Five Lakes Grill was this wonderful restaurant off the beaten path of Metro Detroit, located in downtown Milford, Michigan.  It is a charming downtown of several blocks with shopping, restaurants and taverns.  It was here that Brian Polcyn the Chef/Proprietor decided to open his doors.   He had a wonderful regular menu as well as “special menus” through out the year.  I am going to discuss one of his “special menu” offerings.

My Bride was scheduled to go to the upper peninsula of Michigan on her annual trip, the same time as The Morel Mushroom Dinner was going to occur.  Due to my employment, I could not take the time to join her as I have done in the past.  So I did the next best thing, and went with one of her co-workers and his wife to enjoy this dinner.  We spent the next couple of hours calling her to tell her about each course and what she had missed.  I know it seems cruel, but it was all in good fun and she really would have enjoyed the evening, the good friends, the food and the wine.

Chef Polcyn came out before the dinner started and announced that every course would include morel mushrooms, and that on average, each dinner would consume close to a pound in total aggregate weight of these delicious and hard to find mushrooms, an that there would be Morel Mushrooms featured in every course.  We had opted to have the wine package that had been carefully paired for four of the courses.

The First Course consisted of Warm Potato and Morel Mushroom Terrine with Michigan Sweet Corn Sauce and Fresh Pea Tendrils.   This was paired with a 2004 Spy Valley Riesling, New Zealand.

The Second Course was Pan Seared Slate Wing with Fiddlehead Ferns, Petit Morel Mushrooms and Pomes Robishon.  This course was paired with 2003 Nugan’s “Frasca’s Lane” Chardonnay, Australia.

The Third Course was a Poele of Squab with Hudson Valley Foie Gras, Werp Farms Organic Baby Vegetables and Morel Mushroom Risotto.  This was paired with a 2004 Tres Picos Garnacha Campo de Borja, Spain.

The Fourth Course was a Morel Mushroom and Caramelized Onion Stuffed Loin of Organic Hog with Black Pepper Spatzle, Grilled Longs Farm Asparagus and Black Truffle-Morel Mushroom Demi Glaze.  This dish was paired with a 2001 Corte alla Flora Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva, Italy.

The Fifth Course was an Organic Green Salad with Bacon Shallot dressing and Warm Morel Mushroom Custard.

For Dessert we received a Fresh Blackberry Tart with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.  Now as you are reading this, you are saying, well where is the Morel Mushroom that is supposed to be in each course.   The plate had been dusted with cinnamon and a Morel Mushroom had been drawn in the dust.  It was very pretty and clever and you could hear everybody laughing as they discovered the trophy mushroom.