Yesterday was a very gloomy gray by the Bay. It’s the last weekend in May, the farmers market is absolutely overflowing with cherries and peaches are coming in at a quick pace behind, but the produce couldn’t quite convince me that summer was anywhere in the air. It was a day for spring flavors and winter comfort, which happens a lot in San Francisco, where chilly winds pick up in time for dinner on even the most promising sunny spring days. So the morel mushrooms I bought were not simply sauteed in butter or tossed with asparagus spears in a spring-y / early summer way. I chopped them up and cooked them with rice and broth and a bit of cream and a generous handful of cheese for an easy, calming morel mushroom risotto. Since it is spring, though, I topped the whole thing with chiffonade of mint (that’s thin slices or “ribbons” of mint to you and me) and a few minced green onions (chives would have been even better). A bit of lightly steamed spinach topped with finishing salt and burnt caramel ice cream from an unidentified source completed our dinner. All were pleased with the dinner, but my dashing husband proclaimed the ice cream the best he’d ever had. Too bad it isn’t for sale. And too bad we don’t have any more in the freezer. Perhaps I’ll get to work on figuring out how to make my own….
{ 2009 05 31 }
Jenn | 03-Jun-09 at 5:58 pm | Permalink
I found your website via SFGIRLBYBAY and love the ideas… nothing pulls me in like recipes for morels… thank you… but I wanted to comment on your love for the burnt caramel ice cream you had for dinner (have you tried Buy Rite’s (@18th & Valencia) version?) it was voted in the 100 things to try in SF before you die by 7×7 mag….
Molly Watson | 04-Jun-09 at 11:26 am | Permalink
Bi-Rite’s is good. Very good. The thing about this other one is it was made in a way that people cannot legally sell. There are a lot of weird regulations around commercial ice cream. So, fabulous as Bi-Rite’s is, this other one was more like the very best super-fresh homemade ice cream you can even imagine every having. Sadly, the very things that make it so amazing are also the things that mean it cannot be sold. To the ice cream maker! I have ideas!
Friday Food Files With Molly Watson: Morel Mushrooms. | weloveyourwalls design blog | 05-Jun-09 at 9:10 am | Permalink
[...] than a drive to the Sierras and a day in the woods looking for my own!).The gray weather made me crave something comforting, so I cooked up a Morel Mushroom Risotto. It was lovely. If you find yourself in possession of a [...]