Last weekend, my wife and I went for a little hike near a local lake. About 3 miles in, while she and one of our dogs was about 40 feet ahead of me, I randomly glanced down towards my feet, and I saw something bizarrely orange right in the middle of the trail. I gave it a closer inspection and yelled out, “EUREKA!” (or something like that). It was a chanterelle! We immediately started staring at the woods on either side of the trail, and once our eyes were trained to spot what we were looking for, we saw them everywhere!
Luckily, she had a random empty sleeping bag sack in her backpack, so we went to town. In the end, we brought home about 2 pounds of chanterelles. With this, we were excited to tackle the challenge of cooking them in new and different ways from what we’ve done in the past with our other Chanterelle Recipes.
This recipe was inspired by an entree we had at a restaurant near us (Greenhouse New Hope) a few weeks ago, the “‘Shroomin Toast.” Instead of using homemade bread though, we turned this into a flatbread, featured just one type of wild mushroom, and swapped out the onions for leeks.
Time: 30 Minutes
Ingredients:
- Flat Bread Crust (Or you can make your own pizza crust using one of our Dough Recipes!)
- Chanterelles
- Leek
- Goat Cheese
- Olive Oil
- Optional: Herbs like Tarragon or Parsley
- Optional: White Balsamic Glaze
Method:
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Note, if you’re using fresh dough, preheat to 425 degrees F, and put your pizza stone in the oven.
- Cut the deep green part off your leek, and then when you’re at the area with the whitish/greenish tightly wrapped layers, slice thinly.
- Heat some butter in pan, and add your leeks to begin to caramelize.
- As your leeks cook, rinse your chanterelles, and cut the bottom of the stems off. Then, slice your chanterelles longways.
- Heat some butter in a different pan, and sautee your chanterelles for 3-4 minutes.
- Lay your flatbread crusts on a baking sheet, and brush on your oil. Sprinkle some herbs atop as you like as well.
- Spread a layer of your caramelized leeks, and then top that with your sauteed chanterelles.
- Sprinkle on your goat cheese, and if using, drizzle your white balsamic glaze over everything.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes to crisp the crust to your desired level and get all of your toppings nice and hot again.
- Plate, devour, and enjoy!
Congratulations! I’ve wandered the occasional forest and have found nary a chanterelle or anything like it 🙁
They are very popular In Bavaria and elsewhere, but are mostly influenced by the bavarian recipes, Chanterelles are often combined with Speckwürfel (not bacon, but cured pork belly cubes). It is a combination made in Bavarian heaven (weiss-blauer Himmel). They are often served with Semmelknödel, dumplings made from old bread (usually white bread like a Brötchen or a Baguette), cut into small cubes, steeped in milk or cream, squeezed to get rid of the excess fluid, then mixed with an egg, salted and peppered and mixed with finely chopped parsley. Shape balls with a 2″ diameter. Bring water to a boil, then set at the lowest temperature and simmer the dumplings for 20 minutes (they need to rise from the bottom some minutes before). It is a deftig (hearty) pleasure, but it is a classic and works really well together. Chanterelles are also a natural pairing for venison and even Schnitzels (pork or veal, usually with cream sauce).
Thank you! We were very surprised that the chanterelles just jumped out at us. I’m going to have to try making semmelknödel soon (and almost certainly for the next chanterelle batch). Also, it’s almost like you saw my next two recipes early…we made grilled venison with chanterelles and Brussels sprouts on Wednesday, and I’m planning to publish those recipes tomorrow and Monday!!!