Cooking with chanterelles

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

Teapot, our experience in Colorado was that boletus edulis (aka porcini) were found above 10,000 feet. They also seem to grow near patches of amanita muscaria, the red capped ones with white "cottage cheese," which are a lot easier to spot on the forest floor. So if you see some amanitas, look more closely for boletus. Other less choice boletes are found at lower altitudes.

A fellow forager taught us to strip out the tubes at the point of collection to allow spores to replant the area so there will be more mushrooms next year. In that way you can also check for worms, which are a big problem in some areas.

Happy foraging!

Nancy in Pátzcuaro

Edited September 9, 2013 by Nancy in Pátzcuaro (log)

[teapot]

They also seem to grow near patches of amanita muscaria, the red capped ones with white "cottage cheese," which are a lot easier to spot on the forest floor. So if you see some amanitas, look more closely for boletus. .

Great tip, thank you! We had good luck finding King Boletus in Yellowstone - elevation around 7,000 I think. Right near some grizzly scat - hopefully that's not an indicator like the amanita muscaria

[Baselerd]

Well, with that much I would be worried about their storage lifetime. My favorite way to prepare chantrelles is simply sauteed in brown butter with some thyme, salt, and pepper - maybe deglazed with a bit of sherry vinegar and chicken stock.

However, I would pickle and dry the majority of them so they didn't waste. Dry mushrooms are great for making soups and stocks.

[David Ross]

Well, I didn't get 17lbs., but boy did I walk into a bounty at the market. I stopped by after work to buy a chicken to roast, and lo and behold a special on fresh, wild, Washington chanterelles. It must be a good year up here, they are only $6.95 a pound. Typically I see them in the $25 per pound or higher range.

[Sam Carter]

Definitely love the pate suggestion. What about chanterelle stock? Would be cool to always have a bit of that on hand in the freezer

[teapot]

It has been a very good year for foraging! I've had good luck with king boletus (when dried: porcini) this year in addition to chantrelles.