Late spring is always a favorite time of year to cook for me because of all the unique ingredients you can find. At the store this week I came across fresh morel mushrooms and garlic scapes. These are both ingredients you can usually only find in spring, especially in the New York area, so I jumped at the chance to get them.
I decided to pan fry the morels and scapes and pair them with a nice sous vide ribeye, some tomatoes, and broccolini. Because this was a weekday meal, I pan fried all the vegetables in the same pan, one after another, keeping the cleanup to a minimum.
Morel mushrooms taste similar to brown button or baby bella mushrooms but with a more pronounced nuttiness. To clean them you soak them in water for a minute or two and then rinse, repeating several times. They are easy to cook once they have been cleaned and are usually pan fried or coated in flour and fried. I wanted to highlight the flavor of the ingredients so I left the meal real light, with just some olive oil, salt, and a little garlic for base flavors.
Garlic scapes taste like a cross between garlic, chives, and scallions. They are great pan fried or roasted to tame their bite a bit. Many people also blend them raw with pine nuts and basil for a garlic scape pesto. I did a simple pan fry and then squeezed some lemon juice over the top.
To round out the meal I added in some quickly pan fried tomatoes and broccolini.
I prepared this as a meal for two, with a giant 2", 18-ounce ribeye (50mm, 500g) that I served family style. We could then pick and choose what we wanted to eat on our own plates.
I did the ribeye at 131°F (55°C) for about 5 hours, though for one of this size you could go as low as 3 and a half hours (see my sous vide cooking times by thickness for more information). Once it was finished cooking I dried it off really well and seared it off in the pan I had cooked all the vegetables in.
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Preheat a water bath to 131°F (55°C).
Salt and pepper the ribeye steak then coat with the spices. Place the ribeye steak in a sous vide bag then seal. Cook the steak for 3 to 5 hours, or until heated through.
For more information on the cooking times you can read my detailed article which addresses why is there a range in sous vide cooking times.
Fill a container with water and submerge the morel mushrooms for a minute or two. Drain the water and repeat 2 or 3 times until they are clean. Lightly dry off the morel mushrooms.
Place some oil in a pan and heat over medium-high heat. Add the morels then salt and pepper them. Cook until just browned and tender, about 10 to 15 minutes, adding the garlic cloves about halfway through the cooking. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Place some oil in a pan and heat over medium-high heat. Add the garlic scapes then salt and pepper them. Cook until just the outside just starts to blister and the scapes are beginning to soften, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat, squeeze the lemon over the top and set aside.
Trim the tough ends off of the broccolini.
Place some oil in a pan and heat over medium-high heat. Add the broccolini then salt and pepper it. Cook until it just starts to brown, then add a tablespoon or two of water and cover the pan. Cooking until the broccolini is tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Place some oil in a pan and heat over medium-high heat. Add the cherry tomatoes then salt and pepper them. Cook until just the start to brown or the skins split, about 5 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Remove the cooked ribeye from the sous vide bag and pat dry. Lightly salt the outside then quickly sear it until it is just browned. Cut the ribeye into slices and place on a plate. Top the ribeye with the garlic scapes and some thyme leaves.
Surround the ribeye with the morels, cherry tomatoes, and broccolini then serve.
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This article is by me, Jason Logsdon. I'm a passionate home cook who loves to try new things, especially when it comes to cooking. I've explored everything from sous vide and whipping siphons to pressure cookers and blow torches; created foams, gels and spheres; made barrel aged cocktails and brewed beer. I have also written 10 cookbooks on modernist cooking and sous vide and I run the AmazingFoodMadeEasy.com website.
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