I left an acorn squash in the pizza oven overnight, dessicating it. In the morning I peeled it and took the seeds out. At dinner I melted lots of butter, taking it to slightly brown then added curry powder a bit of agave, a splash of apple cider and the squash. Immersion blender.
Topping are chanterelles cooked in butter, then finished with miso. Thyme.
Mmmm. High in protein.
I did a confit with a couple of pounds this weekend. Bush them off, submerge them in olive oil with bay leaves, thyme sprigs, peppercorns, salt and couple of garlic cloves and put in a 200 degree oven for anywhere from 1-2 hours, depending on the size and quantity of the mushrooms. Very toothsome, and you can store them covered in the oil for a week or two. We use primarily for omelets/frittatta and pasta, but they are a great last minute addition to stews or braises
Paul, this looks phenomenal. I am genuinely in awe.
thank you! It’s a great recipe because with a little foresight, shouldn’t take you more than 10 minutes to make. Instead of squash, you could use potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, rutabaga, etc.
And since we’re here for the wine, I should add that Sauternes and curry are a great combination.
As an alternative to a touch of salt try just a few drops of fish sauce (don’t overdo!). Aside from the salt it also kicks the umami up another notch.
Great tip Jay! Fish sauce and high quality soy sauce go really well with mushrooms. Similarly, other umami rich things like tomatoes: I add fish sauce to my pizza sauce.
The Germans (and presumably the Austrians) really understand mushrooms. I had “pfifferlinge” in cream sauce on the Mosel and indeed they were amazing. They didn’t call it “gulasch” FWIW.
The ones I got from Costco were carrying a ton of water, wish I had seen your post earlier.
in the Frankfurt area, I’ve had mushrooms in cream sauce with hazelnuts. awesome combination, especially with local apple wine.
I’ve tried the blanching and it does work well. This season however, i’ve just been throwing them in a dry saute pan with medium heat for a few minutes. This pulls quite a bit of moisture out which boils off in the pan. This seems to concentrate the flavors a fair bit. Then i’m adding evoo, butter, shallot, garlic, or whatever depending on what i’m making. I’m guessing this is somewhat akin to Paul’s post above where he is oven roasting them first.
For those that are getting these at a retailer (Costco, supermarket, etc. as opposed to harvesting them yourself), how do you clean them? Just brush them off or wash them?
Chanterelles cooking in butter with thyme
got more today and will prep tomorrow.
Well I looked at 3 local and 2 distant supermarkets and had no luck finding chanterelles. Will call Whole Foods today and see if they carry. If not I’ll have to call around to a few specialty food places. Drat !
By coincidence, Jack o Lanterns are the photo of the month on the calendar we got from an Asti-based funghi group. I can see how a mistake may be made.
brush then soak: http://www.cookingissues.com/2009/12/21/crowded-wet-mushrooms-a-beautiful-thing/index.html#more-2853
Turns out the way we are taught to sauté mushrooms is dead wrong. If you want the highest quality mushrooms what you want to do is soak your mushrooms and then crowd the hell out of them in a pan.
My Costco finally got a good quantity of Chanterelles – I bought a pound and fricasseed them to pass on Thanksgiving, basically thinking of the dish as a condiment (a pound for 8 people only yields small servings). The flavor was great but the texture was a bit “slimy” which may be a problem with the species. We had a small amount of leftovers and just stirred them into a pan of Campbell’s Golden Mushroom soup. It certainly did transform the flavor!
Same experience, I thought its supply last year was noticeably superior.
Portland area Costco is using Foods in Season this year. Same for you?
Nice recipe in the Taste and Technique cookbook from Naomi Pomeroy.