CHICEKN WITH MORELS: Ingredients 1 - ounce dried morels, rehydrate: soaked for 30 minutes in 3 cups very hot water (you can use fresh too) 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts Kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper All-purpose flour, for dredging 1/4 cup clarified butter 1/3 cup chopped shallots (2 large) 1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves) 1 cup Madeira wine 1 cup (8 ounces) creme fraiche (I couldn't find this and used cream cheese instead) 1 cup heavy cream 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice Directions Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lift the morels carefully from the hot water in order to leave any grit behind in the liquid. Rinse a few times to be sure all the grittiness is gone. Discard the liquid and dry the morels lightly with paper towels. Set aside. Sprinkle the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Dredge them in flour and shake off the excess. Heat half the clarified butter in a large saute pan and cook the chicken in 2 batches over medium-low heat until browned on both sides, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove to an ovenproof casserole. Add the rest of the clarified butter to the pan along with the shallots, drained morels, and garlic. Saute over medium heat for 2 minutes, tossing and stirring constantly. Pour the Madeira into the pan and reduce the liquid by half over high heat, 2 to 4 minutes. Add the creme fraiche, cream, lemon juice, 1 teaspoon salt, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper. Boil until the mixture starts to thicken, 5 to 10 minutes. Pour the sauce over the chicken and bake for 12 minutes, or until the chicken is heated through. To make ahead, refrigerate the chicken and sauce in the casserole and reheat slowly on top of the stove. This is so good. I served it with garlic mashed potatoes and a veggie. Let me know what you think! PS Do not pick them and let them sit, use them ASAP, unless you plan on drying them which is what we did. We did so by hanging them in one of those nylon mesh zip up laundry bags for delicates. I will warn you there are some...little worms that live in them. Once cooked it's a non issue but if you dry them like we did you'll notice them. As the mushrooms dry they die and fall out. I'm a VERY picky eater and it didn't bother me in the least. This recipe is delicious and I've shared it a few times to the same reviews.
Thanks lady! I will be using this recipe. Any idea of how long a morel lasts in nature if not disturbed? I won't really have time to make this til next week. Can I just let them hang out in the garden til then? Or will they be losing it as the weather warms.
If they sit in the garden too long they'll begin to get mushy and mold/rot. I don't know how long it takes to get to that point. I'd pick them (you don't really pick them you cut them with a knife at soil level) and use my method to dry them. They should be dry within like 7-10 days tops.
Good advice. The smallest one that was growing from under the concrete was a little soft on the backside. By next week it would have been mushy grossness. I cut them and they are indeed hollow, so I've got morels. Spoiler I did swish these around in a bowl of cold water to knock off debris but will dry them as you suggested. They are drying on a towel in the sunshine on the deck for now. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
The wooden bottom of my seedling centre sprung a bit of a leak somewhere... standing water got through the spar varnish and soaked into the wood and split some things, causing it to leak a bit. Needless to say I just fibre-glassed the bottom piece tonight so it will be waterproof once it dries... for a hell of a lot cheaper than buying something. Holy shitballs am I high right now.
Finally have my automatic watering stuff done well enough that I think it will help shit to live for extended periods of time (just in time for me to head off on a 1.5 week fishing trip soon), and won't water-log the laundry room (now that the base is somewhat waterproof thanks to previously mentioned fiberglassing). The basic features: GFCI plugs everywhere because I said "fuck waterproof electrical enclosures or wiring for lights and stuff" LED grow lights that pop on from 8am to 8pm small recirc fans that are on 100% of the time (old computer fans) just to aid in heat distribution chicken coop radiant heater to keep the temps up (fully waterproof) larger fans that come on for 10 minutes then off for 20 to help with the strengthening of the seedlings. without them, things get really leggy and fall over when moved outside watering that happens twice a day for 60 seconds to fully mist/water the plants. when watering is about to happen, it first kills the fans if they are running gives them time to spin down waters the top row first (minimizes the number of open nozzles and maximizes the misting due to increased pressure) for 30 seconds waters the bottom row for 30 seconds waits 10 seconds for mist to settle starts the fans back up if they are supposed to be on on-demand "push the green button" watering kills the big fans waits 10 seconds for them to spin down opens both valves for top and bottom watering will stay open for as long as you hold down the green button as soon as you let go, it closes the valves, stopping the watering waits 10 seconds for the mist to settle turns on the big fans again if they were meant to be on. it's all tied into the house water system so no more refilling buckets or watering cans has a separate hose for manual operation via a manual valve... has both a misting end and a straight tube end, depending on what you want to do with it. So yeah... it's been a hell of a lot of fun programming the controller and building this thing... pretty happy with how it turned out.
And for those of you wondering why I'm doing so much indoor prep... WE HAD SNOW THIS MORNING. If I don't get something started now, there won't be much of a harvest this year... have to get shit started ASAP to hit the ground running.
Yea for the past week, i wont say it has been snowing but the rain has been awful thick and the snow line on the mountain has been getting pretty for day for part of the day.
Some plants I have growing outside now that can handle the cooler weather. I have lettuce, celery, strawberries, broccoli and cauliflower so far.
Thanks... my biggest fear right now is that they're going to do too well before I can get them transplanted outside. The weather has been absolute shit out here lately... I hope it warms up soon.
This is my current problem. My hot pepper plants are blooming already. BLOOMING!! I actually have 3 peppers starting on one plant, and at least 2 weeks to go before they can get transplanted into bigger pots outside.
What does everyone use for Spring lawn fertilizers/pre-emergent? I read terrible reviews for Scotts TurfBuilder, but I tried it anyway and it seemed to work perfectly fine. I’ll probably fertilize again in late June.
I've used Scotts Weed and Feed the last couple years...in the spring and in the fall...with great results. I also try to seed at least twice in the spring and twice in the fall. My lawn is looking the best it has since we moved in 6 years ago. But it took me 6 years and some research (from this thread and the gardening place) to make it happen.
The biggest difference in the various pre-emergents is going to be whether or not they will kill just starting crabgrass as well or not. As long as your diligent about getting it down in time, it doesn't matter much which one you use. I've trialed just about every different program out there over the years and as far as the actual feeding of the lawn it pretty much boils down to if it isn't established get some phosphorous on it to get those roots going; if it is established just keep putting an even layer of nitrogen down at appropriate intervals to keep it green and thick. Personally, I find the granular weed killers in the weed and feed step to be poor performance wise compared to just using good ol' liquid Two Four D. My last lawn was 1.5 acres and I still found it more effective to just drag the hoses and spray it down once in the early season.