Monday, May 19, 2008

Fringe Benefits

This line of work may not pay much, but there are some definite perks. I wasn't terribly thrilled to be going out at 7 am this morning, to give a tour of invasive plant species. It was drizzling, with temperatures hovering around 40 degrees. The dread in such situations is always worse than the reality; I do have decent gear, and properly layered I was neither cold nor wet. Plus I'd already decided that since it was a local site with such an early start, I'd return home afterwards and shower before heading into the office. This worked out well, allowing me to safely remove a deer tick before it got too attached.


It also allowed me to bring home and wash up these morels. First I rinsed off the dirt, then while I showered, I let them soak to be sure to get all the crud out of the folds. Patted them dryish, then threw them in the fridge, and headed off to work. They made a delightful side dish with the veggie pizza SodaBoy cooked for dinner. I sauteed them in butter with a clove of garlic and a few splashes of white wine, throwing in some fresh spinach to wilt shortly before serving. There are no photos in situ, due to the rain, and no photos of the final dish, due to the hunger.

You'll just have to take my word for it: these babies were tasty.

10 comments:

Aliki2006 said...

I'll have to take your word for it--they don't look so appetizing as they appear in the bowl! But I've never had morels like that before...

BerryBird said...

Aliki, I had never made them for SodaBoy before, and he was skeptical, too, but a sworn convert now. Morels grow on you fast once you start eating.

BrightBoy said...

Wait, what are they? And what do you do for a living?

Mary Stebbins Taitt said...

OH, lucky you! I haven't seen any of them here, but at my old home town, I used to love to collect and eat them. MMMMMM I will couch for their tastiness.

around here, they may already begone, because the oak leaves are bigger than a squirrel's ear I am pretty sure. Or maybe here they have a different way of telling when to look than we had in Old Hometown!

a/k/a Nadine said...

LOL, Aliki, I was thinking how gorgeous they were all piled in the bowl. I've never collected morels myself. I usually stick to shaggy manes and puffballs.

Nicole said...

I will take your word for it. They sound fabulous!

Coffeypot said...

I keep coming back to look at this picture and I can’t believe you are going to EAT them. They look more like you are ready to wash your car. Try a cheeseburger. They are much more tasty and easier to look at.

BerryBird said...

Blackenedboy, morels are highly prized wild mushrooms. Once you find some, they are easy to identify and hard to mix up with anything dangerous. I work in environmental consulting, which takes me out in the woods a bit--four days this week.

Coffeypot, I might concede they look a wee bit like brains, but wash my car? Why would I do that?

Coffeypot said...

I thought they looked more like sponges.

Debbie said...

Laughing here, I also thought of sponges! I'm not a big mushroom fan and know I'm surely missing out!

Once, I spent a week looking for a tick that my son had casually flicked off himself when he found it! I actually did find it...you were lucky it didn't visit long!!