Chanterelles and the Sexiest Soup Ever
Aug 31st, 2009 | By Hank | Category: Cooking Basics, French | Comments | 25 Comments |
Some people spend their money on gadgets, rare wines, drugs or Craftsman tools. I spend mine on mushrooms.
And after eating an orgasmic mushroom soup I made with some chanterelles last weekend, I feel entirely justified in my choice. Who needs a cordless drill or a ’57 Dom Perignon when you have this soup?
I’ve recently acquired a mushroom “dealer,” Joseph Daugherty of Oregon, who sells me wild mushrooms at prices well below what I would spend at the Davis Farmer’s market. My first shipment was spring porcini, this latest was golden chanterelles.
I feel certain my friends Lang and Heather and tsk! tsk!-ing me right now. “Oh, Hank. You know you can forage for these beauties yourself, right?” Yes, I do. But I would have to drive at least 400 miles north looking for a stretch of forest that already has had some rain. We won’t get our own rain here in California until the end of September — at the earliest.
And damnit, I want my chanterelles now! I’ve said before that if I were forced to go vegetarian, I could survive by eating mushrooms. Golden chanterelles are the most common variety of chanterelle here in the Pacific, and those in the Pacific Northwest can start getting them in July. Here they don’t really pop until October, although you can go up to Humboldt and dodge the pot farmers for them in September.
Golden chanterelles are far less meaty and are more delicate than porcini, or really most any other common edible mushroom. Chanterelles taste floral and smell fruity, although I could not quite pick up the apricot notes many say golden chanterelles possess. To me, chanterelles are less of a beef-venison-duck mushroom than a wild boar-pheasant-fish mushroom. Think white wine instead of red.
I have never heard of anyone eating chanterelles raw, and several sources say raw chanterelles can make you sick. So I would not repeat my delicious raw spring porcini salad. No matter. These ‘shrooms cry out for the saute pan. So the first night my five-pound shipment arrived, I made a simple pasta with them: orecchiette pasta, parsley, thyme, chanterelles, garlic, homemade lardo cut into batons, a little lemon juice and lots of butter.
Oh yes, butter. I admit to being re-acquainted with butter because of the movie “Julie and Julia,” but it also happens that mushrooms in general — and golden chanterelles in specific — enjoy a bath in butter far more than they do a dip in any other sort of fat or oil. I defy you to not swoon when you smell chanterelles, garlic and homemade lardo sizzling in a pan of hot butter. I sure did.
After that first night’s chanterelle orgy — Holly and I ate nearly a pound of fresh chanterelles in that meal — I dried at least another pound in that blast furnace we call a garage. Chanterelles dry very easily, and since we’ve been having hot weather (it was 108 degrees on our front porch the other day!) the mushrooms were ready in 36 hours. I now have two quart jars of dried chanterelles that have a date with some grouse this fall. More on that later.
Next up was a fish dish. The light, slightly floral and spicy flavor of chanterelles works well with light fish such as halibut, and I still had some after the big fishing trip I went on with my Dad and brother earlier this summer. This time I lightened things up even further by adding grated ginger and lemon zest into the mushrooms, shallots and butter.
To finish, I dry-seared some especially pretty chanterelles and put them on top of the fish. Dry searing is one of my favorite ways to cook mushrooms: Hot pan, add mushrooms. Don’t crowd, stir often. Watch them brown and release their water. Chanterelles are pretty dry to begin with, so you will need to watch them closely, as they finish in half the time it takes to sear off button mushrooms or porcini.
How was it? I overcooked the halibut a touch, but the sauce was lovely: Sharp, aromatic — you can really smell the chanterelles when they mix with lemon juice — and light enough to make the chanterelles the bass note in the dish. (Here is the recipe.)
I know, I know: You’re thinking, “What about that soup you were mooning over earlier?” Well, I decided — in an ode not to Julia Child but to the grand master of classic French cooking, Auguste Escoffier – to make a cream of mushroom soup.
And this ain’t your mama’s cream of mushroom soup, folks. No packets here, no cans, either. This is the real deal. Remember how the evil chef in “Ratatouille” rolled his eyes back in his head when he tasted Remy’s soup? This is that kind of soup. And this is about as classic French as it gets. I present to you, dear readers, the Sexiest Soup in the World: Escoffier’s Cream of Chanterelle Soup.
Holy sweet Jesus on the cross was this good! The flavor hammers you with chanterelle’s beguiling flavor, backed with a whiff of saffron, the creamy mouthfeel of a classic veloute (stock whisked with a blond roux), and a slightly slutty wink from the dash of Armagnac I put in, all given added heft from a liaison of cream and egg yolks. Folks, this is what you want to eat right before a romp with Bella – fleas be damned.
Veloute, you say? Liaison? If you’ve dusted off your Mastering The Art of French Cooking
Veloute (vel-oo-TAY), is easy. It’s a mixture of hot stock and a roux made from equal parts flour and butter. You must whisk in the stock to get the mixture to set correctly, which, when it does, makes a broth that looks like liquid satin.
Liaison is a bit harder, but only a bit. It is an ancient method of thickening a soup, by adding a mixture of beaten egg yolks and cream (the Greeks make avgolemono by adding a mixture of egg yolks and lemon). The trick is to temper your eggs so they do not scramble, then never letting the soup boil after the liaison is added.
The result? Sex in a bowl.
holy crap. that really is sex in a bowl. Fantastic looking mushroom soup. I was all ready to comment on the pasta dish, and seared mushrooms – but just don’t see the point now, after seeing that soup. WOW.
Love veloute’s.. however it seems like that term is now used for anything which is slightly creamy (or like satin as you say). Just another example of culinary bastardification (made that word up). Glad to see you sticking true to form with this awesome soup.
Funny you should mention chanterelles. Spent Sunday with my sweetie picking them in our spot in Maryland. we have been lucky this year with a good harvest, lots of rain early (May) and rain currently.. You are so right about lots of butter. We enjoyed them sauteed with shallots and butter and a hint of white wine over pasta topped off with some parmesan . Yummy.
Y’all would hate to have me for a neighbor. I would be over all the time.
Best regards,
Albert
Wow! I saw your blog post via a RT from @earthydelights on Twitter. It has been an amazing year for chanterells in Montana so I have a large stock pile – this soup is now on my “to make” list. Thanks for posting!
A Blog post on foraging:
http://allthingsitalianinmt.wordpress.com/2009/08/04/foraging-for-mushrooms/
Check out this picture of one of our good hauls this year!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/allthingsitalian/3807678543/in/photostream/
“if you are classically trained you may be having flashbacks”
-Check.
But in that classical training, we pronounced it vel-OO-tay.
Even though I’ve never joined the near universal love-fest with mushrooms, this all looks great, Hank. I’d eat any mushroom dish you put in front of me.
BTW, I’ve had a simple soup of sauteed garlic and parsley in good beef stock sexed up beyond belief by a liaison. Those Frenchies knew a thing or two.
P.S. From your picture, it appears you’ve run into the same problem I have with orecchiette: they nest together too well and end up sticking to each other in the cooking water. I still use them for a few sauces that really benefit from their shape, but no amount of stirring whilst pouring in, nor while boiling seems to fix this. If you come across any solution, I’d love to hear about it.
OK, I needed a moment after reading this the compose myself. This soup is indeed sex in a bowl. Slow, passionate, steamy sex in a bowl.
I’ve never tried chanterelles; they’re not something I can find in stores or farmer’s markets locally, and I really don’t have sufficient knowledge of wild mushroom hunting to feel comfortable looking for them myself. Is there a good field guide you could recommend?
Haha, the first thing I thought when I read you got a dealer was exactly what you said I’d think. Though I will admit, now, in my late throes of pregnancy, that a good ‘shroom hookup is sounding pretty sweet.
Thank you Hank, you’ve just helped me decide what kind of soup I’ll be serving with my Autumn Harvest Feast this year. Even if I can’t find Chanterelles.
Kate: The best way to stop nesting is to plink the pasta in one at a time, stirring all the while. It is a massive PITA, so I rarely do it. On the bright side, this never happens to me with homemade orecchiette.
Tina: Best book if you are on the West Coast is “Mushrooms Demystified.” It’s also good for the East Coast, but is a bit Western-centric.
Chris: If you can’t find chanterelles, substitute in morels or porcini or even cremini and leave out the saffron.
I found your blog through your interview on Cooking with Amy. I admire you so much! I wish I could watch your experiences. Have you considered videos?
Jessica: I have considered videos, but they are suprisingly difficult to produce: A 3-minute video can take several days’ work. We are planning on doing som demo videos on techniques, though…
You’ll always get a comment out of me when you cook with mushrooms. There wasn’t one dish in this posting I wouldn’t try. I love wild mushroom soup, but my recipe looks pale when compared to yours. And the simple pasta dish? Heaven in a bowl.
Hank, been dry up here too. Chanties have only recently begun to pop. It’s true that we have a variety, the day-glo orange chanty found in coastal spruce, that fruits in July, but usually it isn’t until mid-August that the goldens start in earnest. This year the first flush got fried before they could reach size, so we’re waiting on another fruiting. Besides, I’ve been too busy salmon fishing! Soup looks great. My secret ingredient in chanty soup is powdered porcini, for that extra mushroomy boost.
Cheers,
Lang
I know. =/ I tried one and it didn’t turn out that well so after all the work, I didn’t post it, but I plan on trying again.
I’m inspired to dust off the old Escoffier and get to work! That soup looks positively decadent.
That sounds incredible. Hold the romp – I’ll just have seconds.
Good lookin’ soup.
On a side note, I must say that when I saw you use the word ‘mortified’ in a tweet about a cooking temp. error, I thought that you might need my cousin to knit you a meat thermometer cozy. I figure it’ll take about two yards of fabric.
Chanterelles are my absolute favorite. Reading this reminds me of when I was in Germany, where I could cook chanterelles daily, as they were so cheap and plentiful there. Your soup looks amazing, reminds me of a bowl I had in Berlin which was garnished with sauteed sweetbreads and more of the mushrooms. Wonderful stuff. Loved reading this post, very inspirational.
Yum – I am salivating and can hardly wait to try your recipe.
So sexy and yummy. My husband will be rapt when he comes home tonight =)
So like Lang said, it’s been a slow summer for Chanterelles here in the Seattle area. I just found my first 1/4 lb of the season on Monday. Going up tomorrow though, so we’ll see how they liked last weekend’s rain.
Anyhow, I tried the soup but with Chicken of the Woods and Porcinis instead. Awesome soup, thanks for the recipe. Still think it would be better with chanties though… Or if I get another Prince this year. Here’s the post http://russelleverett.blogspot.com/2009/09/chicken-of-woods-and-porcini-soup.html
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Whoa! After a run in the woods,and finding a good amount of the beautiful golden chanterelles and then your site,I am just finishing with the last of the butter…. oh my god. Julia would be proud. The key for me,not a seasoned cook,was to in fact, strain it. That `s where the texture really makes this shine. Off to a christmas party.Thanks
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