[gentle upbeat music] My friend John Fleer and I share deep affection for recipes with a sense of place, especially our favorite place, the Appalachian Mountains.

John believes that moments around a shared table deepen the ties among the people we care about.

Today, he's sharing one of his storied recipes with us, a morel mushroom dish with the curious name of Merkel pie.

[gentle upbeat music continues] Hey, bud.

- Hey, how you doing?

- I'm good.

I'm so happy to be here today.

Thank you for having me over.

- Absolutely.

I am happy to have you up here on the ridge top.

- What are we making today?

- We're gonna make something called a Merkel pie.

- A Merkel pie, - Which is the Appalachian version of a morel pie, somewhat similar to a shepherd's pie.

As many good things start with some bacon... Having it at that lower sort of medium temperature helps the bacon render out.

[gentle music] - And looky there.

A few short minutes later, we have perfectly cooked bacon.

- Yes, indeed.

We're going to spoon out this crisped bacon here.

Let the fat drain down, and then if I need to pour it, it's already there.

- Okay.

- We're gonna save some of this fat to saute in, and then we're gonna pull off some fat to roast the potatoes with.

- Is that what this jar is here for?

- [John] That's right.

- And I see potatoes.

- Absolutely.

- What are we gonna do with this?

- So, we're gonna roast these.

I like to roast them whole for mashed potatoes or anything.

- Really?

- I do.

Yeah.

- So, you're gonna just put some fat on there.

- We are, and then we're gonna toss 'em.

- [Sheri] A little bit of salt.

- Let's give it a little sprinkle.

- K, and may I hand hand you a pan?

- You absolutely can.

- Okay.

I cannot wait to see roasted potatoes for mashed potatoes.

This is a revelation to me.

- [John] All right.

- All right.

To the oven we go.

- To the oven we go.

- And so now, we're gonna put 'em in a pan and they're gonna start acting more like mashed potatoes, right?

- Well, we're gonna mash 'em together.

- Okay, and then it looks like we're gonna put in butter and dairy.

I like that you're leaving some texture.

So, it's not gonna be a super smooth smash, more of a rustic.

- No, but the butter and the buttermilk will also help smooth it out as we go.

- All right.

[utensil banging] Okay, and then we have here buttermilk.

I love that you're using buttermilk.

I put buttermilk in mashed potatoes and my grandmother always did, and so potatoes are done.

- [John] Potatoes are done.

- We move on to mushrooms.

- Let's do it.

[soft music] - So, what are we gonna do to these beautiful things.

- So, we're gonna start with our bacon grease.

- Okay.

- And I like to start mushrooms in a pretty hot pan, 'cause I think it's important to get some nice caramelization.

- I see some ramps and some spring onions.

Ramps, like morels, it's a thing of spring.

- Absolutely.

- And when it shows up in nature at the same time, it's probably gonna work pretty well.

- All right, I think we're about ready to move on.

- Okay.

- We're gonna add some butter and we're gonna lower the heat down.

- Okay.

- And we're really gonna let these mushrooms stew.

- [Sheri] And garlic.

- Little sliced garlic.

I like slice my garlic, so I can see it.

- [Sheri] Exactly.

- I don't like it chopped.

- And then our spring onions and our ramps.

- And ramps.

We're gonna season this.

- But salt at the end, - Almost the end, 'cause we're gonna let this sit and stew.

It's gorgeous, isn't it?

I just love this.

- It's absolutely beautiful.

- The way those things look together.

- Love how the green is still holding its color so pretty.

- All right, I think that's- - Beautiful.

- I think we're there.

- All right.

So, now, we're gonna build a pie?

- We are.

- All right.

Let's get the stuff.

- Let's do it.

[upbeat music] I love that it's in the skillet that we have used for two or three things already.

- Well, it's well-seasoned.

We are gonna build this in a couple of layers.

- [Sheri] Okay.

- And we're gonna start with potatoes on the bottom.

Now, we are gonna take about half of our morel mixture.

- [Sheri] And that great green color.

- It also helps to kind of press 'em down into this layer of potatoes, so that- - The substrate, the good potato spackle.

- That's right.

- [Sheri] Okay.

Yeah.

- Now, we're gonna finish off the other half of the mushrooms.

- Okay.

Aren't these great?

Aren't...

Nothing looks like that.

They're so fascinating.

And then- - That's why they put 'em on the top of your britches there.

- That's it.

That's it.

They knew what they were doing.

And another layer of potatoes, - We got all of our holes filled first.

- Now, I'm seeing over here an egg.

Are we gonna really put an egg wash on here, like it's the top of a pie.

- We are, it's like old school French pastry.

- [Sheri] So, this is gonna go back in the oven.

- So, it's gonna spend 20 minutes or so in the oven and we're really looking for this egg wash to create a golden brown.

- All right.

- In the oven?

- In the oven.

- Here we go.

[pan bangs] [gentle rock music] - [Sheri] Well, would you look at that?

- I've got it.

- That is so beautiful.

Now, do we get to taste it?

- Absolutely.

Let's do it.

- Be rewarded for our efforts.

Oh, it holds together beautifully.

- It does, really.

- Wow, look at that.

- Potatoes make good spackle, right?

- They really do.

All right, let's go in my friend.

I'm gonna get a little bit of everything here.

[gentle rock music continues] That is absolutely a mushroom dish.

I mean, that's the first thing you get.

You get that whole, you get that earthy, that sweetness, but they're tender now.

You get that little bit of both the garlic and the ramp.

- And it'll fill you up, too.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- You can have dinner.

- Exactly.

- That's it.

- Well, bless the heart of the person that brought you a Merkel pie to the kitchen that day.

- Well, all praise to Shannon Walker.

- Exactly and to the people that helped us find the mushrooms.

- Exactly.

- And to you, my friend, for letting me come to your house and cook with you.

- Well... - It's a pleasure every time.

- I'll never turn down the opportunity to host you here.

- That sounds good.

- All right.

[music fades out] [upbeat music]