Chanterelles in White Wine Cream Sauce
I splurged and ordered a pound of chanterelles this week and wasn't sure how to use them. I had neither the spoons nor the homemade chicken stock to make the cream of mushroom soup I had been thinking about, but I did pick up some raw cream to try out and that seemed like it would be perfect for this recipe. This is not a low-calorie recipe! But tasty it definitely is.
I made it at night so I didn't even try to get any pictures. It comes out a lovely brown from the paprika, which I think is included as much for color as for flavor. I resisted the temptation to use smoked paprika as I wanted to highlight the flavor of the mushrooms, but I actually don't think smoked paprika would be a bad idea. (Perhaps half-and-half smoked and plain, and a pinch of hot.)
Modifications I made:
* We were out of shallots, so I just doubled the garlic.
* I didn't feel like opening a bottle of wine (well, really, getting Brad to open it) so I used 1/2 cup of dry sherry instead.
* I used 1Tbsp. of butter as it was enough for that little amount of garlic.
* 1/2 tsp. of salt because we eat fairly light on the salt and I didn't want it too salty.
* Omitted the flour for thickening as it came out thick enough.
The results were incredibly decadent; we had half by itself on Saturday night and the leftovers were just as good spooned over quinoa on Sunday. The flavor of the mushrooms come right through, and the cream is rich and reduces down to a silky sauce. The raw cream I used had a lot of flavor and aroma, which I really liked in the dish.
If I were making this again, I think I would use it as a sauce on chicken. Less per serving would still be incredibly rich and decadent, but a little more moderate on the rich food front. It would also make an amazing pasta sauce on fettucine. It is not very hard to make, but I wouldn't double the recipe: dry-sauteeing the mushrooms required three passes through my pan and any more would make it very time consuming. Reducing the recipe to a third would make an easy and rich sauce for two people for one meal.
I made it at night so I didn't even try to get any pictures. It comes out a lovely brown from the paprika, which I think is included as much for color as for flavor. I resisted the temptation to use smoked paprika as I wanted to highlight the flavor of the mushrooms, but I actually don't think smoked paprika would be a bad idea. (Perhaps half-and-half smoked and plain, and a pinch of hot.)
Modifications I made:
* We were out of shallots, so I just doubled the garlic.
* I didn't feel like opening a bottle of wine (well, really, getting Brad to open it) so I used 1/2 cup of dry sherry instead.
* I used 1Tbsp. of butter as it was enough for that little amount of garlic.
* 1/2 tsp. of salt because we eat fairly light on the salt and I didn't want it too salty.
* Omitted the flour for thickening as it came out thick enough.
The results were incredibly decadent; we had half by itself on Saturday night and the leftovers were just as good spooned over quinoa on Sunday. The flavor of the mushrooms come right through, and the cream is rich and reduces down to a silky sauce. The raw cream I used had a lot of flavor and aroma, which I really liked in the dish.
If I were making this again, I think I would use it as a sauce on chicken. Less per serving would still be incredibly rich and decadent, but a little more moderate on the rich food front. It would also make an amazing pasta sauce on fettucine. It is not very hard to make, but I wouldn't double the recipe: dry-sauteeing the mushrooms required three passes through my pan and any more would make it very time consuming. Reducing the recipe to a third would make an easy and rich sauce for two people for one meal.