Morels: an invitation from Spring
Spring is a season of change
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You can listen to me read my poem below while watching this week’s recipe be made in beautiful slow motion on YouTube.
An invitation from Spring
The morel mushroom is an invitation from Spring
It grows at the edge of the dark forest
Where golden light shines through the trees
Morels are only be found in the wild
For a few weeks every Spring
To find morels you need to look at the world changing around you
And accept the future is still being written
Spring invites you to change
Trees grow from branch to bud to bloom
Racing against the last frost to make something new
The birds are loud, looking for love
The forest itself is changing
Letting go of the past for a chance at a new life
Creating space for the morel
Spring invites you be present
For a brief, beautiful time
Chaotic and oscillating
The snow melts like a frozen heart
The rain washes away the past
The sun embraces you again like a lightning strike of of possibility
And though the grey skies return
Blanketing everything in snow once more
Quieting hope
It’s only for a minute
Spring invites you to believe
That rare things can thrive
Even the morel
Too tender for the cruelty of summer
Only here for a few beautiful weeks
Spring invites you to change
If you choose to find a path through your own dark forest
If you stop to appreciate what’s already in front of you
If you stop to imagine what could be, instead of being held back by what was
Spring is fleeting
You might not be able to see it now
But like the morel
Spring will be back
With another invitation to change
I’ve been going for a walk every day, twice a day, for over two months now. It’s been very good for my physical and mental health. It’s also been a time for me to truly experience the changes that happen in Spring – the small changes every day that suddenly show up as big and unexpected as Summer.
I wrote this poem on one such walk. It’s about morels, it’s about change, it’s about choosing to leave the dark forest of our minds to reach for hope.
I haven’t written a poem in 20 years, let alone read one out loud, or published on the Internet.
But here I am.
I first made this pastry last Spring, the first time I had morel mushrooms. Morels are so rare and special I wanted to make a showcase for them. If you want to make this recipe, you might be able to get morels for another week, but otherwise you’ll have to wait for next Spring.
If you’re local to me, I got morels this year from Forêt Mushrooms and Brother Birch, and you can sometimes get them from Fresh & Tasty Mushrooms at the Kitchener Market (you have to ask, they won’t be on display).
You can, of course, use any other mushroom. Oyster mushrooms would look and taste beautiful, as would steaks of tender Lion’s Mane. Cinnamon Caps are regularly available at the market here, which have become one of my favourites for risotto – but only use the tops in this application (the stems are woody). You could use any mushroom, but I would opt for something tender and easy to bite through. Ask your mushroom vendor what’s best.
I made my own puff pastry using the good butter, which I found to be worth the effort, but if you want to go Pillsbury then go Pillsbury.
Morel mushroom pastries with shallot cream sauce
Brown butter morels
Makes 8 pastries
Ingredients
8 morels (250g | 1/2 lb, around 1/2 lb of any other mushroom)
4 tbsp good butter
Method
Clean mushrooms with a dry pastry brush to remove any dirt (if foraged) or wood chips (if grown indoors) – don’t soak in water!
Cut larger morels in half (for other mushrooms cut to 2–3” x 1/2” pieces). Morels are hollow inside unlike most other mushrooms, so check for critters.
In a large frying pan on medium heat, add the butter and heat until the foaming subsides.
Salt the mushrooms with a pinch of salt.
Cook the mushrooms on one side for 15–20 minutes until deeply golden brown.
Flip the mushrooms and cook until the other side is deeply golden brown, another 10 minutes.
Remove from the heat and set aside.
Shallot cream sauce
Ingredients
2 tbsp butter
8–10 shallots (500g | 1lb), diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
8 sprigs of fresh thyme (1 tbsp dried)
250ml | 1 cup cream (10–35% depending, I used Eby Manor 10% here)
Salt
White pepper to taste
Method
Put a medium saucepan (3.5 quart) on medium heat.
Add the butter and cook until it foams.
Add the shallots, garlic, and a pinch of salt. Cook for 20–30 minutes until the shallots are soft and beginning to caramelized but haven’t taken on too much colour yet.
Add the thyme, 1/2 tsp white pepper, and the cream.
Bring the cream to a gentle simmer and cook for another 15 minutes until thickened, leaving a streak of pan visible for a second when you drag a spoon through the mixture. It will reduce further in the oven.
Taste and adjust seasoning.
Set aside to cool.
Pastry assembly
Ingredients
8 brown butter morels
1 cup shallot cream sauce
1 egg, beaten
1 pack of frozen puff pastry dough, thawed. For home-made, I used Claire Saffitz’s rough puff pastry from Dessert Person and unsalted butter from St. Brigid’s Creamery.
Flakey salt
White pepper
Method
Preheat your oven to 425°F.
Roll out the pastry to 1/8” thick and use a pizza cutter to cut 8 @ 4” squares.
With the remaining pastry cut 4” strips that are 1/4” wide.
Place the squares on a baking sheet, 1” apart.
Using a pastry brush, brush a 1/4” border around each square.
Place the 1/4” strips around the pastry to create a frame that will hold the shallot cream sauce. Smooth out into an even layer.
Place a morel in the centre. For smaller morels or other mushrooms, add 2–3 mushrooms.
Brush the edges with egg wash.
Sprinkle with flakey salt and white pepper.
Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown. The filling will look quite puffed when it comes out of the oven and settle as it cools.
Serve warm.
Marvelous Marko! I'm dying to try making my own puff pastry, but morels will be hard to find here in Mexico. I'll have to improvise.
And I love your poem. I write a poem every holiday season and send it out with an original art piece to all my friends. You will be on my list this year.