Yesterday, I ate my all time favorite meal of the year. It is only possible to eat this meal once or twice a year. Three times if you are really lucky -- which I may be this year.
The meal I am referring to is fresh morel mushrooms and ramps (wild leeks) sauteed in butter with red pepper, salt and fresh garden sage served with rice. It is one of the simplest meals I ever make and also one of the most delicious and uniquely satisfying.
Morels are one of the most famous of the wild mushrooms. Rare, elusive and only found growing for a few weeks a year, often deep in the woods. They can appear overnight with just the right combination of warm, humid weather, sunshine and the correct soil makeup.
A morel hunter must develop a keen eye for finding these mushrooms as they poke their multi-toned brown heads above and through the leaf litter that surrounds them. Often you can look at an area of moresl for a long time before you actually see the mushrooms right in front of you. Once you learn to see them, you can spot them easily, from a distance and often out of the corner of your eye despite their camoflaged appearance.
Since I just moved from the deep woods of southeastern Ohio to the city of Dayton, I thought for sure my annual spring meal of ramps and morels would be impossible to come by. But my parents live on a beautiful 3 acres with nice big trees and the biggest patch of morels I have ever seen in my life. They are prolific and growing right next to the driveway under a giant old ash tree. My mom told me they were poking their heads out of the soil, and I quickly went to investigate. I found 20-30 morels, some as large as the mouse for my computer.
With a little rain tomorrow, they could balloon up even bigger. One year, the morels here grew as large as a coffee mug.
The ramps or wild leeks show their leaves early in the spring in the underbrush of the still leafless forest, looking much like a lily or any other non-descript leafy green. But when you pick them, they give off a pungent onion-y smell and their flavor is unique. I always leave the bulb and eat the leaf though some people I know dig up the whole plant. The leaves are so good by themselves, I see no reason to take the whole plant for myself.
If you are lucky enough to have some morels and ramps, you can prepare them as follows for a uniquely and deeply nourishing spring dinner. Please note that my mother is very allergic to morels. I have never met anyone else with this allergy, but be aware that it can happen.
The Best Meal of the Year
Soak morels in salt water to remove bugs (at least 1 hour)
Slice morels into 1/4" thick slices
Heat butter to very hot.
Add morels, crushed red pepper, celtic sea salt and sliced fresh sage to hot butter.
Cook for no more than 1 minute on high heat.
Turn off heat and stir in sliced ramp leaves, stirring until residual heat has wilted them.
Serve over brown rice.
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