Freezing Chanterelles

After roasting and risotto-ing all those gorgeous mushrooms I was given, I still had two pounds of them remaining. At this point, I decided to squirrel the remainder away for a lonely, rainy, mushroom-less day. But how? After a little research on the Internets, I discovered the typical ways one would preserve most wild mushrooms don't necessarily work for chanterelles. Dehydrating, for instance. Upon rehydration, I read they refuse to plump back up and regain little of their amazing fresh flavor if they do. I landed upon a pretty simple method of saving these mushrooms: freezing them in water. It seems this method is pretty popular. I hope it works!

One thing I did discover was that chanterelles absorb quite a bit of water during the cleaning method - more than I expected. After weighing out and washing exactly a pound of mushrooms for our Thanksgiving (Two-Way Chanterelle and Pear Bread Stuffing), I reweighed them. My mushroom pile had gained almost 7.5 ounces of water weight!  

Even after spin-drying them, they only lost about an ounce of moisture. I wasn't too concerned, since they would ultimate be soaking in water anyway.

After washing the mushrooms, I coarsely chopped them, put them in a quart freezer bag, and filled it up with water until the mushrooms were covered.

You will want to get out as much air as possible, to dissuade freezer burn. I like to lay the bag flat with just a little crack open on one side, and then carefully push out of the air, while sealing the bag at the same time. Another trick that works is to leave just enough space for a straw to fit in the bag and then suck out all the air before sealing. You will probably also get a good slurp of mushroom water this way, to warn. I love freezing food in Ziploc bags - soups, stock, sauces, etc... - as they lay flat and puzzle nicely in the freezer. The bags also open easily if you need to access the entire frozen block of stuff.

To defrost the mushrooms, put the bag in a bowl of warm water until the mushrooms are soft. If you need them in a hurry, leave them bowl under a dripping faucet so the water will move around a bit and promote faster defrosting. Drain and let dry on a paper towel or colander and they are ready to use!

This is all theoretical, of course, as I've never actually frozen mushrooms before. I'll let you know if the stuffing comes out terrible - or scrumptious, as planned!

The Correct Way To Open A Pomegranate

Just saw this. Mind... BLOWN! Thank you who ever made this video.

Chanterelle Risotto (AKA Fancy Schmancy Rice-A-Roni)

Yes, I'm still eating the chanterelles. Yes, they are still awesome. 

I'll start this post with my siren photo.

See, now you can't look away. Nothing bad ever originates from a sauté pan with a pat of butter melting seductively inside it. I could add anything to this - brussel sprouts, bananas, old shoes - and it would all be delicious. What I actually made was Chanterelle Risotto, from Allrecipes.com. The few ingredients included:

2 tbsp. of butter (but you know this)

2 cloves of chopped fresh garlic

2 cups of sliced chanterelles

2 tbsp. of butter (yes, more)

2 cups of Arborio rice

5 cups of broth - I used chicken.

2 cups of grated parmesan

salt

pepper

Melt the butter over medium high heat, and then add the mushrooms and garlic until the mushrooms are browned. The recipe said three minutes, but mine took markedly longer to reduce most of the moisture out of the mushrooms. Some people don't like to wash mushrooms, as they can absorb a lot of water in the process. As these mushrooms came from the wild, they were very dirty, and definitely needed a bath before cooking. I rinsed them under running water and spun them in my salad spinner before chopping, but they still needed a longer pan time to brown. More on this later. 

The mushrooms went from this...

... to this. The heat drew out not only the added water from cleaning, but also all the water the mushrooms naturally hold. The volume was cut in at least half. 

Set the mushrooms aside and melt another two tablespoons of butter over medium heat in a new large saucepan. Stir in the rice for a few minutes, to soak up the butter and toast it a bit. Start adding the broth in slowly, 1/2 cup at a time, and continue to stir the rice so as not to burn it. When most of the liquid is absorbed, add another 1/2 cup broth. Repeat this process until the rice is tooth tender. This took about 5.5 cups of broth for me.

Once the rice is tender and creamy, stir in the mushroom/garlic mixture and heat through. Remove pan from heat and stir in parmesan.

Voila! That's it. In hindsight, I wished I'd added some kind of chopped vegetable to the mix. Broccoli or cauliflower would have been perfect, or even chopped spinach or kale. Nevertheless, it was fantastic and easy, too. And the best part? Plenty of leftovers for lunches later. Yum!

Roasted Chanterelles

Today a friend gave me a bag of Chanterelles her husband had recently hunted. A bag, as in a big brown grocery bag! How lucky am I?! I graciously whisked them home, after sending a quick gloat-photo to my husband and sister.

Before today, I had never eaten chanterelles, but also had never eaten a mushroom I didn't enjoy. I was eager to make something, anything, knowing it would be easy and delicious.

When I got home, I spread the mushrooms out on the counter to ogle them. They looked harmless enough, and my friend had assured me they were safe as well. I nevertheless did a little research myself. Apparently, the golden chanterelle is Oregon's state mushroom and grows quite prolific in the Pacific Northwest, especially the coast range. Many mushroom hunters keep their picking grounds secret, which is ironic as it seems these mushrooms grow everywhere around here. Even our little property has a supposed cache of delicious fungus somewhere on it. When we were in the first stages of buying the plot, we would often meet one of our neighbors walking on the road, an elderly man from Poland, as he returned from his mushroom hunts in our backyard. He lamented politely the loss of his mushroom spot when we started building. All the trees (i.e., mushroom habitats) still stand behind our house. I think next time I see our neighbor, I should offer to split the profits, in exchange for his foraging knowledge.

The golden chanterelle does have a poisonous lookalike, Omphalotus olivascens, commonly known as the Western Jack O'Lantern mushroom, whose the gills are rumored to actually glow in the dark! Once I made double sure my bag was actual chanterelles, and I wasn't going to murder my family at dinner tonight, I began my recipe search and preparation.

The mushrooms were pretty dirty, with tons of fir needles and leaves amidst them. In my mind, this made them even cooler. Actual wild mushrooms! I brushed them off with my mushroom brush under running water and then spun them dry in my salad spinner.

The recipe I chose came from Sunset magazine, a simple roasted mushroom mix. Toss sliced chanterelles, shallots, and thyme sprigs with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast it all for 15-20 minutes at 375 degrees. Couldn't be easier. I added some red onions, because I love roasted onions.

The chanterelles released much of their juices during the roasting, leaving them tender and buttery. It really was delicious.

I still have a good pound remaining of chanterelles and I already have tomorrow's recipe picked out: Chanterelle Risotto! What a wonderful gift to receive. My taste buds couldn't be more grateful!

Anybody want to become a mushroom hunter with me? :)