More Morel Mushrooms Makes My Meal Magnificent!

Yes, I apologize for the alliteration but once I had written "more morel mushrooms" I just had to see if I could complete the entire title using only words starting with M!

I did one of our old favorites for this dinner: broiled dry-aged NY Strip steak, rice and sauteed greens and so in an attempt to jazz it up, I decided to do a Morel mushroom au jus to top it off.  Morel mushrooms are a great, flavorful, mushroom that has a fun shape for stuffing (as I have posted about before) as well as a great texture.  Beware though of two things (which do kinda off-set each other): Morel mushrooms are almost always sold dry, and are quite pricey (although you will be surprised how much you get for a little money) and they can give you a bit of a tummy ache if you eat too many.  I buy them at the bulk section at Whole Foods and can usually get 10 - 12 of them for about 5 bucks.

Morel Au-jus
6-8 large dried Morel mushrooms
1 cup beef stock (Veggie stock can be used here too!)
Little bit of butter

Put the mushrooms and stock in a 2 cup measuring cup and then weight them down with something like a smaller measuring cup or bowl so that the mushrooms are as submerged as possible in the stock.  Allow the mushrooms to re-constitute in the stock for about an hour.

Once the mushrooms have softened, remove them from the stock being careful to allow excess liquid to drain back into the measuring cup.  Begin heating a small saute, or sauce, pan over medium high heat. Put the mushrooms on a cutting board and chop them shortways, so that they make rings.

Put the butter in the pan and allow it to melt around the pan (you should use just enough butter that spreads around the base of the pan). Put the mushroom rings into the pan and saute for about 2 minutes, using a wooden spoon to keep moving them and making sure they don't stick.

Add the stock that you have retained and allow it to cook down to about half of what it was before turning the heat to the lowest setting (or melt setting if you have that one).

(Optional Step) If have allowed your steak to rest on a cutting board and some juices have leaked out (and if you had an juices in the pan from the broiler) ... you should definitely add these juices to the stock and mushroom mix and stir well before serving.

Your Au-jus is now ready to go on top of your meal, try it and enjoy!