Curry Pickled Chanterelles

Chanterelles have an aroma reminiscent of apricots.  The flavor lends itself to working with curry, while not losing its mushroom appeal.  I love these on the side with roasted meat, or included with a cheese assortment along side the olives and cornichons.

Fall is one of our favorite times of the year because of the bounty of mushrooms that pop up after the rains begin.  There is an area we discovered on our own here in the Pacific coastal range.  It's a fairly large tract and each year we are able to explore a little more to survey the potential chanterelle habitat.  This year brought our largest find ever!  There's nothing better than spending the day in the woods looking for and finding these treasures!  The species of chanterelle mushroom that we get in this area is native to the Pacific Northwest.  It is found from Northern California up to British Columbia.  It forms a symbiotic relationship with certain conifers here, mainly hemlock and Douglas fir.  Its common name is the golden Pacific chanterelle.  Its Latin name is Cantharellus formosus.  If left to grow, it can become enormous compared to many other species of chanterelle.  Fully grown, it develops a beautiful trumpet shape with a glorious golden hue.

Gorgeous chanterelles as far as the eye can see!

Funny thing, while I was working as a professional chef and buying copious amounts of wild mushrooms from commercial pickers for the restaurants I worked at, almost nobody would show me diddly squat about where to hunt for them.  Go figure haha!  It took years to meet dear friends that hunt fungus as a hobby, and finally got me on the right track to be able to make this into a serious hobby in my own right.  Long before there were so many groups and forums on the internet, I was kind of on my own for a good long time, but I desperately wanted to learn all I could!  Point being, so many years later, to have discovered such a patch of land on our own, that is so bounteous with these beauties, absolutely makes my heart sing.  This is what I live for!

We ended up pulling about 30 lbs. out that day.  We left plenty of buttons to continue to grow and proliferate.  We tried to only harvest the largest ones.

Last year I made pickled chanterelles for the first time.  They usually get eaten so fast that I don't get to can them, so this is a treat!  This year there were enough that I doubled the recipe.  Enjoy!

Curry Pickled Chanterelles

Makes 7 half pints

Ingredients:

6-7 cups fresh Chanterelle mushrooms (about 1 lb 4 oz); cleaned and cut into bite-size pieces
1/2 lb onion; sliced 1/4" thick
2 Tbsp sea salt
1 1/2 cups rice vinegar
3/4 - 1 cup organic cane sugar *sugar can be adjusted according to taste
1 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp ground celery seed
1/2 tsp ground ginger
About 1 tsp whole peppercorn
7 each whole star anise (1 per jar)

Procedure:

1. Clean and sanitize 7 half pint mason jars.  I simplify the sanitation process by loading the clean jars right side up onto a baking sheet, and leaving them in the oven set at 250 F for at least 30 minutes.  I just leave them in while I'm prepping the recipe.
2. Cover 7 appropriately sized jar rings and lids with water in a pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes to sterilize.
3. Combine the vinegar with the salt, sugar and all the spices except for the star anise and peppercorn in a large saucepan and heat until almost to a simmer.  Stir frequently to dissolve the salt and sugar.
4. In each jar place a few sliced onions, a few whole peppercorns, 1 star anise and pack with chanterelles, leaving 1/2 inch head space.
5. Stir the vinegar mixture well and transfer to a container that will make it easy to pour from.  Cover the mushrooms with the hot vinegar mixture.  If you find that you ran a little short on the liquid, you can augment with a little more vinegar.  Divide the liquid evenly between the jars in case you do need to add a little more vinegar.
6. Place a lid and ring on each jar and hand tighten.
7. Process in a hot water bath covered with a lid, at a full boil for 20 minutes.  Be sure the hot water covers the jars by about 2 inches above the tops.
8. Once 20 minutes have passed, remove the lid of the canner and remove from the heat.  Allow the jars to rest in the hot water with the lid off for 15 additional minutes before removing the jars to continue to cool.

I like to label my jars with 2" round labels that I save to a file under my documents on my computer.  The 2" labels work on both regular and wide mouth lids.  Each year, all I have to change is the date.  I like the look of the labels on my precious jars, as opposed to just writing on the lid.  It's also easier to use a longer name or more detailed description of the contents.  You can find a variety of templates on line which makes it easier to choose one that reflects your own style!

These labels make it easy to give my jars just that much more of a personal touch! 
Look for Avery number 22817