One more thing. Chanterelles take to a dry sauté really well (see the instructions under Meg's Marinated Mushrooms http://www.food52.com/recipes/11186_megs_marinated_mushrooms ). Once the water evaporates, add some butter or olive oil, and cook a bit longer. You can wash the heck out of them ahead of time (the ones I find tend to have all manner of "duff" clinging to them), and still get really good results.
Another thing--don't try to keep them too long. If you don't use them today, put them in a paper bag and don't keep for more than two or three days before you cook them.
Are they fresh or dried? If they are dried, you could use them for a risotto or soup.
In Bavaria, where I live, there are two favorite ways to prepare chanterelles. First is in a cream sauce which is served over a Semmelknödel, a dumpling made from day-old Kaiser rolls. Parsley is used both in the sauce and in the dumpling. A Riesling goes nicely with this--and it is one of my favorite summer dinners. The second favorite preparation is to saute sliced, raw potatoes along with onions and a bit of garlic. Remove from the pan, add a hunk of butter and toss in the chanterelles, and perhaps a bit of bacon for additional flavor. The heat should be high, so the chanterelles 'dance' in the pan. Meanwhile, crack a couple of eggs into a bowl, add salt and pepper, and beat. When the chanterelles are cooked, toss in some parsley, add the potatoes, and then pour the eggs over everything in the pan. You can scramble it a bit or fold it over as you would an omelette. Slide onto a heated plate and eat immediately.
Sometimes I will saute onions, garlic, and just a bit of bacon, and then add the chanterelles. When they are almost cooked, I add some white wine and scrape all the bits off the bottom of the pan. I combine that with pasta and top with shredded mint--mint is an excellent complement to chanterelles.
Chantrell mushrooms are indeed a great gift! I like to use them in sauce for pasta. If they are big, like caps as wide as your hand, tear them into quarters. If they are small, the mushrooms about the size of your thumb, leave them whole. Give them about five minutes in a medium sautee pan with butter, pulling them when the mushrooms begin to brown. Make a nice butter noodle pasta and chuck the chantrells in.
Make sure to give them a good brushing off to get rid of the pine needles and dirt. A clean tooth brush will work well for this.
I'd keep it simple: Saute them in a little butter/olive oil, maybe some thyme or another gentle herb, and eat them alone or on toast. Or you could try one of these: http://www.food52.com/recipe/chanterelle
I agree with Kristen on this. The simplest treatment is the best. And thyme is a very good mushroom herb. They make a fine accompaniment to salmon. Also you could work them into a risotto.
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In Bavaria, where I live, there are two favorite ways to prepare chanterelles. First is in a cream sauce which is served over a Semmelknödel, a dumpling made from day-old Kaiser rolls. Parsley is used both in the sauce and in the dumpling. A Riesling goes nicely with this--and it is one of my favorite summer dinners. The second favorite preparation is to saute sliced, raw potatoes along with onions and a bit of garlic. Remove from the pan, add a hunk of butter and toss in the chanterelles, and perhaps a bit of bacon for additional flavor. The heat should be high, so the chanterelles 'dance' in the pan. Meanwhile, crack a couple of eggs into a bowl, add salt and pepper, and beat. When the chanterelles are cooked, toss in some parsley, add the potatoes, and then pour the eggs over everything in the pan. You can scramble it a bit or fold it over as you would an omelette. Slide onto a heated plate and eat immediately.
Sometimes I will saute onions, garlic, and just a bit of bacon, and then add the chanterelles. When they are almost cooked, I add some white wine and scrape all the bits off the bottom of the pan. I combine that with pasta and top with shredded mint--mint is an excellent complement to chanterelles.
Make sure to give them a good brushing off to get rid of the pine needles and dirt. A clean tooth brush will work well for this.