• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Forager Chef

Foraging and Cooking Mushrooms, Wild and Obscure Food

  • Home
  • About
  • Mushrooms
    • Mushroom Species Archive
    • Posts by Species
      • Other
        • Lobster Mushrooms
        • Shrimp of the Woods
        • Truffles
        • Morels
        • Shaggy Mane
        • Hericium
        • Puffball
      • Polypores
        • Hen of the Woods
        • Dryad Saddle
        • Chicken of The Woods
        • Cauliflowers
        • Ischnoderma
        • Beefsteak
      • Chanterelles
        • Black Trumpet
        • Red Cinnabar
        • Yellowfeet
      • Gilled
        • Matsutake
        • Russula / Lactarius
          • Candy Caps
          • Saffron Milkcap
          • Indigo Milkcap
        • Fairy Rings
      • Boletes
        • Porcini
        • Leccinum
        • Slippery Jacks
    • Recipes
      • Fresh
      • Dried
      • Preserves
    • The Basics
  • Plants
    • Plant Archive
    • Leafy Green Recipes
      • Leafy Green Plant Varieties
    • Wild Fruit
      • Wild Plums
      • Highbush Cranberry
      • Wild Grapes
      • Rowanberries
      • Wild Cherries
      • Aronia
      • Elderberry
      • Nannyberry
      • Wild Blueberries
    • Wild Herbs and Spices
    • From The Garden
    • Nuts, Roots, Tubers and Grains
    • Stalks and Shoots
  • Meat
    • Four-Legged
    • Poultry
    • Fish/Seafood
    • Offal
    • Charcuterie
  • Recipes
    • Pickles, Preserves, Etc
    • Fermentation
    • Condiments
    • Appetizers
    • Soup
    • Salad
    • Side Dishes
    • Entrees
    • Baking
    • Sweets
  • Video
    • The Wild Harvest
    • Foraging Videos
    • Lamb and Goat Series
    • YouTube Tutorials
  • Press
    • Podcasts
  • Work
    • Public Speaking
    • Charity and Private Dinners
    • Forays / Classes / Demos

Morels And Brick Cheese On Rye, With Ramp Leaf Aioli

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
morel grilled cheese with ramp leaf aioli

I played with an open faced version first, it just wasn’t the same though.

A grilled cheese sandwich with morels? You betcha. I was born in Sturgeon Bay Wisconsin-there’s cheese in my blood, or arteries, as the case may be.

My great aunt and uncle have lived in Ellworth for as long as I can remember, it’s a town famous for one thing: the creamery, and the cheese curds that come from it.

Last year my great aunt sent my grandmother a message to give to me about a grilled cheese competition in Wisconsin, being put on by the grilled cheese academy. I’d never heard of anything like this, and brushed it off as a novelty for a while. The more I thought about it (and the 10,000 purse) the more I thought I could do it though. Check out the website linked above, it’s easy to enter the competition.

I started studying previous entries, to see if I could pick out any similarities in the winning sandwiches. What I found was what I feared, the most gussied up, wacky sandwiches were the ones that were winning. There were lobster rolls with mascarpone, dessert grilled cheeses, you name it. I still gave it a shot though.

It was spring, so I knew I wanted to incorporate what was growing. I also wanted it to taste really, really good, and represent Wisconsin. After a couple trials, I came up with a sandwich that was simpler that most of the winners, but relied on ingredients of much higher quality. The heart of it is a pile of sauteed morels, accented with a creamy sauce made from ramp leaves.

The grilled cheese portion is where I got to give a nod to Wisconsin, since it uses brick-an aromatic, washed rind cheese that has a cult following in the badger state. The rye bread I chose since morels have a natural affinity for it, for some reason they just really taste good together.

In the end I didn’t win the, but that’s only because the judges must not have actually tasted it. They were supposed to cook and test every sandwich-I guarantee you, if they really tried it, it would’ve won.

morel grilled cheese with ramp leaf aioli

morel grilled cheese with ramp leaf aioli
Print Recipe
0 from 0 votes

Morels And Brick Cheese On Rye, With Ramp Leaf Aioli

Yield: 1 sandwich, scale as needed
Prep Time30 mins
Cook Time10 mins
Course: Appetizer, Main Course, Snack
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Brick Cheese, Morels, Pickled Ramps, Ramp Aioli
Servings: 1

Equipment

  • Large cast Iron pan or griddle

Ingredients

  • 2 slices caraway rye bread sliced 1/2 inch
  • Room temperature unsalted butter as needed
  • 1.5 ounces fresh whole morel mushrooms rinsed, cleaned, and inspected for debris on the inside.
  • Kosher salt and pepper
  • 1 Tbsp Lard other animal fat, or high heat cooking oil such as grapeseed
  • 1.5 ounces brick cheese sliced
  • 1 teaspoon chopped fresh ramp bulbs
  • 1 recipe ramp leaf aioli follows

Instructions

  • Spread each side of bread with butter. Place the bread buttered side down in the cast iron pan. Arrange the cheese slices on the bread and cook on low-medium heat, until the bread is nicely toasted and the cheese is melting.
  • In a separate pan, heat the lard or grapeseed oil until lightly smoking, add the morels and cook over medium high heat until brown and caramelized, about 4-5 minutes. Add a tsp of butter to the pan, then add the ramps. When the morels are totally cooked, season with salt and pepper. Allow the morels to drain on a paper towel briefly to shed excess oil if needed.
  • Place the morels on top of the cheese on one slice of bread, top each with some of the ramps from the pan, then add a tablespoon of the ramp leaf aioli. Place the other slice of bread on top of the slice with the morels and sauce. Press the sandwich lightly to make it stick together.
Print Recipe
0 from 0 votes

Ramp Leaf Aioli

Yield: 1 cup
Prep Time5 mins
Cook Time10 mins
Course: Appetizer, Snack
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Aioli, Pickled Ramps, Ramp Leaf Recipes

Equipment

  • Chinois or mesh strainer (optional)

Ingredients

  • 1 ounce fresh wild garlic leaves about 10 large leaves
  • Kosher salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 cup mayonnaise preferably homemade
  • 1 tsp champagne vinegar

Instructions

  • Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the wild garlic leaves and cook for 5 seconds, until just wilted. Immediately refresh the ramp leaves in an ice bath to preserve their color. Squeeze the leaves dry in a towel, then mince finely.
  • Puree the leaves in a highspeed blender or a food processor with the mayonnaise.  Afterwords, pass the sauce through the chinois or mesh strainer to remove any stringy leaf particles and give it a velvety texture (optional). Stir in the champagne vinegar, season to taste with salt and pepper and reserve until needed.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Print
  • Email
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Reddit

Related

Previous Post: « Eating The Whole Dandelion
Next Post: Hop Shoots »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Nancy | Ramsons & Bramble

    May 16, 2015 at 2:14 pm

    This looks absolutely AMAZE-BALLS!! Some of my very favourite things… Have a huge bag of ramsons in my fridge waiting for their opportunity to shine.

    Incidentally, I also found a single morel growing out of the concrete in London – it was near a garden that had wood chip in it.

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      May 23, 2015 at 8:14 am

      Thanks Nancy, morels will grow in woodchips and landscaping I know. A record setting one was found in Minneapolis last year growing in a window sill. TTYL.

      Reply
  2. Dan F

    May 18, 2015 at 11:55 am

    I’m eating one for lunch as I type, and all I can say is that maybe you should have sent them some morels and ramps to use, because this is delicious!

    I strayed slightly from your recipe while keeping with the same concept. I made some ramp stem “catsup” this year… I find the stems sometimes a bit tough when pickled, so cut the bulbs shorter than before and let the blender “tenderize” the stems for me… and mixed a healthy portion of that with some mayo. No fancy bread… just Brownberry Oven’s Health Nut (what I had onhand) and Karst Cave Aged cheese.

    I should have made two! I’m on my last bite, and I want another!

    Reply
  3. Trish

    May 18, 2015 at 5:24 pm

    You’re right about the contest. I have seen it before and the prize does usually go to a sandwich that seems over the top and forgets about profiling the cheese and bread! That said I am pleased to see you come to the table. Your grilled cheese sandwich couldn’t be more perfect for this time of year. I’ve not tried rye with morels before and certainly will now. Sounds heavenly and I’m sure it is. Now just have to parcel out the morels one more time! Happy hunting.

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      May 23, 2015 at 8:13 am

      Thanks Trish, glad you liked it.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Categories

Forager Chef

Forager Chef

Instagram

foragerchef

Tres Leches soaked in candy cap milk was a fun var Tres Leches soaked in candy cap milk was a fun variation I did on the house dessert of a little restaurant I was at for a time. 

Don’t be surprised if you smell like maple syrup a few hours after eating it. Using ground dried golden chanterelles is another variation that’s on my list to try. 

Link in bio to see how to make your own. 

#candycaps #treslechescake #myteethfellout #wildmushrooms #wildfoodlove
ARISE #fungimancer #frostbite #morels #tisthes ARISE 

 #fungimancer 
#frostbite #morels #tistheseason #mushroomhunting #winter #offseasontraining
Big thanks🙏 to all of you who showed your suppo Big thanks🙏 to all of you who showed your support with the first line of spirits @ida_graves_distillery and I collaborated on. 

Brock did a great job wrangling the wild things, and we have plenty of fun ideas in store (think aging nocino in barrels, new flavor combos, etc). If you’re in the Twin Cities and still need some, the amaro is #soldout but @ombibulousmn has nocino, and should have the spruce  liquor (goes down like pine gin) soon. Thank you!

#distillery #foragedcocktails #nocino #craftspirits #drinkatree #mnspirits #smallbatch #godscountry
Let’s talk roadkill. Honestly, roadkill is too s Let’s talk roadkill. Honestly, roadkill is too specific a term for me—I don’t limit myself to vehicular-harvested meat. 

However you feel about the topic, grab some popcorn and head over to the comment section on my blog (link in bio) for the 🔥personal stories from readers have shared from around the world. 

There’s the kid who brought home a nutria after school, a wife getting 4 deer with the same car, a train hitting a herd of elk, a bear named squish, living in a house with weasels, and more. 

#budgetgourmet #gleaning #scavenging #meatismeat #roadkill #freefoods #finderskeepers #wastenotwantnot
Sam Thayer dropped 25 lbs of his highbush cranberr Sam Thayer dropped 25 lbs of his highbush cranberry cultivars (3 types!) on me before the last snowfall and I honestly don’t even know where to start after processing them. I’d already made jams and hot sauce already and I have enough for a year. 😅

Great time to practice the cold-juice which ensures the juice isn’t bitter. 

Anyone else have any ideas? 

You can still find some on the shrubs if the birds didn’t get them up by the north shore. 

#highbushcranberry #winterforaging #birdberries #sweetnectar #foragerproblems #juiceme #embarassmentofriches #wildfoodlove
100% wild candy bars. I don’t usually make raw v 100% wild candy bars. I don’t usually make raw vegan snacks, but when I read about Euell Gibbon’s wild hackberry candy bars I had to try them. The  originals were just crushed hackberries and hickory nuts, but, I’ve read that Euell grew to dislike the crunch of hackberry seeds later in life. 

Here’s the thing though, if you sift the hackberry flour, you get a fun texture, with no worries about cracking a tooth. 

These are equal parts ground hackberries, dried wild blueberries, and hickory nuts, with a splash of maple syrup to bind.

The end product is a shelf stable, nutrient-packed bite filled with protein, carbohydrates, fats and natural sugars infinitely adaptable to your local landscape.

The texture is chewy and nougat-like, and now I’m curious to see how they’d perform baked in recipes that use frangipane or almond paste. 

#euellgibbons #energybars #hackberry #crushin #paleobreakfast #tradionalfood #wildfoodlove #rawfoods
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Footer

Privacy

  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2021 · Foodie Pro & The Genesis Framework

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.