Sauces: WOOD NYMPH GRAVY (Serves four.) by Recipe Cottage

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	WOOD NYMPH GRAVY (Serves four.)

		1/4 cup butter 2 cups morel liquor 2 cloves garlic minced 1/2 lemon 1/2 onion, chopped 1/2 cup dry white wine 1 roon morels 1/4 t. fresh nutmeg, grated 1/4 cup flour This treatment of the morel is a classic European traditional approach. Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic, onion and morels and saute for about five minutes. Mix in flour and cook for another three to four minutes. Now, slowly add morel liquor while stirring with a whisk. The mixture will stay partially thick during this process. Squeeze in the lemon juice and whisk. Pour in the wine and whisk. Put in the nutmeg and whisk until the gravy becomes medium thick. Remove from heat and ladle it over toast, rice, noodles, biscuits, pheasant, duck, beef, lamb, bullfrog, elk, potatoes and carp. Toast is considered the carrier for the gravy, but as suggested, Wood Nymph Gravy goes well with other offerings. A variation of the recipe calls for the substitution of 1/2 cup cream for the wine. Many morel purists prefer their morels served this way. Try both ways if you have the morels and make up you own mind. ... Notes: 1. The book provides advise on when and generally where to find morel mushrooms. Color photograph of morels are plentiful throughout the text and for the amateur, morels are relatively safe mushrooms to gather. BE SURE TO LEARN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MOREL AND THE FALSE MOREL, the species GYROMITRA. 2. The author gives four definitions for the word "roon", they include (A.) A person possessed by extreme or insatiable desires for morel mushrooms. ... (D.) Used in cooking, an equivalent measurement of dried, frozen or fresh morel mushrooms. (i.) 1 roon = 2 cups of frozen morels and butter mixture. (ii.) 1 roon = 2 cups of halved, medium size fresh morel caps. (iii.) 1 roon = 1 handful of dried morels, which yields 2 cups of rehydrated morels. (iv.) 2 1/2 lbs. fresh morels = 1 quart of frozen morels (v.) 1 gallon of dried morels weight from 8-10 oz. (vi.) 10 pounds of fresh morels yield about 1 lb. dried morels. 3. Inspect and clean freshly picked morels; use a clean 1" paintbrush to whisk away sand or dirt. Dirty morels can be rinsed but the less rinsing the better especially if they are going to be dried. 4. Drying: Split the mushroom lengthwise and dry (A.) using a food dehydrator, (B.) on a stack of window screens or (C.) by threading a strong line through the stems. The latter two methods take about 2 weeks. Dried morels will keep indefinitely. 5. Rehydrations: (A.) Remove the stems and set aside. (B.) Soak the dried morel caps in warm water or warm milk for twenty to thirty minutes. One handful of dried morels expands to about two cups when rehydrated. (C.) Swish the soaking morels around from time to time. ... (D.) Pour off and strain the liquid, called MOREL LIQUOR, through a coffee filter, SAVE THE LIQUOR FOR SOUPS, SAUCES OR STEWS. (E.) Place the soaked morels in a colander and rinse under running water until all grit is washed away. (F.) Carefully pat the mushrooms dry with paper towels. 6. The dried morel stems and any small bits of caps can be put in a food processor or blender and pulverized to make morel dust which can be used for cooking.