Chanterelle Mushrooms
According to the Colorado Mycological Society there are 200 varieties of mushrooms growing in our Valley’s high-alpine climate and 800 statewide. In the Aspen area, the most prized edible fungi are Porcini (King Bolete), Chanterelles, Oysters and Morels. Although I have taken mushroom courses and have also foraged for them, my mantra has always been, “When in doubt, throw it out.”
In truth, most mushrooms I gather never cross my lips.
This week’s French Friday’s recipe, Chanterelles with Napa Cabbage and Nuts, was a perfect menu choice right now. Luckily, I was able to find some thin-stemmed, fan-shaped golden beauties.
Mise en Place
Napa Cabbage – You will notice later that I used three times the amount Dorie specified in her recipe.
First, however, let me introduce you to this nine-pound, nine-inch Western Giant Puffball.
Western Giant Puffball – an enormous mushroom
My friend, Donna Chase, called me last week with the exciting news that she had acquired a huge puffball. “When I was at the grocery store,” she said, “this guy had found it and asked if I wanted it.”
“Did you know him?” I wondered.
“Well, no,” she answered. “And, it smells. Steve [her husband] told me not to bring it in the house.”
“Where is it?” I asked.
“In the house,” she replied.
“If I can’t find chanterelles,” I told her, “I can always make Puffball with Napa Cabbage and Nuts.”
The next morning, another friend and I showed up at Chases for a puffball viewing. I was given the honor of slicing it open. If the interior was white, it’s considered edible. If it’s green-brown with a putrid odor, I’d be forced to continue hunting for chanterelles. These photos provide the verdict.
I eventually did find chanterelles at my grocery-of-last-resort, The Butcher Block. The Block is a great meat/gourmet market but très cher. The mushrooms cost, Gulp! Gulp!, $39.50 a pound. I was hosting a luncheon meeting during the week so this dish would be a unique appetizer. Very appropriate, in fact, since my luncheon colleagues were both terrific cooks and local Naturalists. They know their mushrooms. A bad one in the basket? They’d spot it.
Marcia Johnson, Executive Director of the Forest Conservancy, trims stems off the chanterelles.
On Wednesday, the three of us hunkered down around the cookbook and read the recipe carefully. Since this is a last minute, quickly concocted dish, we divided the chores: slicing, dicing, shredding. It is exactly nine minutes from the moment EVOO warms in the pan to when the mixture is plated. All hands on deck for the dash to the table.
My friend and fellow chef, Donna Grauer, minces the shallot.
The Accolades: “Earthy. Rocky Mountain Foie Gras. Sublime. Rich. A Little Dab Will Do Ya.”
Shallots and chanterelles, nicely coated with olive oil and on the fire.
Chanterelles with Napa Cabbage & Nuts is a stand-up/clap-your-hands appetizer. Donna’s warm baguette with herb butter was perfect for sopping up the juices. Dorie suggests serving this also as a side to a meat dish or with an herb salad for lunch. To my mind, this very special chanterelle mixture should bask in its own spotlight, sharing the stage with no one.
The complete recipe is here. My additional tips are:
1. I would add 1 cup of shredded Napa cabbage instead of the 1/3 cup suggested by Dorie.
2. Since the chanterelle blend is very rich, a 1/2 to 3/4 cup serving is sufficient.
3. Have all your preparations completed and ingredients ready before pouring your first tablespoon of oil into the skillet.
Enjoy.
Whoops! No photographs of the plated chanterelles – don’t they both look smug?
Read about my colleagues’ foraging skills on our French Fridays link right here. As I mention each week, we are an international cooking group having a wonderful time working our way through Dorie Greenspan’s Around my French Table.
That looks delicious! I love any and all things that incorporate mushrooms. Lovely job, as usual!
I can’t get beyond the PUFFBALL!!!!
Mille grazie for including me in the chanterelle blog. The picture says it all…I did everything but lick the plate the mushrooms were served on. How do you manage to blend your life adventures with your kitchen exploits. Was it a coincidence that the worlds largest boleta came into your life zone at the same time you had to blog on mushrooms?
So glad I am in your life zone too!
TTR
OOPS…I meant Puffball not boleta…can you correct my post?
You just corrected it.
First time ever seen a PUFFBALL! Pretty scary, I will probably run away if I do chance across one in my path! What an enjoyable post, thanks Mary for a good read!
Fun post, Mary! I’ve never heard of a puffball before and enjoyed your story and pictures. Sorry it wasn’t a good one. Your chanterelles look wonderful and far cleaner than the batch I picked up. And happy to hear that they were a success, hopefully worth the price tag.
Your golden mushrooms look glorious!! I love how you get your friends to come over and cook with you. I have never seen a giant puffball – and to be honest, I’d be scared of it.
The only mushrooms I would gather and eat are morels. That puffball is pretty scary…LOL. Lucky you finding the chanterelles..even though you had to pay Butcher Block’s prices 🙂
Great post as always. I liked the pictures and learned a little about mushrooms. Nice that you were able to make this a group activity and appetizer.
Those mushrooms are gorgeous… (I think I used about 5 times the amount of Napa called for…)
Now that puffball is something else. If I were about 30 years younger, I would have put my foot through it (for some reason, going into the woods and stepping on mushrooms was a childhood hobby of mine – I didn’t know I was being an obnoxious child… they were everywhere and it was just me and the deer in the woods 🙂 )
My experience must have been “state dependent”. No wine, no friends, quickly thrown together at the last minute so that I would get it done on time… I do agree, this is really a rich dish, and I wouldn’t want much that would compete – though I have to say some steak would have been good… maybe I was just hungry! Your dish looks delicious, and I’m sure you had a wonderful time together.
I haven’t been foraging for mushrooms in years. I’m a bit of a scaredy-cat about them too, though I still remember how wonderful fresh morels were when I was growing up in Michigan.
Hope you have a wonderful holiday weekend my friend!
The photo of the Giant Puffball and the thought of the putrid smell, was enough for me to hope I never run into one!! However, your Chanterelles look beautiful…you were lucky to find them…there were none to be had in NJ. But at 39.50 a pound all I can say is Whoa!!
Fun post, Mary! Have a great weekend!
Wow! That puffball is monstrous. I see them in Maine, but they’re only 1-2 inches across. I’m jealous that you found chanterelles though it worked well with pedestrian mushrooms too. It looks like your friends enjoyed helping to prepare your Dorie dish. Wasn’t it delicious?
That is one ugly sucker, I’m glad you found the chanterelles instead.
Seriously, this was a delicious recipe and I am so happy Tricia could
find the mushrooms for it.
Hi Mary, never heard of a puffball before, very interesting…there is always something new. So glad you found your chanterelles, lovely dish!
Oh my, that puffball is enormous! I’ve never gone foraging for mushroom – happy to leave it to the lovely people who bring their wares to the Farmers’ Market. It must be really satisfying, though, to find such beautiful chanterelles and bring them home for a meal.
This dish was perfect for sharing with friends and the chanterelles made it really special.
I am a moron when it comes to mushrooms. This is all so interesting. I might need to move West to get more educated 🙂 about stuff like this!