I usually just saute them like I do other mushrooms. I would do the same if I was making a cream sauce. After they are sauteed I would add flour to the pan and make a roux. I would probably use part chicken broth and part cream for the sauce. Sherry would work in the sauce as would something like Armagnac. I hope you aren't suggesting using Amaretto or Tia Maria. Thyme, Rosemary, Chives, Sage, Basil or even oregano would work. So would tarragon, although I find a little tarragon goes a long way. Mint isn't something I would use in a mushroom cream sauce. Like any mushroom you could serve it with veal, chicken, rabbit, pork, or beef. A mushroom sauce would go wonderful with veal tenderloin medallions.

You could also add parmesan cheese to the cream sauce along with herbs and serve the mushrooms over pasta.

Another suggestion would be to make the mushrooms in a cream sauce and serve them in toast cups as a side to a meat dish. Cut crust of slices of bread. Roll slices until just slightly flat. Butter tart tins, Push the bread into the tart cups, brush bread with more butter and bake until golden brown.

I'm expecting fresh picked chanterelles today.

~Ann

So Amaretto wouldn't go with cream? I think of those as simpatico flavours - there are Amaretto and cream-based cocktails.

I've used Grand Marnier in cream sauces, maybe that will be my fallback.

I don't have sherry (don't drink it), and have never much liked sauces with cognac or similar. I think I have a serious sweet tooth when if comes to savory food, even though I don't have much of an appetite for actual sweets.

Normally I'd pair a soft, kind of sweet, and rather bland-white dish (e.g. veal in chanterelle cream sauce) with a textured, more savory, colorful dish. Not sure what - something fried like tempura is coming to mind. The toast cups would provide that contrast too. Still mulling it over.

Chanterelles are a wonderful raw ingredient and you'll want to showcase them, not lose them in a tangle of overpowering flavors.

Your spouse is on the right track. I would prepare them in a simple cream sauce with sherry and serve over sautéed veal or a grilled veal or pork chop or over toast, as Ann suggested.

Another alternative would be to use them in a classic Beef Stroganoff.

I don't drink sherry either but I use it in many dishes where it gives a subtle depth of flavor. It's worth buying a bottle to use with your mushrooms and later starting a thread requesting favorite recipes using sherry for the remainder of the bottle. It will keep for a while.

Amaretto, Tia Maria or Amaretto will screw them up and SWMBO will ask why you didn't use sherry. Consider yourself forewarned. :)

Okay, ixnay on the the sweet liquors :-(

John, listen to Ruthanna. Good advice.

~Ann

Oranges and mushrooms? NOOO hahaha!
White wine and cream makes a lovely sauce. For a light sauce, just heat white wine then add some good mustard and creme fraiche. Add your sauteed mushrooms. Lovely with a stak or pork filet.

Brining pork loin now, making meatballs for the kids, will use the chanterelle sauce with both. Brussel sprouts, blue potatoes and an [experimental] mashed beet dish on the side, may save dinner from a monochrome fate. Salad will be a last nod to the summer that ended with a thump this weekend, with peaches and shrimp and cherry tomatoes. Someone is bringing a light dessert. I am making a straight up comfort food meal, with no hot sauce, Asian bits, deep-fried things, or weird liqueurs!

This post was edited by johnliu on Sun, Sep 22, 13 at 20:13

If you have extra, you could serve them for breakfast.

A friend brought me more Cowichan Valley picked Chanterelles yesterday. Used them this morning for Moe's breakfast.

~Ann

How long will chanterelles keep in the fridge? I have to get on a plane tomorrow and won't be able to do any more cooking until next weekend.

I learned a few things tonight.

When making the chanterelle sauce, don't use flour to thicken. Instead, take the stems you trimmed and cook them down with butter, then put in the food processor and make into a paste, thicken the sauce with that. And add Bristol cream sherry. Simmer for an hour.

For the pork loins, coat one side with honey and anchovy paste, to brown quickly, brown just that side in the skillet, then in the oven and don't cook past 130F. Not overcooking, plus brining, made for juicy loin.

Brussel sprouts go well with a TBSP or two of Baileys Irish Cream.

Cavatica Stout. A great dark beer. Just saying.

This post was edited by johnliu on Mon, Sep 23, 13 at 9:12

John, you can have the mushrooms in an open container in the refrigerator, and they will be semi-dehydrated without going rotten.

The stems can be ground up in a little coffee grinder and be used in the sauce.

dcarch

Keep them on a middle shelf, not the crisper where other vegetables might be too moist an environment. Every fridge is a bit different. Laying flat on a glass casserole dish, on a p-towel, covered with a dry towel works. Or in a paper bag. In my fridge, if left uncovered, they would absorb too much moisture.
I never have so many to experiment and like a minimalist approach like ann_t
(that looks so good!!)
Just a shallot, a garlic clove and sauteed in olive oil. A pat of butter finish. With a slice of top toasted rustic bread, an egg, and a grilled steak medallion.

Several people have suggested sherry, or white wine in making a sauce, and John used a bristol-cream sherry. You're all wrong. :-) You should use a medium-dry Madeira. It's what the bristol-cream sherry makers were trying for, but they didn't end up very close.

For me, Madeira sauce is for ham ;)

Tossed with melted butter, seasoned with a little salt and pepper, and roasted. Superb with a fine veal chop or a filet.

But my favorite use is in a mushroom risotto. Yum.....!

Making it again (it = chanterelle cream sauce). We needed a quickie meal and I couldn't think of anything else.

Using a splash of loquat brandy to finish the sauce. I can't help myself, and it tastes pretty interesting.

I put asparagus trimmings into a blender with Greek yoghurt, garlic, olive oil, salt and wasabi. Sounds silly but it has a bright, tart flavour and will make a nice topping for the asparagus tops.

Rummaged around the fridge and found some hunks of rosemary roast chicken, that reheated pretty nicely.

I like random catch-as-catch-can meals!