Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Does anyone have any simple suggestions for using these? Can you substitute them for other mushrooms?

They have them again at Costco, and I always look at them and admire but I don't have any specific uses. Would they be good just stir fried up with herbs and butter/olive oil?

Are they worth the extra money??

Darcie,

This the second best mushroom, after morels. Use them the same way,

We were at Costo this morning and bought a pound of really nice Canadien chantrelles for $9. We also bought the Veal leg scallopini and will combine them with butter, demi-glace, and cream.

That's the best way to preserve their flavor. What a wonderful treat.

Tim

ps: Baby sitting for an 18 month old is extremely exhausting! Only 4 more days.

OMG, a 1 lb here would be $40, for the very little time they are available. I thought they couldn't be cultivated? Any, they are wonderful just cooked simply and gently (butter is yor friend), or like Tim says, also a basic prep

One of my favorite foods

Tim,
You say there is a need to preserve their flavor, does this mean they would be better slowly simmered or can they be tossed at very high heat and browned, like I do with criminis?

Are you nipping on the brandy while babysitting - it's not Darcie, it's Lynn.

You all are probably going to hate me, but this area is prime for both porcini and chanterelle mushrooms. You can literally pick hundreds of pounds of them every late summer/early fall. And, we do.

Amy

Amy,

Porcini?!? Maybe we can work out some kind of exchange via overnight shipping? Oh, wait, that would make them very expensive.

It's been a good year for chantrelles in Oregon too. So, here's some stuff to do with chantrelles, most of which I've already done this fall:

1. Chop them and scramble them in eggs with parsley and brie
2. Saute them with shallots and then use them as a filling for short-crust turnovers.
3. Saute them with garlic and sherry and serve over soft polenta
4. Soup made with chantrelles, nutmeg and cream
5. Roast them and serve on bruchette

As delicate-flavored mushrooms, chantrelles are generally better cooked lightly and paired with eggs, mild-flavored cheese, or cream. There are are many traditional Southern German and Northern Italian recipes which use them. Example: http://www.deliciousdays.com/archives/2 ... dumplings/

BTW, if anyone else has interesting things to do with Chantrelles, post ... I have just as many ...

Josh,

Porcini up the yin yang. We'll figure out a good trade.

Amy

Amy,

Well, there's Oregon wine or beer, if I can ship it to Colorado / Chicago. Or how about some really good coffee beans?

Tim, I've had 11 yr old and 3 yr old grandsons since Thursday. I've had to bite my tongue several times today. The oldest has consumed a gallon of milk since noon yesterday! The youngest has managed to knock the tray off his highchair twice. Soup everywhere! Thank God the dogs like soup, too. Only a few hours to go.....
Fitzie

Hi,

I like to poach mild mushrooms (morels/chantrelles) in butter and finish with cream.

About ten years ago, I found a large clump of chantrelles about three blocks from my house. (My Dad picked mushrooms every year and took spore patterns to verify safety, so I was not afraid.) I ran home to get permission from the owner and my wife. My wife insisted on the following steps:

1. Call poison control hot line: The gave me the phone number for Richard Veselenak, Phd in Mycology at the University of Illinois, Springfield.

2. Call Dr. Veselenak who provided a telephone lecture on mushroom safety. Are they growing in the wood or from the dirt? Do they smell sweet? Do they smell of chemicals? Do they glow in the dark?

3. Go pick the chantrelles which are growing safely. Smell their sweetness, obviously safe. Take them into the old coal celler/wine vault and wait ten minutes; they don't glow and must be safe!

4. Allow my wife to call Rich (we're fast friends at this time) and discuss these poisonous killers at length. He says they're chantrelles.

5. Drive over to Rich's nearby house and allow him to inspect the mushrooms. Give him two pounds of the mushrooms and receive assurances they are chantrelles.

6. Allow Lib to call Rich's wife who assures her that these are wonderful chantrelles. (Rich is off teaching a course and will eat chantrelles at 9pm)

Success finally allows us to call some new friends who love great food and own expensive wines. We opened their bottle of Martha's Vineyard Cabernet while the chantrelles were enjoying their butter and cream. The mushrooms were wonderful and as our friends departed...

..I went to the bathroom near the entrance and began to heave for six hours without stopping! Lib, of course, was soon busy heaving in the upstairs bathroom. She had called our heaving friends to apologize. She called her favorite mycoligist's wife to report the news; the response was apologetic and appreciative. That Veselenak SOB (not so much a friend anymore) called to explain there was no use in going to the emergency room since they couldn't help. We passed this along to our erstwhile friends who had already called poison control.

That's the last time I had any Martha's Vineyard Cabernet and really don't remember much about it.

Amy, may have nice Porcinis and Chantrelles but we have the best Jack-O-Lanterns and Morels. Stop by for dinner.

Tim