So many people measure the passage of time by the calendar. Some by the coming and going of holidays. For us here in Hickery Holler living so far off the beaten path our time is marked by the passing of the season and the animals and plants that abound in each one. Spring for us is marked not only by the daffodils and warmer weather that so many associate with spring. For us spring is here when the crappie (fish) spawn and become easy to catch in the shallow waters of the local streams and farm ponds. Just about this time the turkeys are strutting and turkey hunting season opens in this area. The third thing is the asparagus again put up those delicious tender green shoots. And at the same time if you are really lucky and the gods are smiling you stumble on some wild morel mushrooms. Or a patch or two. There is one meal we look forward to every spring. The first fried crappie of the season. The first morel mushrooms battered in cracker crumbs and fried with them and the first of the asparagus spears. These three things usually come about the same time every year.
Next the halves were rolled in beaten egg and then in crushed saltine crackers.
These are dropped in hot grease and fried till golden brown. Served beside fried crappie and some roasted asparagus is a meal fit for a king in our opinion.
If you are lucky enough to have extra at this stage we freeze them on baking sheets until completely frozen. Once frozen we take them out and wrap them in waxed paper, then place them in Ziploc freezer bags. Then the freezer bags are stacked in a plastic Rubbermaid container that then goes in the freezer allowing us to take out a single bag at the time but protecting the fragile mushrooms from getting broken up by other food being put in and taken out of the freezer.
So on a snowy winters day we can take out some frozen fish and some of these mushrooms and fry them and close our eyes and pretend it is spring all over again.
Tomorrow I will show you an alternate way to freeze them.
Blessings from The Holler
The Canned Quilter
Your description of your spring really pulled me in. For a minute there I was in the holler in spring. Sounds like heaven. Ive never seen morels but it doesnt stop my husband for looking for them.
ReplyDeleteYour description makes me long for the woods and the farm again....... working on my urban homestead instead. Learning to bloom where I have been planted.
ReplyDeleteO.k....you're killing me with this post!!! I'm a real mushroom lover, but had never tasted a morel mushroom until last year, when one of my student's mother presented me with a Ziploc bag full of them. I took them home and prepared them as she instructed. OMG!!! They were divine. I'd never tasted anything quite like them. This past weekend. Richmond, MO was holding their '(Morel)Mushroom Festival'. We went, hoping to eat some fried morel mushrooms, which they've served in the past. I was SO disappointed that they were not selling them this year. Truly, I could have cried. I'm not usually a jealous kind of person but seeing your pictures did get to me a bit. ; ) Enjoy every bite!
ReplyDeleteThey seem to be plentiful around us this year Katz but they are selling for like $30 a pound in some places. WOW!
DeleteCQ,
ReplyDeleteI like the way you prepare them for future eating.
It's as if this particular mushroom is very popular now, prices are extreme.
Oh my gosh did this post make me hungry! All three of these are just about my favorite things to eat! YUM!!
ReplyDeleteHi. I enjoy your blog very much and read it faithfully.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, I came across this article earlier this evening: http://www.runningthecountry.com/ticked-off-in-missouri/#.U22jmWdOXcs
I linked to it from Baker Creek Seeds' FaceBook web page.
Apparently, big agri-business (Monsanto & others) is trying to get itself imprinted into the Missouri state constitution. Time for another fight!
This link is in the above article: http://www.farmtoconsumer.org/aa/aa-8april2013.htm
I don't live in Missouri, but I am very concerned that small/family/diversified farms be protected from big agri-business and I greatly abhor GMOs.
That sounds like an amazing meal! I would love to try the Crappie. I grew up on Wyoming trout and I really miss it.
ReplyDeleteWe couldn't agree more on that meal choice!
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