Morel mushrooms
1 egg
¼ cup milk
2 cups cornmeal
1 tsp black pepper
Bacon grease
Halve, clean and soak the morels then leave overnight in salt water with a heavy plate weighing them down in the water.
Rinse the morels well and drain before cooking.
In a wide shallow bowl, mix the egg and milk.
In a thick paper bag, mix the cornmeal and pepper.
In a deep well-seasoned cast-iron skillet, melt the bacon grease 1 inch deep. Get it good and hot but not smoking.
Dip your mushrooms in the milk and let them soak a little while your grease is heating.
Pick a handful out of the bowl and shake them a little to get off some of the liquid excess.
Drop the mushrooms into the bag of cornmeal. Hold your hand on the bottom of the bag so it doesn't break, and gently shake.
Add more mushrooms, shaking gently after each addition. When they are all coated very well, start laying them in a single layer in the hot skillet.
Fry, trying to only turn them once so the coating stays on better.
When golden, drain on paper towels.
- •Don't salt; bacon grease is already salty.
- •You can gently dump the coated morels in a colander set in a larger bowl. This lets the loose stuff fall off and if you need to touch up any bare spots your coating is right there.