Chapter 142 Morels

After I finished eating, I put the mixed rice and vegetables from the stove on the ground, and several dogs swarmed over and ate it all in no time.

It seemed they weren't quite full, so I mixed all the remaining vegetables in the big bowl with rice and fed it to the dogs.

When I woke up the next day, I suddenly realized that I was walking uncoordinatedly.

After driving for more than ten hours, my buttocks were sore from the bumpy ride, and my calves ached too. I was even limping while feeding the pigs and chickens.

But that doesn't matter. The thought that the dozen or so tons of coal I transported yesterday can burn for several years makes me feel both bittersweet and happy.

With a limp, he put the chickens into the free-range enclosure and picked up a basket, intending to go for a walk in the mountains.

My butt feels more uncomfortable sitting than standing right now, so I should walk around more to relax my muscles.

A few scattered red dots began to appear on the cherry tree. I leaned closer, picked those rare cherries, and stuffed them into my mouth without even wiping them.

Slightly sweet, with a stronger sour taste, but what's there to complain about? I haven't had any fresh fruit all winter, so these few small cherries make me incredibly satisfied.

After finishing the cherries, they continued walking, but for a while they didn't find anything interesting. Apart from the elder's wild vegetables, there was only wild grass on the ground.

"Sigh, life is so boring."

I whine about how boring it is, and then I decide to go take a look at the big grove of trees where I picked mushrooms before.

Clumps of small wildflowers grew in the woods; they were red, but had little fragrance. I picked two and held them in my hand to admire them.

Suddenly I noticed a white dot the size of an egg on the ground. I went over to take a look and it turned out to be a mushroom.

That's right, mushrooms don't just grow in the woods in autumn, they grow in spring too.

I picked the mushroom and examined it in my hand. It looks like... a morel!

I stumbled upon these rare wild morel mushrooms by sheer luck! And they're so big!

I happened to have a small knife with me, so I carefully cut off the soil from the roots of the morel mushrooms and gently placed them into the basket.

These are morel mushrooms, rich in nutrients, good for the spleen and stomach. They were considered a relatively precious type of fungus before the apocalypse. Putting aside his previous thoughts about how boring life was, he began to carefully search for morel mushrooms on the ground.

Before long, we found the second and third... and none of them were small.

When I was at my maternal grandmother's house, I often heard people gossiping about which family's daughter-in-law had found morel mushrooms and sold them for thousands of yuan. But it was all just hearsay; neither my grandmother nor I had ever picked any on the mountain.

I'm even more excited than if I'd found money! I've actually managed to pick the legendary morel mushrooms.

He searched the woods like a madman, filling a small basket with his collected items in just one morning.

I was satisfied with today, so I straightened up and prepared to go home. Suddenly, a wave of pain washed over me, and I realized that I had neglected my sore buttocks. Now my back is also aching.

If every aches and pains in a part of my body could yield precious resources like coal or morels, then I would gladly accept it.

I happily carried the basket home and carefully took out the morel mushrooms one by one to dry in the basket.

As I put the morel mushrooms into the basket to dry, my mouth watered. They smelled so good; I'd never eaten them before.

There were some left in the basket that weren't left to dry; we plan to eat them directly at noon.

If I've never eaten it, I don't know how to cook it. I quickly pulled out my all-purpose cookbook and started searching for recipes for morel mushrooms.

The book records four divine ways to eat morel mushrooms: stewed chicken, stewed pork ribs, steamed eggs, and braised tofu with morel mushrooms.

There was no fresh tofu or pork ribs left at home, so I ruled out those two options and decided to make morel mushroom stewed chicken and steamed eggs instead.

Take out a frozen chicken and thaw it in water, then wash the morel mushrooms with clean water.

Once the chicken pieces have melted, boil a pot of water, blanch the chicken pieces in the water, and then remove and set aside.

The water used to stir-fry the chicken was set aside to feed the pigs.

Place a clay pot on the small stove, add water to the pot, put in the blanched chicken, and bring it to a boil over high heat.

There was still some foam on the surface after this water boiled; skim it off with a spoon.

Add scallions, ginger, cooking wine, salt, chicken bouillon, thirteen-spice powder, red dates, and our important guest, morel mushrooms.

Cover the clay pot with the lid and simmer over low heat.

Once the chicken is almost tender, start steaming the rice and eggs.

Steamed eggs with morel mushrooms are even simpler; just follow the steps for steaming egg custard.

Crack two eggs into a bowl, whisk them into an egg mixture, add salt, add an appropriate amount of water, and steam for three minutes.

Three minutes later, place the three chopped morel mushrooms on top and continue steaming for eight minutes.

Just in time, the steamed morel mushrooms and eggs are served, and the chicken stewing in the casserole on the stove can also be taken down.

I was really looking forward to this meal and hoped it wouldn't disappoint me.

Lifting the lid of the casserole reveals a golden, clear chicken soup with chicken pieces and morel mushrooms floating on top, and red dates that make the soup even more nutritious.

The stewed chicken in the recipe is different from the way I usually stew chicken. The chicken I stew is usually quite flavorful, but this morel mushroom stewed chicken looks like it's on the lighter, fresher side, and it must be very healthy.

Use a ladle to ladle a bowl of chicken soup and let it cool. Pick up a piece of morel mushroom and taste it first.

Morel mushrooms have a crisp and tender texture, and you can hear a slight crunch when you bite into them. They have a slightly sweet taste, and I don't know if it's just psychological, but they really seem more fragrant and fresher than other mushrooms.

I picked up the bowl of chicken soup, blew on it to cool it down, and took a sip. The rich aroma of mushrooms blended perfectly with the flavor of the chicken, making it incredibly delicious. It tasted even better than the chicken soup I used to have at restaurants.

Next, try the steamed egg with morel mushrooms. Scoop out a spoonful of steamed egg, topped with a piece of morel mushroom, and put it in your mouth. The steamed egg is smooth and tender, and the morel mushroom is crisp and refreshing, with an excellent taste.

The umami flavor of the morel mushrooms permeates the egg mixture, and the aroma of the mushrooms blends perfectly with the egg flavor, creating an absolutely delicious taste.

Such delicious food cannot be enjoyed alone. After I finish eating, I will ladle out some chicken soup and mix it with the remaining morel mushroom steamed eggs and rice to feed the dog.

The dogs ate with great relish.

I've seen dogs eat morel mushrooms in short videos of them eating food before, so I've been feeding some to my dog ​​at home in the hopes of boosting his immunity.

After finishing my meal, I went to the yard and looked at the morel mushrooms with love, then turned them over.

"Make sure it's dried thoroughly; it can't rot!"

While flipping them over, I patiently told the morel mushrooms that they must live up to expectations.

I haven't cut grass for the rabbits yet, so I'd better hurry up and head up the mountain with my sickle.

He cut a bundle of grass to feed the rabbits, and then went into the chicken coop to collect eggs.

The chicks are now used to playing freely in the open space every day, and they often lay their eggs in the coop under the tree stumps, so we have to be diligent in collecting the eggs every day to prevent them from being stolen by some unknown creature.

Looking at the group of half-grown ducklings, I wonder when they will start laying eggs. Just thinking about eating salted duck eggs with oozing oil makes my mouth water.

I learned a text in elementary school about Gaoyou duck eggs, and I was so tempted by them back then that I've had a craving for salted duck eggs for years.