It’s been a while, a long while… sorry about that we tried moving to word press and well it wasn’t as easy to use… and I changed careers… and I’ve been busy… the excuses can go on and on.
Anyway, it is mid-June 2025 and my spot for early chanterelles is off to a great start. I picked some of these golden beauties yesterday and also some crown tip coral and some small golden oysters. Also got soaked in some unexpected rain.
The chanterelles I am picking now are quite small but in the next week or two the nearby forest will by teaming with rings of bigger ones. I like the compact firmness of the early little ones but they are much harder to find when the leaves are deeper off the path.
As always, when I get home with fresh mushrooms, I clean them and then soak them briefly in salted water, this gets rid of the bugs and slugs. A gentle brushing or spray gets rid of most of the dirt. I then allow them to drain and dry on some paper towel.
I wanted to make a surf and turf like dinner so I pulled some black cod fillets I had been saving in the freezer and some venison loin steaks someone had given me. (Thanks Jimmy!)
For the Black Cod
I melted about 2 tablespoons of butter in an oven safe pan that has a lid, added the fish skin side up, seasoned with a little salt and pepper, and poured in a couple tablespoons each of lemon juice and butter covered with the lid and put it into a 400 degree oven for 12 minutes.
When the timer went off, I carefully removed the skin from the fish and placed the fish on a plate and covered it to keep it warm.
Returning the pan with the cooking liquids to the stove top over high heat I burned off most of the liquid until it was mostly butter, then added some chopped garlic and a half a cup of the small chanterelles.
Once the liquid cooked of more and the mushrooms took on a little color, I added some time sprigs with lemon juice, zest and some more whit wine which I let reduce most of the liquid again. Finally I finished by swirling in about 1/3 cup of butter until I ended up with a delicious velvety sauce that paired very well with the pan roasted black cod.
For the Venison
The venison I started by heating some good olive oil in my grill pan over high heat. Then I seared the venison on both sides to mark it and moved it to a cast iron pan and placed in the hot oven I had just taken the fish out of and turned the oven off. There was enough heat in the oven to cook the venison without over cooking it while I made the sauce.
I added a little more oil to the grill pan and addedsome chanterelles, the crown tipped coral, some small golden oyster and a thinly sliced pheasant back mushroom I had also gathered.
I let these sauté a while, then added some beef broth, red wine, tomato sauce and fresh thyme sprigs. Then let it reduce to a nice sauce consistency and then added some butter to finish.
There you go, add a baked potato, some quick veggies and you have a wild mushroom surf and turf.
Now, Get in the Kitchen and Cook Sonething!
