It's Chanterelle Season

[bleudauvergne]

Good morning - we are now in the midst of the Chanterelle season. I have normally just sauteed them with butter but this year I think I am really going to investigate what can bring the most out of these lovely yellow trumpets. They are called Chanterelle and also Girolle at the market.

Unfortunately we just caught the tail end of the market last Sunday due to some things we had to get done in the morning. If we'd been there early it would have really been wonderful. Reminder, set alarm for tomorrow...

4€50 for 500 grams (une livre).

In my opinion, they had to be washed. Some mushrooms do fine with a light brush. But it had been raining that day, and the traces of soil were in some of the gills...

I didn't bother cutting them because their consistency will allow them to cook completely rather quickly. I like my chanterelles to have a little "bite" to them, although I also like the taste of them once they've been well sauteed with butter. They take on a certain flavor. I started with a chicken breast and added cream at the end. It was OK, for a school night. I feel like really doing good things with them though, with dishes that will really bring out their best qualities.

I hope that people will pipe in and recall the wonderful ways they have enjoyed this mushroom prepared fresh. Searching the eGullet archives people mention serving them with jus de boeuf, chanterelle flan, with lobster, braised chicken... what else? We've got a couple more weeks to go in the season and I want to get cooking.

[artisanbaker]

tis the season indeed...

believe it or not, i don't eat mushrooms but i deeply enjoy hunting them.

it's something wonderful that the rain brings, so it becomes exciting when it rains instead of dreary. i miss looking for black trumpets, girolles, and boletes in the vercors valley.

omelettes are always a good option for degustation.

Edited September 7, 2004 by artisanbaker (log)

[DRColby]

Our chanterelle season is well underway in the Pacifice Northwest. We are picking very nice, small meaty white and yellows that lend themselves to preserving in oil.

The chanterelles much be very dry to do this and small seem to work better than large; if big, split into smaller pieces.

We take a cup of light oil (I like olive oil; can be half olive, half something else), heat to high temperature and then add about a pound of mushrooms and cook until all mositer is gone, about four to five minutes.

Remove from heat immediately, but leave in oil. When cool add mixture of 1 Tbs of dijon mustard, 1/4 cup of fruity vinegar (or balsmic or red), bay leaf, clove of garlic sliced thin, and a couple of tsp of you favoirte mixed fresh herbs chopped fine.

Let marinate for few hours. Use on salads, in pastas, or just enjoy as is. We were in a place recently that put them in martinis in place of an olive. Keeps well in frig for month or so.

dve

[endless autumn]

This is an amazing season for mushrooms in the south of the UK; but it is ceps, not chanterelles which are popping up everywhere.

As for chanterelles, here are a few of my favourite combinations:

Pigeon, peas, bacon, chanterelles

Rabbit stuffed with chanterelles and dried apricot

Middle Eastern Lamb with chanterelle pilaff

(Sort of) Beef Stroganoff with just cream, butter, onion and chanterelles

Chanterelle Brioche

Chanterelle Croissants

Chanterelle Vodka

Sea Trout with chanterelles and samphire

lots of other things too.

I love them, especially since I am a keen mycophile but also red-green colourblind: they are one of the few mushrooms I can spot without trouble.

[Bux]

Cepes are also found in the southwest of France. I recall the open market in Bayonne one September day. There were mounds of cepes of all sizes covering what seemed like most of the tables. It was by far the dominant product in the market place and some of the mushrooms were enormous. I only wished we had access to a hot pan, some butter or olive oil and a bit of garlic at the time. It did have an effect on our orders in restaurants the following days. It's really a pleasure to experience seasonal foods in their season, and by that I mean more than just eating them. Window shopping in markets, even at the expense of museums, as we travel in France and Spain makes our restaurant meals so much more intersting and rewarding.

[endless autumn]

Yes, ceps proliferate in the Landes, Bas-Pyrenees and Pyrenees Orientales.

I can never find them near the village in France (near Andorra) as the subsistent locals plunder the woods as soon as anything pops up. (Bizarrely, however, they leave all pieds de mouton (Hedgehog fungus), coulemelles (parasols), and even girolles grown in the wrong conditions: they must be small, grown under pine and no bigger than a couple of inches across.)

The chanterelles (girolles) which I collect are usually from broad-leaved trees: has anyone perceived a difference in taste between these and the pine-dwellers?

[fredbram]

I like chanterelles in almost any form. One of my favorites is chicken poached with chanterelles, cream, shallots, white wine and thyme.

My wife, however, finds them bland in this type of preparation. Last week, I tossed some in olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme and broiled them under a hot broiler for 6-10 minutes. Cooked this way, they seem to retain all their flavor, and it intensifies because no liquid is released from them. I have trouble keeping them from exuding moisture when sauteeing, and this worked to keep the moisture in. She liked them.

[ludja]

A classic simple dish in Austria is "eierspeise" or scrambled eggs with fresh chanterelles. One of my grand aunts always makes this as a special treat for us when we visit her farm. The mushrooms are just picked that morning... by her!

Traditionally, the eggs are mixed v. lightly for Eierspeise so that you still see some white streaks after they are cooked. Also, less stirring in cooking the eggs, and a little less cooking so they are a bit moist. The mushrooms are sauteed first and separately, then mixed into the eggs.

An aside: The german word for chanterelles is "eierschwamm" or 'egg mushrooms'.

[endless autumn]

ludja Posted Today, 09:21 AM

 

An aside: The german word for chanterelles is "eierschwamm" or 'egg mushrooms'

I thought they were called pfifferling: what does that mean?

[ludja]

I thought they were called pfifferling: what does that mean?

←

I'm not sure, I've never heard that word. (Have to ask my Mom next time I talk to her!). All I can vouch for is that in Steirmark (Styria) and Burgenland in Austria they are called "eierschwamm". It's possible that they are called something different in other parts of Austria and not unlikely at all that they are called something different in Germany... Lots of differences in words between Austrian-German and German-German, especially in food.

Since I have only heard "eierschwamm" I assumed that was the universal term! My german is a funny blend of austrian dialect from Styria and Burgenland and college-taught High German... Happy to learn the whole scoop if someone knows for sure what they are called in Germany!

[carswell]

There's something about the combination of chanterelles, starch, cream and parmesan that pushes all my buttons. Potato and chanterelle gratin. Fettucine with chanterelles. Chanterelle risotto. Yum.

They also make a great side to sautéed seafood, especially shrimp, lobster and scallops, and sliced seared tuna. Either sauté the chanterelles in duck fat or butter with shallot or garlic and fresh thyme leaves and toss with chopped parsley. Or roast chanterelles alone or in combination with other mushrooms in a covered dish with a garlic clove or two, some chopped onion or shallot, a branch of fresh thyme, a splash of white wine and a drizzle of olive oil.

[ludja]

An aside, the german word for chanterelles is "eierschamm" or "egg mushroom"

I thought they were called pfifferling: what does that mean?

←

Found this online:

chanterelle = egg mushroom = girole = pfifferling 

chanterelle information

I guess eierschwamm is local to that part or all of Austria.

[little ms foodie]

How long can you keep chantrelles after buying them?

[carswell]

How long can you keep chantrelles after buying them?

←

It depends on how fresh they are. I find that, stored optimally (in the fridge in a loosely closed paper bag), the ones I pick myself keep for up to a week after harvesting, though they start looking a bit dog-eared after a couple of days. Most "fresh" chanterellles I encouter in the store look like they're already three or four days post harvest, so I use them up immediately.

[DRColby]

I've got some chanterelles I've had in the refrig for two weeks in a kraft bag with a damp paper towel on top of them. That's probably a little long.

Chanterelles don't dehydrate well, they become very stringy and tough. If you want to keep them longer it is best to sear them quickly in butter or oil, put tme in a ZIP lock and freeze.

The Pacific NW is kind of an epicenter for chanterelle and pine mushroom gathering with many of our mushrooms going to Germany and Japan. I will see buyers in the field paying at as little as $1.50 a pound to the pickers. The buyers immediately dry-brine them in rock salt and then ship them off to Germany. I think mosrt of these are canned.

dave

[bleudauvergne]

I took at look at the signs at the market this past weekend and it looks to me that although many are indeed coming from local sources, some of these mushrooms are coming from other countries as well. Some from Scotland, some from Russia.

[DRColby]

Tomorrow we are heading for the mountains in search of rough stemmed boletes (very similar to cepes), pines, and gypsies; all choice eating. Weather is just right: rain showers now-and-then, then warm sun-breaks and cool nights. Great fungus growning weather - even for that on my body.

Who knows what we'll fine, but if you are a mushroom hunter you have to go look before a heavy frost takes it all away.

dave

add ending: Tonight it'ss pork loin with marsella, chanterelles (the 2 week old ones) and shitakes; polenta , green salad, and balsamic tomatoes from the garden.

[chasmartel]

Last night (and tonight) we had penne with chantrelles in cream, leeks, and garlic (from the Chez Pannisse Vegetable cookbook).

Also, I've roasted them with a little olive oil, garlic & thyme -- in a small skillet on the barbeque over a wood fire. Oh boy -- with a steak & an oldish red wine. Maybe this weekend.

[DRColby]

Picked about 30 pounds of chanterelles today. Most of them went to a local Seattle resturant for a party they are having (they feed my wife and I in exchange) the rest are going along with some piminto peppers out of the garden, sauted in olive oil to accompany grilled albarcore that is wrapped with bacon, corn-on-the-cob and tomatoes.

A bigger dining problem is deciding what to do with a cauliflower mushroom I found today. I've had them in soups and with eggs but am trying to come up something different, like maybe a flan? They are a very fragrant and mild mushroom(also very dirty and tough to clean) . Any ideas?

Dave

[bleudauvergne]

Picked about 30 pounds of chanterelles today. 

←

Dave, where do you look for them? Under what kind of tree or in what conditions can a person find them? You must have been really tired at the end of the day. How did you come into this agreement with the restaurant? It sounds great.

About the cauliflower mushroom, I say soup. You might try just a little soup, anyway...

[DRColby]

here do you look for them?  Under what kind of tree or in what conditions can a person find them?  You must have been really tired at the end of the day.  How did you come into this agreement with the restaurant?  It sounds great. 

We pick both white and golden chanterelles, and both - on the Olympic peninsula - grow at the base of fir that is at least 30 years old. The whites (which are meatier than the goldens) like it under the huckleberries. They are generally dirtier so you don't see so many in resturants and markets. The goldens thrive in moss and close to salal. Both berries, by the way, make some great jams.

I was on my knees most of the morning and so - at 63 - ached a little. My wife went to exercise that morning. I like to kid her that she would get more exercise going with me, but she is not a crack of dawn person. Tomorrow I will go later, she will go and we will have a nice lunch somewhere in the Cascades.

As far as trade-outs. First I didn't what to clean all those mushrooms so they were dirty. We took the last price the restaurant paid per pound (about $5) and used that for a basis. Cathy and I will get a tasting menu with wine some night in the future. That's a good price because I asked a mushroom buyer afterwards at the Pike Street Market and he said there had been so many come onto the market this week that he couldn't use any more.

The woods are remarkably alive this year and I hope it continues without an early frost.

dave

Add ending: By the way, I just had about 200 pounds of albacore loins that I caught a couple of weekends ago. Half I traded to my butcher so smoke and freezer pack the rest of what I had. The year before I traded a sushi restaurant for meals. We threw a party for my 91-year-old mother-in-law for 20 people and still had sushi meals in exchange for about 3 months. I like sushi and don't have the skills to prepare it the way my Japanese friends do.

[endless autumn]

Cauliflower mushroom: not one of my favourites.

I have tried it in traditional mushroom preparations (creamy soup, risotto, sauteed with parsley/garlic etc.) and it's never really sung to me.

Two things I intend to try this year when my trusty spot erupts: battered, deep fried slices with a sharp dipping sauce - the lacy texture should ensure beautifully crisp batter; and a clear, dark oriental soup with slices of cauliflower poached in the broth.

[DRColby]

Two things I intend to try this year when my trusty spot erupts: battered, deep fried slices with a sharp dipping sauce - the lacy texture should ensure beautifully crisp batter; and a clear, dark oriental soup with slices of cauliflower poached in the broth.

Was going to try the batter method, saw it mentioned in "The Ultimate Mushroom Book" but no batter recipe. Care to share you batter ideas? Have had cauliflower in clear broth, quite distinct this way.

dave

[SobaAddict70]

How about in ravioli? Chanterelles, onion, herbs.

Just a thought. Maybe a sage butter sauce to accompany the pasta.

Soba

[endless autumn]

A tempura batter would ensure maximum laciness/frilliness.

See this thread for a wee discussion - these people are more expert than I am.