# Self Sufficiency/Living off the Land or Off the Grid > Cooking, Food Storage, & Preserving > Recipes Only >  Black Morels, And a Recipe

## canid

just thought i'd share my little score today, and the recipe i came up with.

one little quirk of Morels which does not seem to be common knowledge is that they are sometimes introduced into landscaping where chipped conifers like douglas fir are used as a mulch. over the following year, they grow into the soil, form sclerotia and fruit for one or two years, often prolifically. there are about a dozen such landscaped areas of the right age in my town, around shopping and office plazas.

i scored a decent little haul yesterday, so what's a hippy to do?

Stufed Morels:

1 Egg.
1 Splash milk.
1/2 Cup Wheat flour.
1/8lb Minced ham.
1/8 Cup Minced onions.
1 Tbs Butter.
1/4 Cup Sour Cream.
1 tsp. Salt.
Chopped fresh Basil.
Olive oil.
4 Saltine crackers, crumbled.
6 medium sized morels, halved, plus any undersized ones you happened to find.

Baking sheet
couple small mixing bowls.

Preheat small saucepan over medium flame. add onions and basil to preference, i've never felt it possible to over-do it with basil. brown briefly, stirring all the while. add any small morels, minced, and cook till done, stirring occasionally.

Reduce heat to low, and add sour cream, ham and salt, stir, and simmer covered for 10 min.

oil the baking sheet and preheat oven for 400f. mix egg, milk and most of the flour, and dip the morel halves, shaking off any excess. coat in remaining flower, and place open side up on baking sheet. remove stuffing from heat and fill morel halves by spoon.

spoon remaining egg batter to cover stuffing on morels, sprinkle with saltine crumbs to coat and bake 20 min.

portion with any remaining stuffing, garnish and serve hot.

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## Gray Wolf

Try using crab mix for your stuffing!

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## Gray Wolf

canid, that was one of the most complete step by step recipes I've seen here! Nice job.

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## vthompson

Canid, personally I don't like morel mushrooms but I hunt them for a friend of mine. It gives me an excuse to get out in the woods. But, your recipe sounds absolutely delicious. I am going to print it out and give it to my buddy. Thanks.

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## nell67

Sounds yummy Canid,morels have already been found around my area,just getting too many work hours to get out there to hunt right now,ggggrrrrrr.

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## Ag Nettogrof

I have to say that I've never had morels, nor ever seen them except for pictures. I guess they don't grow in my area, at least I haven't found any.

Of course there is a high probability that I don't know what I'm doing. I've seen all kinds of mushrooms from little black ones to medium sized blaze orange ones in the woods, but none that look like the pictures I have seen of the morel. I would like to try them if I ever have the opportunity.

Ag

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## Sarge47

So, Ag, where abouts do you live?  Morels grow just about everywhere!  Just be sure you also know what "false Morels" look like, but they're easy to tell apart if you know what to look for. :Cool2:

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## Arsey

And be carefull not to pick 'questionable morels' !

Sorry. 


I'll get my coat!

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## Ag Nettogrof

> So, Ag, where abouts do you live?  Morels grow just about everywhere!  Just be sure you also know what "false Morels" look like, but they're easy to tell apart if you know what to look for.



Sarge,
About the only thing I know about mushrooms is, eating the wrong ones can cause very undesirable health issues such as death. So I wouldn't even attempt to consume any unless I was 100% sure of what they were.

I didn't know there are "false" morels. I thought I had heard they grew just about every where, but wasn't sure. I think I will ask around and see if I can find someone close by that knows mushrooms.

Oh yeah, as for where I live, Ag Nettogrof

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## grundle

> Sarge,
> About the only thing I know about mushrooms is, eating the wrong ones can cause very undesirable health issues such as death. So I wouldn't even attempt to consume any unless I was 100% sure of what they were.
> 
> I didn't know there are "false" morels. I thought I had heard they grew just about every where, but wasn't sure. I think I will ask around and see if I can find someone close by that knows mushrooms.
> 
> Oh yeah, as for where I live, Ag Nettogrof


Yes, Morels grow in Georgia  :Smile: 

To me a false Morel doesn't even look close to the real thing, but I guess enough people have made that mistake to earn its name.

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## Sarge47

> Yes, Morels grow in Georgia 
> 
> To me a false Morel doesn't even look close to the real thing, but I guess enough people have made that mistake to earn its name.


1st, Morels are not really mushrooms, they're considered an "edible fungus," (Sounds appetizing, I know. :Chef:  :Drool: ) & resemble a sponge or a small brain.(Now you're really gettin' hungry. :munchies: ) 3rd, true Morels come up in the spring & early summer & are hollow while the false Morel is solid, has a "skirt " around the base, & shows up in the fall.  If ever in doubt, ship any you find to me & I'll test 'em out! :Innocent:   Meanwhile, check out this site & scroll down all the way to the bottom & you'll find an article on False Morels as well as a ton of other info on Morels! :Tongue Smilie: http://www.morelmania.com/info.html; here's another one for eveyone to drool over:http://www.morelmadness.com/  Enjoy :Winkiss:

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## Ken

> Oh yeah, as for where I live, Ag Nettogrof


Dade County, Georgia???

Forgotten Ga. county now in spotlight over water rights 
By GREG BLUESTEIN

Associated Press Writer

_"Residents of Dade County have spent much of their history feeling ignored by the rest the state. For decades people had to cut through Alabama or Tennessee to get to the county in the northwest corner of Georgia, and some residents still get key services from out of state. It even got left off the state quarter.

"We always seem to be an afterthought," says Ben Brandon, the county's chief executive.

But the county of 16,000 is finally getting some attention thanks to a historic drought - and the fact that it's the only part of Georgia that's a stone's throw from the massive Tennessee River."_ http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...stateline.html

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## Ag Nettogrof

Thanks for those links Sarge, Morel Mania looks to have a lot of info.

Edible fungus, Brains, It'll take more than that to turn my stomach. About the only thing I don't care for is bugs/worms (tried them), possum(tried it) and pole cat (never tried it but it just stinks too bad).

I know an ole boy that may know about these kind of things so I'll go see what he has to say.

Ken, I'm just a little bit south of the State of Dade (Dade County Ga) and rite nigh DeKalb County Ala. Born and raised on this mountain.

Ag.

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## canid

morels are certainly mushrooms, but not Agarics, the gilled mushrooms with well defined stipes which the word calls to mind for most people. all mushrooms are fungi, whether basidiomycetes or ascomycetes.

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