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Award-winning chef, author and forager Alan Bergo. Food is all around you.

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Morels “A la Normande” With Black Spring Truffle.

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wild morel mushrooms with black truffles

This is one of the most decadent ways I have ever prepared morels. The inspiration for this recipe came from reading up on morel’s in one of my favorite books: Mushrooms Demystified, by David Arora. In the section on morels, he says:

” I request you, generous reader, to deliver any and all morels you find to my doorstep. Then, while I am savoring the superb flavor of croutes aux morilles a la normande, you can bask in the altruistic satisfaction that comes from contributing to science”

Technically speaking, we could call a dish “A la Normande”  if it used some of the following ingredients that celebrate Normandy:

  1. A protein (such as fish) served with sauce normande and garnished with shellfish or truffle
  2. Something cooked in cream
  3. Cooked with cream and cider, which Normandy is also famous for

Legendary french chefs Escoffier and Paul Bocuse give recipes for normandy sauce including cream, a reduction of stock, and then a thickening liason involving egg yolks. It would make a wonderful sauce, no doubt. The actuality of someone attempting and succeeding such a sauce at home without years of professional kitchen experience making putsy and tempermental sauces, is near impossible. For all intensive purposes, you can get a similar result at home that is infinitely easier to work with by simply using cream.

You don’t have to use the truffles here, but they are an amazing addition, you could substitute a tsp of canned truffles instead, or use a tsp or so of truffle oil to get a similar effect.

wild morel mushrooms with black truffles
Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Morels "A la Normande" with Black Spring Truffle

Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time20 mins
Course: Appetizer, Snack
Cuisine: French
Keyword: Black Truffle, morel mushrooms
Servings: 2

Ingredients

  • 4  slices toast crusts removed and cut into circles with a ring mold or glass
  • Soft unsalted butter as needed
  • 4 oz fresh morels or 1 ounce dried
  • Kosher salt and pepper
  • 1 cup cream
  • Fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon 1/4 inch diced shallot
  • Fresh chives sliced
  • Fresh black truffle shaved, about 1/4 ounce (Optional)

Instructions

  • Clean your morels by dipping them quickly into a sink of cold water to remove any and all grit. Allow them to dry for ten minutes or so on paper towels before cooking. If they are very dirty, cut them in half and wash.
  • Spread each piece of toast with soft butter, then cook in a pan until golden.
  • Saute the shallot in a tsp of butter in a saute pan until the shallot is golden in color and lightly colored, but not burnt.
  • Add the morels to the pan, reduce the heat, and cook until their water starts to come out, season the morels with a pinch of salt. When the morels have given up their juice, add the cream. Continue cooking the morel sauce on medium low heat until it is nice and thick (about 5 min) and coats the back of a spoon, then check the seasoning for salt. Lastly, squeeze in 2 tsp of lemon juice, swirling the pan to incorporate quickly.
  • Place a piece of toast on each of 4 small plates, top each with 2 tbsp of morels and sauce, garnish with the truffles and chives, then serve.

 

More 

Forager’s Guide to Morel Mushrooms

Related

Previous Post: « Stinging Nettles: Harvesting, Cooking and Recipes
Next Post: Crunchy Pickled Fiddlehead Ferns »

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Comments

  1. Patricia

    March 24, 2021 at 2:15 pm

    5 stars
    Fantastic! Straightforward creamy very tasty. Thank you!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Recettes aux morilles – Cuisine-nature says:
    May 1, 2020 at 12:41 pm

    […] Morilles à la normande à la truffe noire […]

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Alan Bergo
Milkweed buds are the second-best edible part of t Milkweed buds are the second-best edible part of the plant, besides the pods in my opinion. They need to be cooked to be edible. 

I only pick from common milkweed in areas where there’s very large colonies. 

I leave some buds to flower on each plant, I also avoid any tops that have insects or monarch caterpillars. Plenty of food to go around. 

#milkweedisafoodplant #foraging #milkweedbuds #asclepiassyriaca
HALP! I’ve been keeping an eye on two loaded mul HALP! I’ve been keeping an eye on two loaded mulberry trees and both got a bunch of fruit knocked down by the storms and wind. 

If anyone in West WI or around the Twin Cities knows of some trees, (ideally on private property but beggars can’t be choosers) that I could climb and shake with a tarp underneath, shoot me a DM and let’s pick some! 🤙😄

TIA

#throwadogabone #mansquirrel #beattlefruit #mulberries #shakintrees
Lampascioni, or edible hyacinth bulbs are one of t Lampascioni, or edible hyacinth bulbs are one of the more interesting things I’ve eaten. 

These are an ancient wild food traditionally harvested in Southern Italy, especially in Puglia and the Salentine Peninsula, as well as Greece and Crete. I’ve seen at least 6-7 different names for them. 

A couple different species are eaten, but Leopoldia comosa is probably the one I see mentioned the most. They also grow wild in North America. 

The bulbs are toxic raw, but edible after an extended boil. Traditionally they’re preserved in vinegar and oil, pickled, or preserves in other methods using acid and served as antipasti. (Two versions in pic 3). 

They’re one of the most heavily documented traditional wild foods I’ve seen. There’s a few shots of book excerpts here.

The Oxford companion to Italian Food says you can eat them raw-don’t do that. 

Even after pickling, the bulbs are aggressively extremely bitter. Definitely an acquired taste, but one that’s grown on me. 

#traditionalfoods #vampagioli #lampascione #cucinapovera #lampascioni #leopoldiacomosa #foraging
Went to some new spots yesterday looking for poke Went to some new spots yesterday looking for poke sallet and didn’t do too well (I’m at the tip of its range). I did see some feral horseradish though which I don’t see very often. 

Just like wild parsnip, this is the exact same plant you see in the store and garden-just escaped. 

During the growing season the leaves can be good when young. 

They have an aggressive taste bitter enough to scare your loved ones. Excellent in a blend of greens cooked until extra soft, preferably with bacon or similar. 

For reference, you don’t harvest the root while the plant is growing as they’ll be soft and unappealing-do that in the spring or fall. This is essentially the same as when people tell you to harvest in months that have an R in them. 

#amoraciarusticana #foraging #horseradishleaves #horseradish #bittergreens
In Italy chicken of the woods is known as “fungo In Italy chicken of the woods is known as “fungo del carrubo” (carob tree mushroom) as it’s one of the common tree hosts there. 

My favorite, and really the only traditional recipe I’ve found for them so far is simmered in a spicy tomato sauce with hot chile and capers, served with grilled bread. 

Here I add herbs too: fresh leaves of bee balm that are perfect for harvesting right now and have a flavor similar to oregano and thyme. 

Makes a really good side dish or app, especially if you shower it with a handful of pecorino before scooping it up with the bread. 

#chickenofthewoods #fungodelcarrubo #allthemushroomtags #traditionalfoods #beebalm
First of the year 😁. White-pored chicken of t First of the year 😁. 

White-pored chicken of the woods (Laetiporus cincinnatus) are my favorite chicken. 

Superior bug resistance, slightly better flavor + texture. They also stay tender longer compared to their more common yellow-pored cousins. Not a single bug in this guy. 

#treemeat #ifoundfood #foraging #laetiporuscincinnatus #chickenofthewoods
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