The photo of the chanterelle mushrooms is one of the enticing things about this recipe. They are indeed beautiful. I was even able to find some. Of course, they are wildly expensive, so I decided to make this more of a mixed wild mushroom dish. I opted to use some fresh shitakes and a few crimini to replace a few of the chanterelles. This dish also requires napa cabbage and toasted hazelnuts.
To be honest, there are a couple of things I don’t like here – I hate organic napa cabbage because there are always bugs and things (this time no exception, bugs and a worm even, yuk!); and I really dislike the mess from toasting hazelnuts and removing their skins. I don’t know why, just one of those things. But, still, I moved forward. I have to say, the chanterelles are lovely mushooms though, aren’t they?
Once everything is prepped, the shallot is sautéed in a bit of olive oil, then the mushrooms are added for a short period of time – they finish off cooking in a bit of broth and a dash of soy sauce.
Finally the finely shredded napa cabbage is tossed in along with the chopped hazelnuts. It’s supposed to be finished with a bit of parsley as well..oh well.
This certainly makes for a lovely dish. It really reminds me of fall, and there’s an earthiness about it that is appealing. It was interesting too, because I actually had this as a main course, to really taste the different mushrooms.
So – the verdict? Despite using Penzey’s beef base in place of a bouillon cube, the sauce had a “packaged” taste to it that I didn’t really love. Also, I have to say that the $30.00/lb. chanterelles weren’t even my favorite in the dish, though certainly good. But the fresh shitakes were very good. Will I make it again? I don’t know, but the idea was really good, and something like this would certainly be fabulous served along side a perfectly cooked roast or steak. If you would like to see what other cooks thought of this recipe, you can check out their posts via our French Fridays with Dorie website.
dulceshome 
Funny you found the shiitake to be the tastiest…I felt deprived that I couldn’t find a chanterelle mushroom anywhere in my neck of the woods. Since my store only carried the fresh shiitakes, that’s what I bought, and really loved them in this dish! Have a great weekend, Candy!
First, I must tell you that your masthead everyweek is always beautiful. I love how that works into each Post. I actually liked the sauce. There wasn’t much of it so it allowed the chanterelles to be chanterelles. I didn’t feel that the flavoring overpowered the mushrooms. You and Kathy have both encouraged me to use shiitakes when I make this again. The chanterelles are a little too pricey for me. I enjoyed reading this post and your thoughtful comments, Candy.
Base on your suggestion that shiitakes are great for this dish….. I will make this again with something else (wood ears?) plus the grapes. Let’s see if I can find them in the market this sunday!
I love the look of the Chanterelles but I am sure I have never seen them here. LOL about the Napa – here it is sold as wombok, but was three times the price of drumhead cabbage, so I subbed it. I also avoided the deadly hazelnut roasting by subbing in walnuts.
Ouch! Expensive indeed. Chanterelles are seasonal around here and they go from expensive in eary season to downright cheap in mid-season when they are trying to get rid of them all. Either way, I tend to take the lazy route and just order them in a restaurant, because all of the restaurants have special chanterelle menus at the moment and I’d rather pay them to clean the darn things.
Yup, I can see where all of those things would be frustrating (my Napa cabbage had an unwelcome surprise or two inside as well).
We had ours with chicken, but I agree that this would be a lovely side with a good steak!
Lovely blend of mushrooms. I didn’t have a problem with the cabbage, but cleaning the mushrooms was time consuming. I know you should not wash them, but I would never eat
a mushroom without cleaning it first. Love your photos.
Looks like a great dish, like the fact that you did use a combination of mushrooms. Great presentation!
I like your mushroom assortment. I’ve decided chanterelles aren’t key to the dish.
On the organic farm where I’m volunteering this summer, they cover the napa cabbage seedling (and other brassicas) with Remay cloth to keep the bugs out (or to reduce them, they do get in). It seems like some of the outer leaves are chewed, but I haven’t found anything inside the head. I wonder whether that technique doesn’t work as well in Arizona where I assume it is much hotter.
I ended up subbing savoy cabbage for the napa, as I couldn’t find a single nice head of the stuff this week. I think the savoy cabbage was perfect, though. When you cut it thinly, it’s just like lace. The chanterelles were lovely in this dish, but I think any mushroom would work. Interesting that the shitakes were the star for you.
This looks fabulous! Enjoyed a chicken dish with chanterelles over the weekend and am becoming inspired toward some of these elegant earthier dishes moving toward the fall!
I’m glad I’m not the only one that has problems with organic napa cabbage. It’s so hard to get clean! I didn’t make this one, but it does sound like a nice dish for fall.
Candy, I did not get to make that dish either – we had chanterelles that week already and that was wonderful but enough for one week. I certainly like your take on this recipe, a mix of different mushrooms sounds wonderful and the prepsenation is fabulous as well. I should be making this recipe after all, you are right, it would make a stunning side-dish in fall!
Hope you are enjoying a nice weekend!
Andrea