I am a bad blogger. I am on summer break, yet I am blogging less than ever! During the school year I was looking so forward to summer with the hopes of blogging at least once a week. Well, I don't even want to know how long it has been since my last post...
Of course I have an excuse. It's less than two pounds, is black and gold, and goes by the name of Benji. Yes, I got a puppy. And as any proud mommy would boast, he is the cutest, best and most wonderful puppy in the world. His only downfall is that he takes ALL of my time, energy, and money, leaving me with a deserted blog.
This is not to say that I haven't had some wonderful food experiences this summer. I have. I've made some great recipes, tasted some awesome cuisine, and went to a few great events (all with puppy in-tow), I just haven't had the time or energy to write about them.
One of my favorite things about summer is the bounty of fresh, local produce. I absolutely adore going to farmers markets, finding wonderful treasures and making a spectacular dinner with my finds.
A few weeks back I hit up one of the Portland Farmers Markets during the week and was surprised what a great selection they had considering I usually visit the large one on Saturdays. I picked up a few things that day, but what I was most excited about were the beautiful morel mushrooms I found.
I absolutely love the woodsy, nutty flavor of morels and was thrilled to see them at the market for a reasonable price. I have always had the dream of hunting morels after reading The Omnivores Dilemma. However, I hear that this is quite difficult and somewhat dangerous so I have decided that for now hunting them out at the market is good enough for me.
The stand we purchased these morels at generously provided free recipe sheets to customers. I picked up a few and was delighted to see one for simple sauteed morels and asparagus--I had asparagus in the fridge just waiting for a great recipe!
The morels sauteed up beautifully and tasted heavenly with a little butter and shallots. I didn't want to detract the focus from the morels so I served them alongside al dente spaghetti tossed with a little olive oil, fresh basil and a sprinkling of Fusion Thai ginger sea salt. It was an awesome combination and I cannot tell you how satisfying and memorable this simple meal was! If you cannot find fresh morels dried ones can be found at the supermarket and then re-hydrated in some water.
Asparagus and Morels
Recipe courtesy of the mushroom stand at the Farmers Market, whose name I can't remember :)
1/2 lb fresh morels, sliced lengthwise
2 tablespoons butter
2 bunches asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 shallot, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the shallot pieces, garlic, morels, and asparagus. Cook until morels are browned and the asparagus is tender, usually 8 to 10 minutes.
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