What wine to pair with morels

[Kris_Patten]

Burgundy is too broad of an answer…so I’ll narrow it to my favorites for morels simply prepared, no cream.

All red with some age…

Pommard
Corton
Morey St. Denis
Savigny Les Beaune
Pernand Verglesses

[Chris_Seiber]

Can anyone tell me or PM me where I can buy some of these in Orange County? I called Bristol Farms and they made it sound like I was asking a stupid question.

[Craig_G]

End of the season now with the giant whites where I am:

Pfft…

[John_Ammons]

Anyone that does more than adding a pinch of flour (too much ruins them) and pan searing them in butter is doing morels an injustice.

This, but if available I’d also add a smattering of still crisp parboiled english peas 30 seconds before removing from the heat.

[Bill_Sweeney]

Anyone that does more than adding a pinch of flour (too much ruins them) and pan searing them in butter is doing morels an injustice. I might be swayed towards Burgundy but am leaning towards Champagne. Save your sauces and risotto for chanterelles, boletes, shaggy manes, and miatake.

Anybody who makes this claim has not tried my husband’s capon with morels and vin jaune cream sauce. It’s the most delicious thing I’ve eaten since he made it last year.

Is he willing to share the recipe?

[Sarah_Kirschbaum]

Anybody who makes this claim has not tried my husband’s capon with morels and vin jaune cream sauce. It’s the most delicious thing I’ve eaten since he made it last year.

Is he willing to share the recipe?

Sure - no secrets here, though this is a classic dish and I’m sure there are dozens if not hundreds of great recipes from top chefs. He starts with Patricia Wells’s Chicken Fricassee with Morels and Vin Jaune from The Paris Cookbook (can be found online at https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/chicken-fricassee-with-morels-and-vin-jaune-recipe-1911099)

Here are his notes as best as I can read his scrawl:

Used recipe as frame for a 12 lb capon, broken down into 2 legs, 2 thighs, 2 wing+breast portions, 4 breast portions.
– replace dried morels with 2 lbs fresh morels,
– for liquid: 2 C morel infused chicken stock, 2 C cream, soaking liquid of 4 diced dried morels, fresh thyme sprig and crushed garlic clove in the beginning but removed before liquid is added, added minced chive after chicken is removed.
– cooking times: breast (7-8 min), breast/wing (15min), thigh (20min), leg (25 min). Torched after removing from liquid for extra crisp edges and spots.
– reduced sauce and stir in 1/2 C of vin jaune in addition to the Cote du Jura used for main recipe
– arrange on platter, sauce over top, garnish with parsley

I posted pictures of the finished product over in the Epicurean Exploits “What Did You Cook Tonight” thread a couple of weeks ago. Post #1450, bottom of page 29.

Note that I also believe morels shouldn’t be fussed with too much - no stuffing them with scallop mousse or what have you. Sauteed in butter and topped with chopped herbs on toast is pretty great, but this dish above is next level and absolutely honors the mushrooms.

[GregT]

Anyone that does more than adding a pinch of flour (too much ruins them) and pan searing them in butter is doing morels an injustice. I might be swayed towards Burgundy but am leaning towards Champagne. Save your sauces and risotto for chanterelles, boletes, shaggy manes, and miatake.

I’ve come to think that Champagne is just a cop-out answer in wine pairing threads, because who can/will quarrel with you?

Me.

Bottles of Champagne I’ve opened in the past ten years?

Zero.

I don’t get the obsession.

For those morels though, it’s a shame you don’t have an old Rioja. Best pairing with most mushrooms I can think of. In any case, I’d go with the oldest red on hand. Haven’t had morels in years. My neighbors used to bring them to my mother every year. We’d have them with butter and a little parsley and maybe oregano or whatever it was she had growing by the door.

[Sarah_Kirschbaum]

Truly, morels are extremely wine friendly. Pretty much anything, red or white, that has enough acid, some good fruit, and some earth to it can work, with the exact choice dictated by the prep. I like red and white burgundy both with the simplest preps. With the cream/vin jaune sauce, we had a Macle Chateau Chalone 2000 and a 1956 Jean Bourdy Cotes du Jura Rouge. The Ch. Chalone was probably the better pairing, as the old red got a little beat up, but the mushrooms loved the acid on that one.

[Nick_Ellis]

I cut up a prime tenderloin into fillets, so ended up doing half with that. Decided to do a 2003 First Centgrafenbeg Fruhburgunder R. This wine is spectacular with the steak but cloying to the morels:

That looked like a great pairing; sorry it didn’t match well with the shrooms. Did you find the morels yourself or buy in a store? I think we are in the same state, and I’m always looking for a vendor.

[Curtis_Chen]

Can anyone tell me or PM me where I can buy some of these in Orange County? I called Bristol Farms and they made it sound like I was asking a stupid question.

Then Chef Viet can prep it for us!

[Josh_Grossman]

I cut up a prime tenderloin into fillets, so ended up doing half with that. Decided to do a 2003 First Centgrafenbeg Fruhburgunder R. This wine is spectacular with the steak but cloying to the morels:

That looked like a great pairing; sorry it didn’t match well with the shrooms. Did you find the morels yourself or buy in a store? I think we are in the same state, and I’m always looking for a vendor.

I’ve got some land in Hocking that these came from. I’ve also have a spot at Darby Creek and near Granville. Grandma Faye’s (small grocery in Hocking) has a list and is the biggest dealer I know of. If in Columbus, I’ve seen them at Weiland’s Market–but think all of the commercial ones are fire morels from out west. This little farm stand near Commercial Point occasionally has them–but not sure how to contact them:

[Josh_Grossman]

I cut up a prime tenderloin into fillets, so ended up doing half with that. Decided to do a 2003 First Centgrafenbeg Fruhburgunder R. This wine is spectacular with the steak but cloying to the morels:

That looked like a great pairing; sorry it didn’t match well with the shrooms. Did you find the morels yourself or buy in a store? I think we are in the same state, and I’m always looking for a vendor.

https://grocery.gianteagle.com/pd/Fresh/MOREL-MUSHROOMS-USA/1-lb/000000031028/

[Nick_Ellis]

I cut up a prime tenderloin into fillets, so ended up doing half with that. Decided to do a 2003 First Centgrafenbeg Fruhburgunder R. This wine is spectacular with the steak but cloying to the morels:

That looked like a great pairing; sorry it didn’t match well with the shrooms. Did you find the morels yourself or buy in a store? I think we are in the same state, and I’m always looking for a vendor.

https://grocery.gianteagle.com/pd/Fresh/MOREL-MUSHROOMS-USA/1-lb/000000031028/

I must be shopping at the wrong Giant Eagle.

[Chris_Seiber]

Can anyone tell me or PM me where I can buy some of these in Orange County? I called Bristol Farms and they made it sound like I was asking a stupid question.

Then Chef Viet can prep it for us!

You know, Viet is just the guy who would probably know about where to find them. I’ll ping him.

[John_Morris]

If it is the right answer for fried chicken and french fires–I don’t see how it doesn’t go best with morels? I’m just talking about slightly crispy pan fried morels.

You mean Freedom Fires?

[ATaylor]

As others have noted, depends on how you are serving them. One of the most magnificent and famous dishes was Jean-Paul Jeunet’s Poularde au Vin Jaune at his restaurant in Arbois (now sadly retired…but another chef has assumed control). The Jura is a haven for morilles and whether it be veal or poultry, they are traditionally served with a regional white (Jura chard, vin jaune, savaginin) or a White burg in a pinch.

[Dan_Kravitz]

I think bottle age (or pre-aged wine like Vin Jaune) may be the magic.

Dan Kravitz

[Scott_Brunson]

If it is the right answer for fried chicken and french fires–I don’t see how it doesn’t go best with morels? I’m just talking about slightly crispy pan fried morels.

You mean Freedom Fires?

[Bill_Sweeney]

Anybody who makes this claim has not tried my husband’s capon with morels and vin jaune cream sauce. It’s the most delicious thing I’ve eaten since he made it last year.

Is he willing to share the recipe?

Sure - no secrets here, though this is a classic dish and I’m sure there are dozens if not hundreds of great recipes from top chefs. He starts with Patricia Wells’s Chicken Fricassee with Morels and Vin Jaune from The Paris Cookbook (can be found online at https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/chicken-fricassee-with-morels-and-vin-jaune-recipe-1911099)

Here are his notes as best as I can read his scrawl:

Used recipe as frame for a 12 lb capon, broken down into 2 legs, 2 thighs, 2 wing+breast portions, 4 breast portions.
– replace dried morels with 2 lbs fresh morels,
– for liquid: 2 C morel infused chicken stock, 2 C cream, soaking liquid of 4 diced dried morels, fresh thyme sprig and crushed garlic clove in the beginning but removed before liquid is added, added minced chive after chicken is removed.
– cooking times: breast (7-8 min), breast/wing (15min), thigh (20min), leg (25 min). Torched after removing from liquid for extra crisp edges and spots.
– reduced sauce and stir in 1/2 C of vin jaune in addition to the Cote du Jura used for main recipe
– arrange on platter, sauce over top, garnish with parsley

I posted pictures of the finished product over in the Epicurean Exploits “What Did You Cook Tonight” thread a couple of weeks ago. Post #1450, bottom of page 29.

Note that I also believe morels shouldn’t be fussed with too much - no stuffing them with scallop mousse or what have you. Sauteed in butter and topped with chopped herbs on toast is pretty great, but this dish above is next level and absolutely honors the mushrooms.

Thank you Sarah. Tonight.

[Sarah_Kirschbaum]

Thank you Sarah. Tonight.

If you can get a capon, it’s worth. A real one, not just a big chicken. The meat is denser and the flavor is great. The recipe of course works with chicken as well.