Chanterelle - Girolle - Pfifferling - Finferli - Лисички

It's the season! Wet soggy autumn days followed by a few rays of sun. The right temperature and the woods are dotted in yellow.

The mornings start to be a bit foggy. The neighbor is testing the fireplace. The red wine choices are a bit richer and luscious. It's the time of chanterelles.

This is a very delicate and sophisticated mushroom, rich in vitamins and other healthy things to make you feel better. But let's be honest, we eat chanterelles because they are so delicious.

When dried they loose most of their flavor. They need to be as fresh as possible. They keep pretty well in the fridge for a few days in a bowl lined with paper towels to absorb moisture.

We like to do our own mushroom hunting.  This year it's been an amazing one and as the pictures show we were super lucky to find a lot of excellent chanterelles.  We pan seared them somewhat slow to keep them nice and soft, with shallots or onions, butter, black/white pepper and salt.  We added a smidge of white wine et voila - done! Super easy and the best way to showcase that saffron-like sweetness of chanterelles.

They pair nicely with a juicy steak.  Or we cooked them in a savory quiche with leeks and bacon.
A great way to eat them is to sautee them and add them to a cream sauce for nice egg tagliatelle. And don't be shy with the Parmesan.