Local Mushrooms are here!

It’s mushroom heaven right now! In the FALL, Butter Mushrooms grow in large clusters in our backyard. They are very delicious and so convenient. They tend to grow under oak trees or pine trees. They are yellow and grow in cluster of 10-20 mushrooms. Each mushroom is about 2"-4" across. Very tasty mushrooms and if they grow in my backyard, maybe they grow in yours.

Right now what is growing are Chanterelles. They don’t come up in abundance every year because they need lots of rain and then some sun. But this year, because we are having an El Nino winter, they are here! If you live in the country, even as close as the Saratoga hills, you can find them. The good news about chanterelles, is that nothing poisonous looks like them. Chanterelles have no gills. While there are golden mushrooms with gills that you don’t want to eat, they are easy to distinguish from chanterelles. David Kinch just picked 120 pounds of chanterelles for one of his dinners to give you an idea of how much is out there.

Chanterelles grow underneath oak trees with a lot of peaty, loose soil. If you step on the soil, your feet sink a bit it’s so soft and loose. You sometimes don’t see the actual Chanterelle but an uplifting of the leafy soil and just a peek of gold.

I went chanterelle hunting last weekend in Carmel Valley and came home with about 3 pounds of mushrooms. I show you what they look like here after we brought them home and then another photo after we brushed them with a mushroom brush. Aren’t they beautiful? Here are two of the larger ones. I placed a fork by them to show you the size. I’ve seen and picked them the size of dinner plates and in Alaska, found one that was the size of a platter!

Obviously, we couldn’t eat all those mushrooms so a friend told me to slice them and put them into a dry skillet over low heat to exude some of the moisture. When they stop exuding moisture (don’t “fry” them), them put them in a single layer on a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan and into the oven at 200º for about an hour. You won’t “dry” them but get them to the point where you can freeze them into single/double servings for future use.

I’m going back to pick some more in a few weeks finally learn how to make my own fresh pasta. Doesn’t that sound absolutely delicious? Fresh pasta and chanterelles for dinner! Yummmm!