Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Fresh out of sourdough starter. I may stick that on my run-of-the-mill pizza dough.

Mary

Here on the frozen tundra our Costco has Canuck chanterelles on for $10/lb.

Can I freeze them and not lose taste? I assume I will lose firmness

Chanterelles have a lot of water. I'd cook them, then freeze.

Amy

THANKS!

Just made chanterelle mushroom gravy to go with dinner tonight. Delish. Chanterelles up to $14/lbs, but still a deal. Now headed to Oregon, where it's apparently been a great mushroom season this year...

I've seen websites quoting $14/lb. for Oregon chanterelles, so they'll likely be cheaper when you buy them up there. I'd order some, but the overnight shipping charge is more than the cost of the mushrooms. Oy...

Amy

I made Penne Pasta with butternut squash, Chanterelles and bacon tonight. It was pretty good, but needs something to make it really good. At $8.99 a lb. at Costco, I am thinking of getting more and freezing.

So here's what I did. Suggestions for improvement would be most welcome. TIA

I cooked the bacon (I also had some TJ's pancetta mini cubes I needed to use so I crisped those up as well separately), took it out, then added shallots and garlic. Then the squash with fresh thyme and tarragon, stirred to coat and then added white wine (combo of Pinot Grigio and Sancerre) and cooked the squash in that until the squash was almost tender, then added the mushrooms for about 10 min. Added the pasta, the bacon and pancetta, salt and grains of paradise, fresh parsley and freshly grated parm. I squeezed a little lime on top right before serving.

I have some leftover Chanterelle stems, so I am going to add those to my stuffing tomorrow.

Alina,

Hmmm, I dunno. Sounds pretty complete to me. I'd probably add the thyme and tarragon a bit later, but it doesn't seem to me that would make that much of a difference. You add a little pasta water at the end? Maybe some olive oil?

Thanks Josh, I agree that I should add the fresh herbs later and maybe use more. It is the end of the season, so they were not as aromatic as usual (we've had really cold weather and all my herbs are fading. I was thinking maybe a little truffle butter might help too. The squash is what needed more flavor. Steve suggested maybe using Marsala instead of regular white wine or a combo.

Just a thought, if the squash was the problem maybe you could try roasting it with the herbs and some garlic to intensify the taste and then add it to the dish.

Mary