The Chanterelle Mushroom is considered to be a prized mushroom on any menu. It has a unique fruity, peppery, mild flavor and a low water content. It also is somewhat eye catching with it’s funnel shape and yellow almost orange color. The Chanterelle Mushrooms can be very expensive and most people do buy them dried. My local AJ’s Fine Foods Supermarket sells Chanterelles at $50.00 a pound most times of the year. I usually come across Chanterelles at $30.00 a pound from Whole Foods Supermarket. This time of year for only a few weeks my local Costco sells Chanterelles at only $10.00 a pound so I purchased some. The Chanterelles don’t stay fresh for too many days so they get washed (yes I do wash mushrooms…I try not to eat dirt) and cooked within two days. The Chanterelles in this recipe are precooked and were started with non-stick canola spray. Water was released and discarded and then the mushrooms were finished in a small amount of butter.

Ingredients for about Twelve Servings

4 oz unsalted butter – room temperature

1/2 cup celery – chopped – small

1/2 cup sweet onion – chopped small

1 teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt

1 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 garlic cloves – grounded

14 oz dried bread – I used mostly ciabatta and some all natural white crusty rolls – Cut into irregular cubes – (I let them sit in off oven for about a week to get stale)

1 cup chanterelles – cleaned, sliced and cooked

2 XL eggs – beaten

3 Tablespoons heavy cream

8 sprigs fresh thyme – remove leaves from stem

1 sprig fresh sage – just the leaves – chopped

1 small sprig fresh rosemary – just the leaves – chopped

2 cups mushroom stock

1 cup water (or another cup of stock if you think you need more flavor)

non – stick spray – canola or vegetable

Directions

Set your oven for 350 degrees F and spray your pan with non – stick spray.

In a small/medium sized fry pan on medium high heat add butter, celery, onions, salt and pepper. Loosely cover the pan with foil after about five minutes turn down the heat to just under medium and add the mushrooms garlic and cook a few minutes more. The celery and onions should be soft and take off heat and set to the side.

In a large bowl mix up remaining ingredients expect for the bread cubes. Now add the fry pan ingredients and mix well.

Add the bread cubes and mix. Let mixture sit for about 15 minutes. Mix and pour mixture into the pan.

Cover the pan with aluminum foil and put in you 350 degree F preheated oven for one hour. After one hour remove the foil and pop the pan back in the over for 15 minutes to get a slight crust.

It’s light, a little buttery, a little crusty and a little custardy with good flavors. I think just about everyone will enjoy this one.