Delicious ways to enjoy local chanterelle mushrooms.
Read more about Pacific golden chanterelles.
Mushroom Risotto
from WSU Creamery
This creamy, comforting risotto features WSU’s own Cougar Gold cheese as well as a mix of mushrooms, including seasonal chanterelles.
4 tablespoons butter
⅓ cup peeled and minced shallots (or ⅓ cup white or yellow onion, finely chopped)
1 pound flavorful mushrooms (such as crimini, portobello, chanterelle, oyster, and shiitake, or a combination), thinly sliced.
1½ cups arborio rice
6 cups chicken broth
4 tablespoons fresh parsley, very finely chopped
½ cup grated Cougar Gold cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste
Melt butter in a large saucepan on medium-high heat. Sauté shallots until translucent. Add mushrooms and sauté until lightly browned. Add rice; stir until rice is a pale, golden color. Add 1 cup broth to rice and stir until absorbed. Continue adding broth 1 cup at a time, stirring constantly until the liquid is absorbed. The risotto should be slightly firm and creamy, not mushy. If more liquid is needed, or to substitute for an equal amount of broth, add 1/2 cup dry white wine.) Remove from heat, and stir in parsley, cheese, and seasonings.
Serve as a main course, or as a side accompanying grilled meat, chicken, or fish.
Yield: 4 to 6 servings.
Roasted Wild Mushrooms
from chef Scotty Parrish, WSU Master Food Preserver
2 pounds mushrooms (such as chanterelle, shiitake, and oyster, or a combination)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon rosemary
½ teaspoon coarse sea salt
Clean mushrooms well and tear into strips. Toss with olive oil and rosemary, and roast in a 425-degree oven for about 20 minutes, turning occasionally, until cooked through. Sprinkle with sea salt, and serve.
Notes: Serve hot as a side to your favorite grilled meat, or serve room temperature as part of a crudité platter.
Yield: 4 servings
Chanterelle Mushroom and Chicken Pasta
from Linda Burner Augustine (’83 Home Economics and Honors)
8 ounces short shaped pasta such as gemilli, fusilli, or penne
12 ounces chanterelle mushrooms
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast (about 8-12 ounces) sliced into bite size pieces
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons flour (divided)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons butter (divided)
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
¼ cup sherry or white wine (see note)
1 cup chicken broth
½ cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
Grated Parmesan cheese, for sprinkling on top (optional)
Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Meanwhile, remove any excess dirt from chanterelles. Place in a colander, and run under just enough water to clean them; drain then remove to paper towels and pat dry. Cut large chanterelles in half or quarters. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper, then toss with 2 tablespoons flour. Heat oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add chicken and cook until browned stirring once or twice; remove and keep warm. To the same skillet over medium heat add remaining 2 tablespoons butter then chanterelles and cook and stir just until softened, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook about 30 to 45 seconds just to release flavor. Return browned chicken to pan; sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon flour and stir. Add sherry to the chicken and chanterelles and cook 30 to 45 seconds, then stir in chicken broth, cream and thyme; bring to a simmer and cook just until slightly thickened, about 3 to 4 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Stir in cooked pasta and sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese, if desired.
Notes: Sherry or white wine can be omitted and substituted with chicken broth.
Yield: 4 servings
Sautéed Chanterelles
from Michael Neff, director of WSU’s molecular plant sciences graduate program and assistant chair of the department of crop and soil sciences
1 tablespoon butter (or mix of butter and olive oil)
1½ cups chanterelles, cleaned and sliced
4 green onions, finely chopped
1 teaspoon vermouth
Juice from half a lemon, optional
Melt butter in a cast-iron frying skillet, then add chanterelles and green onions, spreading the mixture evenly over the bottom of the pan and sautéing over medium heat until the moisture is cooked out of the mushrooms. Add vermouth and lemon juice, if using. Serve atop steak or salmon, or with a crusty loaf of bread.
Yield: 3 to 4 servings
Read more about mushrooms with a reading list from the experts
From the archives
Find advice and tips from recently retired WSU mycologist Lori Carris on safe hunting for mushrooms.
Head into the woods with Carris
Carris is featured in the 2019 documentary film Fantastic Fungi.
Fall 2016 was very wet, making prime conditions for mushrooms.
WSU’s Charles Gardner Shaw Mycological Herbarium, founded in 1915, contains approximately 70,000 specimens of fungi.