It’s July in southeast Ohio and that means chanterelle’s are a poppin’ out in them thar hills. I couldn’t pass the urge to head out and do some fast scanning of my favorite (and secret) patch of forest where my kids and I found some fabulous chanterelles last year.
This year I found them in a wider swath than last year. They were peeking out from under roots and moss, which made hunting a real “squint-fest.”
False chanterelles (called Jack-O-Lanterns) were also out in force in their bright orange poisonous splendor. They have smaller stems, bright orange color, sharp gills and usually grow on wood. (See the ones climbing up a buried branch, and the thin stem and sharp gills on the right Jack-O-Lantern mushroom.)
In my last post about chanterelles, I used them with apricot, duck, Gouda, Parmesan, and parsley after reducing the mushrooms with chicken stock. This year, I have a few ideas of what to do, but none of them written in stone yet. (That’s code for “I haven’t a clue.”)
Here is a video of my excursion into the steamy, steep, bug infested world where these delicious beauties thrive. My camera man is my left hand and apologies to all about that. I also said “yellow” about the false chanterelles in which I meant “orange.” (I blame that one on the tight women’s beach flip flops I went hiking with.)
Next, I’ve gotta find a great pizza to make with these. In the Rolodex in my mind, I contact the perfect person who would know what makes the best chanterelle pizza. That is Dominico Crolla, award-winning chef, entrepenuer and pizza expert. I hope he responds to my e-mail, or I’m gonna have to either change the name of this post or find some other guy in the world named Domenico Crolla.
