This salad is delicious and extremely nutrient-dense. You can try it with any dressing, but my favorite is a vinaigrette made with fat-free roasted garlic.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 15 mins |
| Additional Time: | 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr |
| Servings: | 4 |
Ingredients
- 20 large fresh morel mushrooms
- 1 ½ cups milk
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup Italian cracker crumbs
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, or more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- ⅛ teaspoon dried thyme
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 quart vegetable oil for frying, or as needed
Instructions
- Place morels into a large bowl of warm, salted water and let soak for 30 minutes. Drain and blot dry with paper towels.
- Whisk milk and egg together in a small bowl. Combine flour, cracker crumbs, paprika, black pepper, cayenne pepper, oregano, thyme, and cumin in a large resealable plastic bag.
- Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- While the oil is heating, dip mushrooms, a few at a time, into milk mixture. Toss in breading mixture until coated; shake off excess.
- Working in batches, fry breaded mushrooms in the hot oil until dark brown and crispy, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels.
- Cut morels in half lengthwise if they are big, but leave them whole if they are small.
- I make up to ten batches of the breading mix and freeze it in a 1-gallon resealable plastic bag. I use a Batter Pro bowl for breading instead of a plastic bag.
- Nutrition data for this recipe includes the full amount of breading ingredients. The actual amount of breading consumed will vary. We have determined the nutritional value of oil for frying based on a retention value of 10% after cooking. The exact amount will vary depending on cooking time and temperature, ingredient density, and specific type of oil used.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 296 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 33 g |
| Cholesterol | 54 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 10 g |
| Saturated Fat | 3 g |
| Sodium | 60 mg |
| Sugars | 6 g |
| Fat | 15 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I grew up hunting for and eating morels. Such a delicacy! I have never cooked them this way but it sounds delish. Always just rinsed, patted dry and rolled in flour that salt and pepper had been added to and then pan fried in butter. If you are lucky enough to find a lot of morels and don’t want to cook them all they are so easy to dry. Simply string them, and allow them to dry out in a cool dark place and them put them in a mason jar or baggie to keep the moisture out. When you are in the mood for them, simply re-hydrate them in water and use as usual. My Grandfather used to do this and send them to me. Happy memories.
never leave mushrooms whole – bugs and slugs can be in them!
Morels are fantastic, I have to cut this recipe down though, I am never fortunate to find 20 morels at once!