White Wine Garlic Chanterelles
Once the leaves start changing I’m jonesing for earthy, comforting flavors. Luckily, the farmer’s markets are spilling over with all manner of funny shaped, tantalizing mushrooms. The biggest crime in the world is throwing them into a stew, where they’ll get hopelessly lost.
My favorite way to enjoy fresh mushrooms, like chanterelle, porcini or trumpet, is super simple: sauteed in olive oil with lots of garlic, a little salt and pepper, fresh thyme and a splash of white wine. Finish it off with a squeeze of lemon juice. I like to serve them with a farmer’s market plate; some roasted squash, grilled peppers and some mashed root veggies. You don’t need to employ the entire spice rack when you’re cooking with farm fresh ingredients, it’s much more important to learn the simple cooking methods that coax the most flavor out of them. I’m going to cover a few of those methods through out the month. Won’t you join me?
White Wine Garlic Chanterelles
Serves 2 as a side, or 4 as a garnish
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 pound chantrelles, stems sliced 1/4 inch thick, tops 1/2 inch thick (you can use any fancy shmancy mushroom here)
big pinch salt
several dashes fresh black pepper
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon fresh chopped thyme
1/2 a lemon
Preheat a large, heavy bottomed pan over medium heat (cast iron is awesome.) Saute the garlic in the olive oil for about a minute. Add mushrooms, salt and pepper and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. The moisture should release from the mushrooms and they should be tender but still firm.
Add white wine and turn the heat up. Cook for about 3 more minutes, stirring often. Add the thyme and squeeze the lemon juice in. Taste for salt and serve warm.
October 6th, 2009 at 3:24 am
I love mushrooms ( and garlic) ..and those look amazing!
October 6th, 2009 at 3:37 am
hmm, those look pretty good : )
October 6th, 2009 at 5:12 am
YUMMY! I love mushrooms so much. Fancy ones like these should be eaten as plainly as possible and white wine really brings out the flavour of them.
October 6th, 2009 at 6:54 am
I used to hate mushrooms but now I’m in love with them. I had a hard time finding these in VT but here it’s a little easier and the wine is so cheap!
October 6th, 2009 at 11:15 am
YESSSSSSS. I love chantarelles
October 6th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Oh, that’s exactly how I do my mushrooms (minus the lemon juice, which I’ll have to try next time). Yum!
October 6th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
I’m constantly looking for the perfect recipe to showcase chanterelles without overpowering them! I absolutely have to try this before the season is over.
Lemon juice is magic with oyster mushrooms as well. I usually only cook those on super high heat with a tiny bit of oil, salt and pepper, and lemon juice to finish. Delicious. Why have I never added white wine?!
October 6th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Mmmm. . . mushrooms and wine. Delicious. It must be the fall that has me all hot and bothered for mushrooms too. Thank you for sharing this.
October 6th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
You might want to try dry sauteing some of the mushrooms. This is especially good with chanterelles since they hold so much moisture.
Heat your pan on a high, add the chanterelles with a bit of salt and stir them until they release their own juices. Then cook them in their own juices for a bit before adding your oil (I usually use Earth Balance). If there’s too much mushroom juice you can drain it off.
I learned this technique from my mushroom field guide and it works great.
October 6th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
I saw some chanterelles at Whole Foods last night and marveled at their lovely color. I’ve never tried them, but now that I know a tasty way to prepare them, I think I will! Thanks Isa.
October 6th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
Yum! I love chanterelles something fierce! We used to pick bagloads at the end of summer in Sweden with my grandparents, and I agree that the simplest preparations are the best for something so tasty.
October 6th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Mouth watering. I need to go find me some mushrooms.
October 6th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
Gorgeous!
October 6th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
hello, anything with garlic and wine is delicious. but mushrooms are so classic with these flavor combos. so beautiful too!
October 6th, 2009 at 9:37 pm
Thyme is my fav, though mushrooms creep me out. I’m sure they taste good, I just can’t look at their wrinkles.
October 6th, 2009 at 10:03 pm
I love mushrooms. Their flavor is unbeatable. I never tried chanterelles though. I really want to taste these mushrooms now! Your preparation is so simple and I agree with food this fresh it’s best to keep it nice and simple!
October 6th, 2009 at 11:03 pm
>You don’t need to employ the entire spice rack when you’re cooking with farm fresh ingredients, it’s much more important to learn the simple cooking methods that coax the most flavor out of them. I’m going to cover a few of those methods through out the month. Won’t you join me?
Hooray! I love this approach to preparing produce. This recipe looks really great - now I must learn how to purchase chantrelles (they’re so expensive I want to be sure I’m getting good quality ones.)
October 8th, 2009 at 2:26 am
Those look fantastic! I love mushrooms so much.
November 9th, 2009 at 4:14 pm
Cool website, I’ll bookmark it