Chanterelle's for dummies

Ever wake up in the morning thinking about what’s for dinner? I do all the time.  My new obsession is finding wild chanterelle’s for a  chanterelle ragout with “fresh corn mascarpone polenta”  which I plan to make for dinner.

Of I went early this morning  into the woods next to my house in the Hopeland area in search of wild chanterelle’s.  Guess what. Not a mushroom to be found!  I ventured of the path  where I stumbled upon the rail road tracks which you have to cross if you want to get to the Hudson River.  I crossed over as the river was calling. I do not recommend others to follow my trail. I am making this crossing sound easy here but it wasn’t.  Instead of mushrooms I found myself lost on  a trail directly next to the mighty Hudson River. Chanterelle’s no longer on my mind.  Breathtaking to see the Catskills in the distance. ( The water didn’t smell so  good-by the way). No fresh fish for me coming out of there thank you.  No wild pickings this time either but a 2 hour hike back home via some more odd hurdles. Next time  best to take some one along who unlike me has gone mushroom picking before. 

 Did they ever tell you to always carry water with you when you go wandering in the woods? Even if you think it’s close to home. The first thing I did when I got home was drink a liter of Iced Mint tea which I  had made from my neighbours mint the night before.

Empty handed out of the woods I see Vladimir nicknamed “The Destructor” is on the premises. He’s the handy man for the estate we all live on and sporadically appears.  He has permission to chop down the 2 dead cedar trees in my garden. I am delighted to see the dead trees go and even more excited to know they are well dried cedars. After lots of rumbling, noise and a big bang I see Vladimir, the ladder and part of one tree all have come down as a trio.  My fence got a big dent as well.  The top part of the tree is still hanging in a branch of yet another tree. The 2nd tree is a little easier though barely missing my herb garden. I ask Vladimir to make little cedar  planks out of the cedar wood  for my salmon grilling. I’m also going to make wood chips for other uses. The cedar planks have to wait as Vladimir and his chain saw have run out of steam. He will be back. For now I have more sun light on my herb garden and there is hope things there will improve.

I’m of to my favorite farm stand Montgomery close to Bard College. Montgomery farm prides itself in varieties of its organic produce. I got 5 different kinds of tomatoes. Each variety tasting like  happy tomatoes.  I also get a load of very sweet corn to make a great corn soup with cilantro, avocado and creme fraiche.  I got that from the  cookbook called Sunday Suppers.  The recipe is perfect and needs no adjustments.  A few extra quarts of soup go into the  freezer for the winter days when the corn is out of season.  

Of course there are the zucchini’s of all shapes and sizes.  I can do a few things with those. Besides the “zucchini goat cheese fritters” maybe it is time for a “Summer squash gratin”with .. green herb sauce. Which brings me back to the chimmichurri in the making.  

Whomever’s garden I visit now often  has a bag of herbs sitting ready for me to take home. This time I got  half the amount of rosemary I really need but a start. The rosemary  after having chopped it came to half a cup. It is in the jar with some more olive oil added to it. I am still in search of a few herbs. 4 cups of parsley is the next I hope to find.

annemariesfeast.com

 

 

chanterelles for dummies