I stepped outside this weekend and realized something… It is cold! Is it going to be like this until June? Really? I think I forgot what 46 degrees feels like. I also have a sinking suspicion this happens to me every year. I am surprised when it is hot, surprised when it is cold. You’d think our human brains would have a better memory for weather, but maybe it is like pain. You really don’t want to remember.
This cold, relatively dry fall has brought us one thing in the Pacific NW: a bumper crop of chanterelle mushrooms. I am sure there is some fancy mushroomy reason behind it, but all I care about it eating as many as I can.
So, last week I baked some and added them with their juices over a bowl of polenta. It was a great accompaniment to a pork chop and a salad. And then, per usual, I reheated it the next day and put a poached egg on top. What did you expect?
Below you will find a recipe for the mushrooms and later this week I will talk about making polenta from scratch. It tastes so much better than the store-bought tube stuff and it takes very little cooking skills, so don’t be scared.
Oven-roasted chanterelles
8 oz of chanterelles
1 tbsp of olive oil
1 tbsp of butter, cut into small pieces (or melted)
2 tbsp of diced shallots
1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
1/4 tsp of salt
1/8 tsp of ground pepper
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Clean and cut mushrooms into 1/4 inch slices, removing the woody stem. Toss onto a baking sheet with olive oil, butter, shallots, thyme, salt and pepper. Cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring a couple of times. When tender, remove from oven, save your cooking liquid and drizzle over mushrooms.
