead to stomach upset or even severe poisonings.

How to substitute dried morels for fresh in any recipe

It might be hard to find fresh morels this time of year, but local mushroom producers do offer them when in season at farmers markets such as Peachtree Road Farmers Market and Grant Park Farmers Market.

For now, you can forage dried morels in the specialty mushroom section of Your DeKalb Farmers Market, a grocery store located in Decatur. If Decatur is out of your way, dried morels are also sold online. Then simply rehydrate them.

How to rehydrate, clean dried morels, other mushrooms

Selengut says that dried wild morels produce a flavorful soaking liquid, as do porcini and black trumpets. To make it, she recommends a two-step rehydration method, since wild mushrooms can be very gritty and dirty.

First, put the dried mushrooms in a bowl, pour 4 cups of boiling water over them, and let them steep for five minutes. Then, aggressively agitate the mushrooms to remove any grit on them and discard the water.

Second, add 4 cups of hot water to the bowl of morels again. Let the dirt and grit settle to the bottom of the bowl. When the morels are softened (can take between 10 and 30 minutes), remove them from the liquid and strain the water by pouring it through a coffee filter or fine-mesh strainer into a bowl.

You’ll only need 1 cup of liquid for this recipe, but the rest of the liquid can be used to flavor other dishes.

Morels on Brioche Toast Points with Brandy and Thyme

This classic French preparation uses brandy and cream, creating a rich sauce that accentuates the woody, earthy flavor of morels.

The original recipe instructs the reader to clean fresh morels according to another section of the cookbook, unless using dried morels. For this adapted version, we use dried morels, since fresh morels aren’t found this time of year.

Serves 4 as an appetizer

Pairs well with French Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Ingredients:

• 1 ounce dried morels
• 4 (½-inch) slices of brioche (or bread of your choice)
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• ¼ cup minced shallot
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt or (optional) truffle salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 1 cup mushroom rehydration liquid
• 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar
• 2 tablespoons brandy
• ¼ cup, plus 2 tablespoons, heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Instructions:

1. Place an oven rack in the middle position and heat the broiler to high.
2. Rehydrate dried morel mushrooms per instructions in the article above, saving the rehydration liquid. Cut the morels into ¼-inch rings. Trim the crust from the brioche slices and cut them diagonally into 2 triangles. In a large frying pan or cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Remove 1 tablespoon of the melted butter and reserve for the brioche.
3. Add the shallot to the skillet, along with the salt and black pepper, and cook for 1 minute, or until the shallot starts to soften. Add the rehydrated morels and thyme to the pan and increase the heat to high. Once the mushrooms have started to brown, after about 5 minutes, deglaze the pan with the mushroom rehydration liquid, sherry vinegar and brandy, making sure to scrape up any bits stuck to the pan.
4. Simmer until the liquid reduces by two-thirds, about 5 minutes. While the liquid is reducing, place the brioche on a baking pan and brush both sides with the reserved melted butter. Broil on the middle rack until the top side is toasted, then flip and toast the bottom (watch it carefully). Once the liquid has reduced, add the cream. Continue to simmer until the sauce has thickened, 3 to 5 minutes more. Add the parsley. Season to taste with more salt and black pepper.
5. Serve the toast points topped with the mushroom mixture.