find chanterelles
Since I was little, I have been going to the forest with my family to pick mushrooms. We met in the cool seasons, and we had our little bags in hand, a stick to lift the leaves, and we scanned the carpets that had fallen to the ground for sometimes hours without finding anything.
Picking is sometimes a frustrating activity, and I have to say that following a few missed appointments, it was still with a little detachment that I went into the forest this time.
What was our surprise with my mom, to fall, at the beginning of December, on a complete profusion of mushrooms! The others had been cold and were only at the stage of memories, but the chanterelles were there, proudly erected in united mats.
These are mushrooms that like cold snaps, and are very satisfying to pick up: when you find one, you usually know that several others are hiding around under the leaves, so it’s a treasure hunt to see the latter slightly lifted by a push.
Of course, I advise against picking and even worse the consumption of mushrooms if you do not know how to recognize them!
We find more classically chanterelles in the supermarket in particular. I had never tried the dried version, until Mélanie du Blog Le cul de Poulemakes me taste it: as much as I’m not easy to convince, but in addition we had eaten them pan-fried, and they do not lose their splendor after being rehydrated.
So I can only recommend this version if you have it (or have prepared it, this year I’m very proud of my jar picked in the forest!), but the frozen version can also work. Depending on the year, like now, you will find some fees for the holidays. This is the most logical but not the cheapest version to consume them.
Finally, if you can’t find chanterelles, I also recommend chanterelles, which have a similar taste, very sweet and delicate.
Make a chanterelle sauce
It’s a relatively simple recipe, you just have to watch the cooking so that the cream has the right texture.
We start by browning the mushrooms in a little margarine, so that they release water. I then add garlic, which I let come back a little, so that it loses its spicy side and part of its gripping flavor in the mouth.
We will then add the cream, but also water raised with a little tamari sauce (it is the equivalent of a soy sauce, but without gluten), which will bring an umami flavor. We will take the opportunity to add a little cornstarch which will thicken and make our preparation creamy.
We then let it simmer over low heat, and we wait to have a nice coating sauce. At the end of cooking, we salt, we pepper, and we serve.
I chose for the recipe to leave the mushrooms in pieces, it must be said that I had picked huge chanterelles, but for the smaller ones, I find that leaving them whole allows you to have a little chew and to identify them well mushroom texture. After all, these are exceptional products that should be eaten with delight.
For lovers of smoother textures, we can of course mix the sauce after cooking.
For a more “traditional” note, you can add parsley, although I find that in this case, the mushroom is a little masked in taste.
This sauce will be perfect with an incalculable number of things, I plan to prepare something very simple for the meal of the 24th and 25th (which I will celebrate at my beautiful family in a very small committee): pan-fried seitan, roasted vegetables in their own juices, and this sauce to tie it all together. I know in advance that I’m going to enjoy it, and the very short preparation time won’t take anything away from the pleasure I’m going to take: I’m even going to buy my seitan already made because I’m going to bet everything on the dessert with a tray of small ovens (and it’s going to take me about forever but I really want to).
Chanterelle sauce
Ingredients
- 250 g chanterelles
- 20 key soy cream
- 50 g margarine
- 3 pods garlic
- 400 ml vegetables soup
- 2 vs. soup tamari sauce or soy sauce
- 2 vs. soup cornstarch
Instructions
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Prepare your mushrooms.In the fresh version, remove the damaged or earthy parts, rinse if necessary under running water (we simply avoid soaking the mushrooms for a long time because they risk becoming waterlogged and losing flavor).
If you have dried mushrooms, rehydrate them in boiling water until they return to fungal form.
Finally, if you use frozen foods, refer to the cooking advice on the bag (after all, it’s those who sell them who know best!).
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Once ready, cut the largest mushrooms if necessary, otherwise leave whole, and put in a pan, with the margarine, and heat over medium heat, so that the mushrooms lose their liquid.
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Once the mushrooms have reduced in size, press or finely cut the garlic cloves (take care to degerm before, it will be more digestible) and add them to cook them a little.
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Prepare the broth: for my part, I use powdered broth, which I find very practical to use. As it is very easy to dilute, I do it cold, which allows me to add the cornstarch directly into it, but if you heat your broth, above all, dilute the starch separately to avoid having any lumps, in a little cold water.
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Add the cream to the pan, stir, then add the broth and the tamari sauce.
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Let reduce for about ten minutes over low heat, stirring regularly. The sauce is ready when it begins to coat the spoon.
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If you need to reheat it, you can add a little water and cook it again.
NB
You can obviously make this cream with all the mushrooms, the taste will be different.
