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Recipe: lobster morel agnolotti

It wasn’t long after finding my first blonde morel that I had collected enough to shoot a recipe. The temptation to simply flour and fry these morsels nags at me constantly because it’s easy and delicious and probably my favorite way to enjoy my favorite eating mushrooms (porcini remain my favorite “finding” mushrooms). However, the first freshly foraged morels are automatically designated for new recipes because one is never certain – but certainly hopeful – that there will be more.

two buddies emerging from the grass and leaf litter

mushrooms on mushrooms

I knew I wanted to involve lobster and then I threw asparagus in there because it’s spring and asparagus and morels typically appear on the plains around the same time. Why not stuff it all in some agnolotti, which is a pasta I was unaware of until a few months ago? Agnolotti is like an easier version of mini ravioli and I’m a little obsessed with it. The filling is dotted or piped in a line along a strip of pasta and then folded over and cut. Well, it’s more complicated than that, but you get the gist… or you will after you read the post!

Start by making the pasta dough. I don’t have any one definitive pasta dough recipe. They all seem to involve a combination of flour, eggs, and salt, and sometimes egg yolks and/or olive oil. It’s a mess of flour and flecks of dough that eventually come together into a nice ball if you are patient and stick with it. Don’t throw out that excess flour – sift out the chunky bits and use the rest for flouring your work surface.

the pasta dough: flour, eggs, salt, olive oil

stir the eggs, salt, and olive oil in a well in the flour

incorporate as much flour as the dough will absorb (you will have extra flour)

knead the dough

when the dough springs back from a poke, it’s ready to rest

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Recipe: mango sorbet

Lots of things happen in May around here, things like my annual MRI to monitor for breast cancer or the anniversary of my sister’s passing or the typical May snowstorm in the mountains that all of the mountain folk expect and all of the flatlanders can’t believe. It’s when we swap out our snow tires for the summer tires, admire all of the flowering trees in Boulder, and begin the mushroom hunting season.

flowers for kris, every year

my favorite weeping cherry in bloom, in the rain

the rains bring the oyster mushrooms

and if you’re lucky, they bring the blonde morels

met a little garter snake while foraging

That blonde morel was my first one I’ve foraged and there were whoops and hollers and high fives and hugs with my foraging buddy, Erin (she found her first one within minutes of mine). The list of edible mushroom varieties that I want to find is quite short, but now it’s shorter by one. Blonde morels are also known as American yellow morels (the variety we forage in the mountains is a black morel).

I have yet to see any morels hit our markets, but what I am seeing on sale lately are mangoes – especially the ataulfo or yellow mangoes, which are my favorites. The pit tends to be smaller, the flesh sweet and not as fibrous as its red-/green-skinned cousin. After a day on the flats looking for morels under the hot sun, I welcome a nice cold scoop or two of a smooth and refreshing mango sorbet. It’s fruity, it’s tropical, and it’s easy to make. The tequila is a nice way to keep the sorbet smooth as it prevents the formation of big ice crystals. If you don’t want alcohol in your sorbet, you can substitute corn syrup.

water, sugar, mangoes, limes, tequila, and salt (not pictured)

combine water and sugar to make simple syrup

slice and scoop the flesh of the mangoes

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Recipe: fresh ginger beer

I jumped the gun a couple of weeks ago and had my hair cut off, donating the 10-12 inch ponytails to Pantene Beautiful Lengths. My reasoning for keeping it long was for ease of management under my ski helmet, but with a lousy ski season nearing its end and the warming weather, I couldn’t resist!

flowering trees going crazy down on the flats

short hair is super refreshing on sunny trail runs

Despite pledging my allegiance to spring, when it snowed 10 inches this past week we immediately grabbed the skis and headed out for a little backcountry touring. It was very crunchy and knobbly underneath, because the crazy warm days had melted most of the snow which froze the slushy footprints and suncups into icy divots overnight. But the soft fluffy stuff falling from the sky made for fun turns, giggles and whoops echoing through the valley, and a renewed declaration of our love of skiing.

skinning up

skiing out

neva in the moment, in the snow

Whether it’s snowing or sunshining, I’m always up for a refreshing glass of ginger beer. I’ve tasted several brands of store-bought ginger beer over the years, preferring those with a sharper gingery bite and less sugar than their popular cousin, ginger ale. Earlier this year, I was determined to brew my own ginger beer. I tried this authentic alcoholic ginger beer from Food 52 and had to pour the bulk of it down the drain because it tasted so awful. I wondered if perhaps it was the alcohol? The next recipe I tried from Serious Eats only had 2 days of fermentation. Sadly, it didn’t register much higher than my first attempt at ginger beer. Both seemed to have an oddly soapy flavor to the ginger beer. I was so frustrated.

Fast forward a few weeks and Jeremy and I had a lunch date at Oak in Boulder where I sipped on their homemade ginger beer. So fizzy and bright and full of “punch you in the face” ginger flavor. I later emailed the restaurant, relaying my tale of woe and wasted ginger, and asked if they would be willing to give me some tips on making my own ginger beer. These incredibly nice people replied within a few hours and gave me their recipe.

sugar, ginger, lemon, water, topo chico (or any soda water)

Their version isn’t something I can reproduce at home. They combine fresh ginger juice, lemon juice, sugar, and water, and then they carbonate it. My version combines fresh ginger juice, lemon juice, simple syrup, and carbonated water. Why not?

simple syrup: water and sugar

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