wild about chanterelles.

My love for all things mushroom hunting is not new information to any readers of this blog. It's a fortunate inconvenience that Lo and I have been too busy with life and careers to get out in the woods and do some hunting. It's especially frustrating given all of the fungus hunting successes I have been hearing about since the chanterelles started to pop. Yesterday I took some time to check out my chanterelle spot and it happily provided me with a dozen or so nice size chanterelles and one big early season chicken of the woods. Maybe it's a sign that this fall is going to be a jubilee of mushroom picking and hot cider sipping. It seemed like a good reason to celebrate with food. I called up Clancey's butcher shop in South Minneapolis and checked on their rabbit inventory. I was in luck, chanterelle rabbit sausage with basil was on the menu for the night. 

Lo was out of town so I was cooking for a friend and I didn't take down a recipe. If you are really interested let me know, I can come up with one.

I had some raddichio and endive laying around so the menu was set - Chanterelle rabbit sausage, grilled raddichio with braised endive, and grilled apricot.

I tend to enjoy apricot paired with chanterelles as I find the mushrooms have a similar scent to apricots and juxtaposed, it really brings out the fruitiness of the shrooms.

I have to say, I think the dish was a success as I designed it, but it was even better when I added a fried egg on top the next night. A good mushroom hunt supplies multiple feasts!

As a side note to the novice shroom hunter - the most imortant thing to remember while foraging for wild mushrooms is to positively ID the mushrooms before you eat them, it's VERY important.

Happy hunting and happy eating.

early season morel ass kicking.

There are dangers to seeking the early morels, it can be a fruitless and frustrating endeavor. On top of that, add unexpectedly hot and a hill that was unexpectedly steep. That was my day yesterday.

Myself and a couple buddies headed to the Southeastern part of the state in search of my personal totem, the morel. Upon arriving at the base of the hill (a really large hill) I went off on my own, hiking right to the top. It was clearly too early in the season to find the big score I am always looking for. But there I found myself, nonetheless, on top of a huge hill in the 90º sun. I'm not a small dude and my pack weighed about 20lbs. The hill and those mushrooms kicked my ass and I pledged to enjoy eating every last bite of them.

View from the top.

We returned from the giant hill with a few mushrooms in our bags, about 10-12 each. First morels of the season should be simply cooked in butter with herbs and a bit of salt and pepper. Fresh morels taste great, but when you worked really hard for them, they are transcendent. At least they better be.

chicken of the woods.

The late Summer early Fall mushroom season provides us Minnesotans with Chanterelles, Hen and Chicken of the Woods mushrooms, Lobster Mushrooms and Giant Puffballs.

The Chicken of the Woods are awesome to come about in nature. Easily spottable and totally edible, the Chicken mushroom is bright orange and yellow and grows on dead or dying oaks. They vary in size but can get HUGE. It's a mushroom that stays nicely in the fridge and provides plenty of eating opportunities, even with a small amount.

The mushroom itself (they say) tastes like chicken. I think it tastes like an amazing mushroom, better than any chicken I've ever eaten. The smell makes my mouth water and simply sauteed with butter, salt and pepper it's a treat you won't soon forget.

It is possible to find wild mushrooms at some farmers markets, but that removes most of the fun. Get out into the woods and keep your eyes peeled for nature's treats. One note of caution - If you aren't sure about a mushroom you find in the wild, don't eat it! However, the Chicken of the Woods are really easy to spot and have no deadly doppelganger, unlike the Chanterelle which can be confused with the poisonous Jack o' Lantern.

We used the Chicken mushroom in a couple ways - Here is our recipe for risotto with corn, Chicken of the Woods mushroom and basil.

Rissoto with corn, Chicken of the Woods mushroom and basil.

1 cup wild mushroom, diced (any tasty wild mushroom would work nicely)

1 cup arborio rice

2 quarts corn stock (recipe below)

1 onion, sliced

1 bay leaf

3 ears of corn, cleaned with kernels removed, husks reserved

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon basil, shredded

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

salt and pepper to-taste

Begin by cleaning up the corn. Remove and reserve the husks, discard the silks. Cut away the corn from the cob and discard the cobs. Place the reserved husks and sliced onion into 3 quarts of cold water. Bring to a simmer and allow the stock to steep for 45 minutes to an hour. Strain and reserve and keep hot. You'll have more stock than you should need, but that's always a good thing.

Rinse the arborio rice. Heat a large saute pan over medium heat. Add butter to the pan, let melt. Add mushrooms and saute for about 2 minutes. Season with salt and fresh cracked pepper. Add the rice and stir, about a minute. Add the corn kernels and 1 cup of the hot corn stock, continue stirring the rice. Once the stock has been absorbed, add another cup of stock. Continue this process for about 30-35 minutes until the rice is al dente and creamy. It should take you 4 cups of stock per 1 cup of rice, but having more stock is better than not just in case the rice isn't done when you want it to be.

The idea with risotto is always the same - by stirring the rice through the cooking process, it will activate the starches in the rice and create a creamy texture.

Finish the dish by adding the fresh Parmesan and basil. Season with salt and fresh cracked pepper to-taste.

Voila.

--Jd--