Culinary Corner

Morel Madness
By Hanna Docampo Pham

Morels are fruiting in the mountains and the madness begins. Even the sleepiest mushroom hunters are suddenly awakened. Snow, rain, or shine, people travel for hours and are willing to take the long, winding roads to head to the Sierras and hike in treacherous conditions.

Morels found recently in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California

Morels (Morchella elata, Morchella angusticeps, and Morchella esculenta) can be found on the forest floor under conifers and hardwoods, especially fir and elm trees, and in places where water collects, like along streams and under fallen wood. Outside of the forest, morels can grow widespread in fruit orchards, landscaped areas, and gardens. In California, it’s common for hunters to scavenge through burn areas; a sci-fi landscape of strange scorched trunks and ash holes, where it’s not uncommon to find yourself sinking waist deep into the ground in certain places. According to Langdon Cook, perfect conditions come from a “red needle burn”, where fire sweeping through a forest scorches trees to the point where while they are alive, their needles drop and cover the forest floor. On the other hand, a forest where the trees are completely black and scorched without new growth is less fruitful for morels.

Morels, the holy grail to many mushroom hunters, is revered as the “bacon of mushrooms”. Morels are hollow, with a honeycombed top and a light stalk. Morels have a pleasant, slightly earthy aroma. They are found in varying shades, ranging from black, brown, gray, yellow, and in rare cases, even pink and green, and are difficult to spot on the forest floor.

Morels found in a burn area in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California

Mushroom hunters go to great lengths to find morels. In hopes of predicting where morels will pop, people are known to bring thermometers to measure the temperature of the ground, buy expensive burn maps, and study slope direction, altitude, precipitation, and more. People with stackable trays on their backs and 5-gallon buckets are often commercial pickers, ready to carry out massive hauls of morels.

Morels taste good grilled, sauteed, roasted, stuffed, and baked. When cooking morels, they can be whole, halved, or cut into rounds, just be sure to always fully cook these mushrooms. Morels have a scrumptious, meaty texture and flavor, and are slightly nutty. Everything seems to taste better when morels are added to the dish.

This month’s recipe, a morel pizza with ricotta, wild onion oil, and honey captures the taste of morels perfectly. The wild onions used in this recipe (Allium triquetrum), also known as three-cornered garlic, is a plant that tastes similar to a mix between garlic and onions and the whole plant (bulbs, stems, and flowers) is edible raw or cooked. The recipe is a bit time consuming and requires the dough to be left to rise for at least six hours or overnight, but it is well worth the work! The final result is a stunning pizza with a complex flavor.

Morel Pizza
Adapted by Hanna Docampo Pham

Makes two 10” pizzas

Dough:
250 grams (1 ½ cups) all-purpose flour
175 grams (3/4 cups) warm water, approximately 90-95°F
5 grams (2 tsp) kosher salt
0.5 grams (1/8 tsp) instant dried yeast

Wild Onion Oil:
1 cup wild onion (Allium triquetrum)
⅔ cups spinach leaves
8 tbs good quality olive oil
Salt to taste

1 tbs olive oil + extra for the dough
4 cups fresh morels
Salt to taste
Fresh ricotta cheese
Shredded mozzarella
2 spoonful’s of honey
Fresh mint
Optional: edible flowers

To make the dough, set aside the yeast and 1 tablespoon of water in a small bowl.
In a large bowl, mix the flour and the rest of the water with your hands, until just incorporated. If the dough is very sticky, add a little more flour. Cover the dough with a towel, and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Sprinkle the salt over the dough. Stir the yeast mixture with a spatula, then pour it over the dough. With your hands or a dough hook, knead the dough until all the ingredients are fully incorporated and you can’t feel the grains of salt in the dough. If you are using your hands to knead the dough, wet your hands to prevent the dough from sticking to you. Cover the dough, and let it rest for 30-60 minutes.

Stretch the dough and fold it on top of itself several times to help develop the gluten. Then, lightly coat the dough and bottom of the bowl with olive oil to prevent sticking. Cover the dough and let it rest for about 6 hours, or until the dough is double its original volume.

Wild onions being cleaned in water

To make the Wild Onion Oil, clean the wild onions in a bowl of cold water to remove any dirt. Trim the wild onions and remove the roots and flowers. The flowers are edible and can be kept for decorating the pizza later on. Place the wild onions into a food processor.

Wash the spinach and trim the stems off. Place the spinach, 8 tablespoons of olive oil, and a dash of salt in the food processor with the wild onions.

Run the food processor for about two minutes, until all the leaves are finely cut. The consistency should be thinner than pesto. If it’s not, slowly add more olive oil and turn on the food processor for a few more seconds.

Put the mixture through a fine mesh sieve over a bowl. Use a spatula to press out the oil, leaving the spinach and wild onion leaves behind. Transfer the extracted oil into a container, ideally a squeeze bottle with a cap, and store it in the refrigerator. You can use the spinach and wild onion leaves in other dishes, or dispose of them.

To clean the morels, trim off the dirty ends. Put the morels in a clean bowl of water and swish them around to remove the dirt. Pour out the water and repeat the process until the water is clear.

Fresh morels being prepared to cook

Slice the morels in half lengthwise. Pour 1 tablespoon of olive oil onto a saucepan on medium low heat, and sauté the morels until they begin to brown. Cook the morels for about 10 minutes, then add some water to the pan (about less than a centimeter of water should be in the pan). This will ensure that all the morels get fully cooked. When the water is cooked off, turn off the pan and let the morels cool. If the morels are not fully cooked, cook them for several more minutes. Salt the morels to taste.

Preheat the oven to 550°F.

When you are ready to use the dough, moderately flour your work space. Cut the dough into two equal-sized pieces. Shape each piece into a circle, then roll or stretch the dough to flatten it.

Beginning with one pizza (at a time), drizzle a little bit of olive oil on the dough, then layer on the shredded mozzarella cheese. Evenly distribute the sauteed morels. Using a spoon, evenly dollop fresh ricotta across the pizza.

Place the pizza on an oiled baking tray, and bake for around 6-8 minutes, until the pizza dough is fully cooked and the crust is golden.

Drizzle a generous amount of wild onion oil and a swirl of honey onto the pizza. Top with fresh mint and edible flowers. Enjoy!

Culinary Corner News

The last Culinary Group Dinner took place on April 4th, themed “Nothing But Mushrooms” and lead by Carol Reed. A delightful variety of dishes were served, including candy cap cinnamon cookies, Asparagus with trumpets and candy caps, mushroom stew with dumplings, black trumpet asparagus egg pie, Vietnamese spring rolls with oyster mushrooms, and mushroom pie with rosemary. Shout out to Carol Reed for making this a great event and everyone who attended!

Pickled and marinated mushroom salad from the “Nothing But Mushrooms” Culinary Dinner

At MSSF’s March General Meeting on the 19th, Langdon Cook spoke about his book, The Mushroom Hunters: On the Trail of an Underground America. He is a wild foods writer, instructor, and lecturer. It was an in-depth, insightful presentation!

Monday, May 2nd, 2022 Culinary Group Potluck:
Theme: Dos de Mayo
Dinner Captain: TBA

This will be the final dinner event of the season! Bring a potluck dish that is mushroom themed in presentation or ingredients, beverage of choice, table covering, plate and utensils. Arrive at 6:00 p.m., and eating begins at 7:00 p.m. Only those who show proof of full vaccination are permitted to enter the premises. Full vaccination requires full primary series plus booster (if qualified). This will definitely be an enjoyable event!

Hall of Flowers (County Fair Building)
9th Avenue & Lincoln Way
Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

The MSSF Culinary Group is open to all MSSF members who are interested in the gastronomical aspects of mushrooming as a participatory cooking group. Due to the current public health situation, the Culinary Group is holding monthly outdoor potlucks for small groups. Gatherings are generally held on the first Monday of each month at 7 p.m. at the San Francisco County Fair Building (Hall of Flowers). Members of MSSF and the Culinary Group, and their guests, are invited to attend.


Culinary Corner Morel Madness By Hanna Docampo Pham Morels are fruiting in the mountains and the madness begins. Even the sleepiest mushroom hunters are suddenly awakened. Snow, rain, or shine, people travel for hours and are willing to take the long, winding roads to head to the Sierras and hike in treacherous conditions. Morels found recently in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California Morels (Morchella elata, Morchella angusticeps, and Morchella esculenta) can be found on the forest floor under conifers and hardwoods, especially fir and elm trees, and in places where water collects, like along streams and under fallen wood. Outside of the forest, morels can grow widespread in fruit orchards, landscaped areas, and gardens. In California, it’s common for hunters to scavenge through burn areas; a sci-fi landscape of strange scorched trunks and ash holes, where it’s not uncommon to find yourself sinking waist deep into the ground in certain places. According to Langdon Cook, perfect conditions come from a “red needle burn”, where fire sweeping through a forest scorches trees to the point where while they are alive, their needles drop and cover the forest floor. On the other hand, a forest where the trees are completely black and scorched without new growth is less fruitful for morels. Morels, the holy grail to many mushroom hunters, is revered as the “bacon of mushrooms”. Morels are hollow, with a honeycombed top and a light stalk. Morels have a pleasant, slightly earthy aroma. They are found in varying shades, ranging from black, brown, gray, yellow, and in rare cases, even pink and green, and are difficult to spot on the forest floor. Morels found in a burn area in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California Mushroom hunters go to great lengths to find morels. In hopes of predicting where morels will pop, people are known to bring thermometers to measure the temperature of the ground, buy expensive burn maps, and study slope direction, altitude, precipitation, and more. People with stackable trays on their backs and 5-gallon buckets are often commercial pickers, ready to carry out massive hauls of morels. Morels taste good grilled, sauteed, roasted, stuffed, and baked. When cooking morels, they can be whole, halved, or cut into rounds, just be sure to always fully cook these mushrooms. Morels have a scrumptious, meaty texture and flavor, and are slightly nutty. Everything seems to taste better when morels are added to the dish. This month’s recipe, a morel pizza with ricotta, wild onion oil, and honey captures the taste of morels perfectly. The wild onions used in this recipe (Allium triquetrum), also known as three-cornered garlic, is a plant that tastes similar to a mix between garlic and onions and the whole plant (bulbs, stems, and flowers) is edible raw or cooked. The recipe is a bit time consuming and requires the dough to be left to rise for at least six hours or overnight, but it is well worth the work! The final result is a stunning pizza with a complex flavor. Morel Pizza Adapted by Hanna Docampo Pham Makes two 10” pizzas Dough: 250 grams (1 ½ cups) all-purpose flour 175 grams (3/4 cups) warm water, approximately 90-95°F 5 grams (2 tsp) kosher salt 0.5 grams (1/8 tsp) instant dried yeast Wild Onion Oil: 1 cup wild onion (Allium triquetrum) ⅔ cups spinach leaves 8 tbs good quality olive oil Salt to taste 1 tbs olive oil + extra for the dough 4 cups fresh morels Salt to taste Fresh ricotta cheese Shredded mozzarella 2 spoonful’s of honey Fresh mint Optional: edible flowers To make the dough, set aside the yeast and 1 tablespoon of water in a small bowl. In a large bowl, mix the flour and the rest of the water with your hands, until just incorporated. If the dough is very sticky, add a little more flour. Cover the dough with a towel, and let it rest for 30 minutes. Sprinkle the salt over the dough. Stir the yeast mixture with a spatula, then pour it over the dough. With your hands or a dough hook, knead the dough until all the ingredients are fully incorporated and you can’t feel the grains of salt in the dough. If you are using your hands to knead the dough, wet your hands to prevent the dough from sticking to you. Cover the dough, and let it rest for 30-60 minutes. Stretch the dough and fold it on top of itself several times to help develop the gluten. Then, lightly coat the dough and bottom of the bowl with olive oil to prevent sticking. Cover the dough and let it rest for about 6 hours, or until the dough is double its original volume. Wild onions being cleaned in water To make the Wild Onion Oil, clean the wild onions in a bowl of cold water to remove any dirt. Trim the wild onions and remove the roots and flowers. The flowers are edible and can be kept for decorating the pizza later on. Place the wild onions into a food processor. Wash the spinach and trim the stems off. Place the spinach, 8 tablespoons of olive oil, and a dash of salt in the food processor with the wild onions. Run the food processor for about two minutes, until all the leaves are finely cut. The consistency should be thinner than pesto. If it’s not, slowly add more olive oil and turn on the food processor for a few more seconds. Put the mixture through a fine mesh sieve over a bowl. Use a spatula to press out the oil, leaving the spinach and wild onion leaves behind. Transfer the extracted oil into a container, ideally a squeeze bottle with a cap, and store it in the refrigerator. You can use the spinach and wild onion leaves in other dishes, or dispose of them. To clean the morels, trim off the dirty ends. Put the morels in a clean bowl of water and swish them around to remove the dirt. Pour out the water and repeat the process until the water is clear. Fresh morels being prepared to cook Slice the morels in half lengthwise. Pour 1 tablespoon of olive oil onto a saucepan on medium low heat, and sauté the morels until they begin to brown. Cook the morels for about 10 minutes, then add some water to the pan (about less than a centimeter of water should be in the pan). This will ensure that all the morels get fully cooked. When the water is cooked off, turn off the pan and let the morels cool. If the morels are not fully cooked, cook them for several more minutes. Salt the morels to taste. Preheat the oven to 550°F. When you are ready to use the dough, moderately flour your work space. Cut the dough into two equal-sized pieces. Shape each piece into a circle, then roll or stretch the dough to flatten it. Beginning with one pizza (at a time), drizzle a little bit of olive oil on the dough, then layer on the shredded mozzarella cheese. Evenly distribute the sauteed morels. Using a spoon, evenly dollop fresh ricotta across the pizza. Place the pizza on an oiled baking tray, and bake for around 6-8 minutes, until the pizza dough is fully cooked and the crust is golden. Drizzle a generous amount of wild onion oil and a swirl of honey onto the pizza. Top with fresh mint and edible flowers. Enjoy! Culinary Corner News The last Culinary Group Dinner took place on April 4th, themed “Nothing But Mushrooms” and lead by Carol Reed. A delightful variety of dishes were served, including candy cap cinnamon cookies, Asparagus with trumpets and candy caps, mushroom stew with dumplings, black trumpet asparagus egg pie, Vietnamese spring rolls with oyster mushrooms, and mushroom pie with rosemary. Shout out to Carol Reed for making this a great event and everyone who attended! Pickled and marinated mushroom salad from the “Nothing But Mushrooms” Culinary Dinner At MSSF’s March General Meeting on the 19th, Langdon Cook spoke about his book, The Mushroom Hunters: On the Trail of an Underground America. He is a wild foods writer, instructor, and lecturer. It was an in-depth, insightful presentation! Monday, May 2nd, 2022 Culinary Group Potluck: Theme: Dos de Mayo Dinner Captain: TBA This will be the final dinner event of the season! Bring a potluck dish that is mushroom themed in presentation or ingredients, beverage of choice, table covering, plate and utensils. Arrive at 6:00 p.m., and eating begins at 7:00 p.m. Only those who show proof of full vaccination are permitted to enter the premises. Full vaccination requires full primary series plus booster (if qualified). This will definitely be an enjoyable event! Hall of Flowers (County Fair Building) 9th Avenue & Lincoln Way Golden Gate Park, San Francisco The MSSF Culinary Group is open to all MSSF members who are interested in the gastronomical aspects of mushrooming as a participatory cooking group. Due to the current public health situation, the Culinary Group is holding monthly outdoor potlucks for small groups. Gatherings are generally held on the first Monday of each month at 7 p.m. at the San Francisco County Fair Building (Hall of Flowers). Members of MSSF and the Culinary Group, and their guests, are invited to attend.
Mycena News - May 2022