Morels et al – Part 3

photographs © J. Lowe

 

 

Following my recent and virgin morel experience (posted earlier) I have now been granted the special place amongst friends as the receiver of a morsel of morel from their private hunts. A precious little bag of 4 sturdy morels, about 4″ in length were given to me the other day. Oh joy of joys.

Last time I wrote about them I said I was going to do a creamy pillowy pasta dish but I would rather make the pasta by hand for that and the evening was so lovely and the outdoors was calling and the grill was beckoning……so I decided to stuff them, since they have a conveniently hollow core. Hmm, so is it goat cheese, is it spinach and ricotta, is it crabmeat a la Emeril?

What ho, I was in a new to me supermarket in my small town and they had Haloumi…..I have been longing for this cheese for ages.

Turns out that Haloumi and morels are fantastic together. Haloumi is salty and chewy. Morels are earthy and meaty. The two combined are like a rustic panini, the cheese adding the right amount of oil and the mushroom soaking up that said unctuousness. I added a sprig of fresh thyme and drizzled a teeny amount of garlic vinaigrette on the morel before placing on the bbq for a matter of minutes. 

Along with these I made prosciutto wrapped asparagus. The asparagus being got from my csa delivery last Wednesday.  What a beautiful bag of goodness.  As well as the spears, it included mixed spring lettuce, crisp sweet radish and baby spinach. I am so lucky to be able to have access to locally grown produce like this but, get this, I also collect it every week from the independent brew pub across the road!

             

I am also fortunate to work as a food stylist, such that I have the pleasure of tasting gourmet goodies every now and then, some of which I would hardly bestow upon myself even if I had the means.  Yes I admit I am granted the pleasure of a soupçon here and a plateful there;  for me to take that home is bounty.  

So, the asparagus, wrapped in prosciutto, grilled and drizzled with an aged balsamic must from Italy.

Pleasures like that in life are better in small doses.  They make for longing.

Hankering for home.

photographs © J. Lowe 2008

Ah, fish and chips. What is a Friday night in London after the pub if not followed by fish and chips? What is more conducive to describing Britishness than this? Soggy, greasy, battered fish doused with malt vinegar, smattered with salt, all wrapped in a besmirched section of paper and eaten whilst walking stumblingly to the bus stop.

Oh, that’s right, I’m in Michigan.  Now what’s a girl from London to do in dire need of edible nostalgia?  Hello Lake Perch. A local fish.  Mild in flavour, flakey and delicate.  Perfect.

Off I trot to the shops, purchase a deep fat fryer and excitedly return home in anticipation of creating a fish and chips dinner, reminiscent of my London days.  I have to say though, soggy and greasy is not my want.   I’m seeking crisp batter so I turn to the internet for recipes.

Much like my search on morel mushrooms, I found many a fish fry fanatic out there. This is the one I chose:

here’s a link to this site for other batter recipes.

Bloody hell, the deep fryer I bought did not work! I ended up getting out my trusty old heavy bottomed saucepan, filling it with oil and doing it the old fashioned way. The batter turned out fabulously crisp and delicious, the fish was light and moist and perfectly separated from the batter.  Coating the fish in flour prior to battering, which was not in the recipe, might have contributed to this.   I also used a pale ale instead of a light beer….good drinking too.  The batter was still crisp the following morning.  That’s almost unheard of.

I didn’t sit down to eat my meal. I stood at my kitchen island crunching through the crispyness, relishing the hot moistness beneath and imagining the wet streets of London beneath my feet with the long awaited No. 37 bus appearing in the distance.