this is my contribution to #FungiFriday by @ewkaw
after the middle of july is a good time to start looking for chantrelles Cantharellus cibarius. we had heavy rains on monday and tuesday so we had high hopes of finding some.
at first we found plenty but they were too small to be bothered to pick or spend much effort getting decent photos
so we gave up looking at our first choice and tried searching a new nearby area of the forest we had not been to before
and there we had far better luck.
typically we find them in mossy or grassy areas in the forest
but with proper moisture they can be plentiful on the pine forest floor as well
now when it comes to taste, chanterelles are not my favorite mushrooms. but they are easy to spot and easy to identify without worrying about poisonous look-alikes.
even better they are unlikely to be infested with bugs and worms and when you first find them there are often many more nearby. so finding enough for a meal was quick and easy
we left far more behind than what we picked and will be back in a week or so hoping to find them more mature. cutting the stems with a knife is better for the mushrooms and reduces the amount of dirt that gets picked but in situations where i only pick one out of a cluster it is better to use my hands
these were still young and relatively small so there was a bit of work to clean them. i use an old toothbrush and a small kitchen knife.
this is about 1 pound or 450 g cleaned chanterelles ready to cook
today i am just frying them in a mix of butter and avocado oil along with some garlic, and freh from the garden, chives, marjoram and calendula petals. also a little salt, pepper, chili powder and cream
procedure:
i heat the oil and butter in an iron skillet, add the pepper and chili powder. after 30 seconds add the garlic then the musrooms, chives, marjoram and salt
they release copious amounts of water so i drained off about 1/2 cup. i am making mashed potatoes as well so i used the mushroom liquid in the mashed potatoes instead of milk. delicious.
they are pretty much cooked when they have finished releasing water and dried up a bit. that is when i added the flower petals and the cream.
a quick minute or two later they are ready to serve. yum yum.
