Mouthwatering Morels . . . and the update.

Where have I been this past year? I don't know if I could even tell you. My life is very different from one year ago today . . . No longer working for the beautiful and prestigious magazine where I learned a love of writing and honed my design; I have also given up working for the non-profit I have devoted my last year to. Following dreams and such. It is crazy to say that I am now trying a new avenue of food writing. Mostly health and food writing. And I love the challenge of it all. and the exploration of it all. As in I am a food writer.

In other news, i have started my own mini-garden, planted fruit trees and bushes and sprouted my first seed. and now I hope to be able to chronicle it more and use this as an outlet for some light garden writing.

but enough about that - lets chat new food. Hopefully I will be more up lately on the new things I am trying. There have been quite some discoveries (and HORRIFIC failures) this past year. Right now in the Wood River Valley . . . it is all about morels. These delicious little 'shrooms are quite the task to find but the reward is worth the effort. Know what you are looking for - but after we had the pleasure of procuring a pound morels, I busted out my kitchen gear and got to it.

Morels.
Again - with an interest in mycology, jht knew what to look for when he was morel hunting. Research before you eat mushrooms!!! and follow the rules of cleaning when hunting wild fungi. They are like the filet mignon of 'shrooms. Soooo yummy and available in my own back yard.

Morels and Eggs for 2
I didn't want to use cheese and overpower the morel. So I beat 4 eggs and a bit of light cream and scrambled. In a separate skillet I melted 1T butter (be sure not to burn the butter!). I find that mushrooms often get soggy - and you can prevent that if you quickly flash cook them on very high heat. I cooked my morels in the butter for 2 minutes and then folded them into the eggs. Holy yum.

Stuffed Morels
I keep bacon bits in the fridge. Yup. It happens. I grabbed some plain cream cheese and mixed in some bits and a pinch of shredded cheddar. I gently sliced open my morels lengthwise and stuffed a bit of the mixture inside. then I light coated with flour. I heated a bit of olive oil in a saute pan and cooked the morels for 3 minutes covered. again. awesome.

And I am back. Hopefully will be writing here more.

Check out this blog: Snack Tips for Road Warriors

Because everyone likes an umbrella in their drink

As it is getting hotter and hotter (and hotter!), I look for ways to keep cool around my house and the Valley. Now I have had many people in this town ask me, bless their little hearts, “How did you stand the unbearable heat in Louisiana?” And as the temperatures rise to ABOVE ninety in Hailey, I finally have my answer—the air conditioner. In the South, one moves from a temperature-controlled house to a chilly car to a destination, all in quick order and with as few stops as possible. In Idaho, this mode of pod-living is not an option. My house was built pre-air-conditioning (thank goodness for my trusty Suburu and the Sun Valley Magazine’s brisk office air). But in the high-and-dry mountains, I love being outside and around town, 90-degree temps be damned.

As I was trolling Hailey this weekend, I noted an essential and glaring absence: chips, salsa, breeze, margaritas. It is a travesty that there is not one place in town (and I am talking Hailey–not Ketchum or Bellevue) where I can sit outside in the shade, enjoy the summer breezes, gorge myself on tortilla chips with dippables, and sip on one of my classic summer favs, the margarita.

I have shared my favorite fruit margarita before on yum!, but I recently learned a quick and easy recipe from one of my favorite books, The Sweet Potato Queens Book of Love. There is a place in Natchez, Mississippi that I feel everyone should know about if they ever fancied a Delta vacation—Fat Mama’s. The best tamales, great atmosphere, to-die-for chips and salsa, and margaritas that will “Knock-You-Naked.” Luckily, I have the recipe so I can sit on my back porch, sip a cool drink, close my eyes, and dream that I have a cabana boy at my beck-and-call, instead of my bulldog, Montgomery, drooling on my feet.

The Margarita

If they “knock ya nekkid,” don’t say I didn’t warn you! Grab frozen limeade, ice cubes, and a blender to get really chilly.

18 ounces limeade
18 ounces tequila (use good tequila)
24 ounces 7-up (or sprite)
24 ounces Dos Equis or Corona

Get a large picture and mix it all up. Pour over ice and garnish with an umbrella. Because everyone likes umbrellas in their drinks.

Mangolicious

The mango is an exotic and enticing fruit that leaves me contentedly frustrated. Content because the juice, flavor, fragrance, and color are so foreign that with one bite, I am transported from my happy mountain valley to any tropical location (mango is the national fruit of India, Pakistan and the Philippines; and a symbol of attainment and potential perfection in the Hindu religion). And frustrated because I never can cut it correctly or get enough meat away from the massive pit.

America has been good to mangoes in recent years. The word is a color description, fashion statement, SNL character, or Seinfeld reference. I have taken advantage of the continuing availability and buzz around the fruit and tried a number of new recipes. Mango is so healthy and great plain, as a salsa, as a topping to pork and a classic yummy dessert. I found this recipe years ago in Gourmet Magazine and it is a great way to quickly impress your guests with your mad flambé skills, or indulge yourself with a bit of rum-soaked heaven. Yum!

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Mangoes Flambé

Serves 4. Takes about 15 minutes.

4 (one-pound) firm-ripe mangoes
6 tablespoons turbinado sugar
1/3 cup dark rum

Preheat broiler. Wash and dry mangoes. Use the ‘inside-out’ cutting method: Remove 2 flat sides of each mango with a sharp knife, cutting lengthwise alongside pit and cutting as close to pit as possible so that mango flesh is in 2 large pieces (reserve remaining fruit for another use). Make a crosshatch pattern with a small sharp knife, cutting across fruit down to skin at 1/2-inch intervals and being careful not to pierce through. Grasp fruit at both ends and turn inside out to make flesh side convex.

Arrange fruit, skin side down, in a large shallow baking pan lined with foil and sprinkle evenly with 4 tablespoons turbinado sugar (total). Broil 5 inches from heat until fruit is golden brown (it will not brown evenly), about 5 minutes. Arrange fruit on a large platter. Cook rum with remaining sugar in a small saucepan over moderately low heat, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, and then carefully ignite rum with a kitchen match and pour, still flaming, over warm mangoes. Serve immediately.