Enchanting Chanterelles
23 October 2007
Although you can get mushrooms all year round I most enjoy them in autumn, when you find a vast choice of wild mushrooms at the market. For lazy people like me the Viktualienmarkt in Munich offers fresh wild mushrooms already cleaned and sliced into small pieces. Last week I found some tiny little chanterelles which looked particularly appealing. As it is usually a nightmare to clean them (especially these small ones) from mud and stones remaining between their fine lamellas I very much appreciated the luxury of buying them ready to cook (I have to admit that I would otherwise probably have opted for lower-maintenance porcini rather than cleaning the baby chanterelles myself...).
The good thing about wild mushrooms in general is that they actually taste best (so I find) just briefly sautéed so they are tender outside but still have some bite. (Once cleaned) they are hence very convenient to prepare. The dish I cooked with my chanterelles is quick and easy but yet a bit refined. It should not take much more than half an hour to prepare if time is managed well. I enriched the mushrooms with some sliced beef filet and I prepared a sauce of balsamic vinegar to add some sophistication to the dish. Sprinkling the vinegar sauce around rather than mixing it with the chanterelles and beef slices provided for some extra flavour without covering the fine taste of the mushrooms.
Chanterelles and Beef Pasta with Balsamic Sauce
| serves 4 hungry persons as a main dish |
| 600g beef filet (ideally cut into slices of 1cm each) |
| 500g fresh chanterelles |
| 6 shallots |
| 2 cloves of garlic |
| 4 branches of fresh thyme |
| fresh parsley |
| freshly ground pepper |
| 400ml red wine |
| 200ml balsamic vinegar |
| 3 tablespoons of icing sugar |
| 50g butter |
| some olive oil for frying |
| 400-600g pasta |
Slice the beef filet into little cubes of about 1cm and season them with some freshly ground pepper. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan and when very hot add the meat. Sear for about 2 minutes while constantly stirring the pieces so they get evenly roasted on every side but do not burn. Then take out the meat, salt it and put it aside. Turn down the heat to a lower level and use the same frying pan to melt the icing sugar. When caramelised add the red wine and let it simmer lightly until considerably thickened; this should take some 15 minutes or so.
Meanwhile clean the chanterelles if necessary (I am lazy usually buy them ready to cook). If they are rather large, chop them into pieces of 1-2cm. Finely chop the onions and slightly brown them in a pan with some olive oil. Shift them to the edge of the pan and use the free space to slightly roast the garlic, squeezed through a garlic press (do not leave it for too long, it should not get really brown, but should only take a very light golden touch). Then add the chanterelles together with the whole branches of thyme, stir everything and sauté for about 10 minutes. Season with salt, freshly ground pepper add some chopped parsley. In the end add the meat cubes, cover with a lid and keep it warm at minimum heat for another 5 minutes. Before serving, remove the branches of thyme – they should have left enough flavour.
Now get back to the reduced red wine. Turn up the heat and add the balsamic vinegar. Allow to reduce again until somewhat thickened and finish the sauce by stirring in the butter, which will make it nice and creamy.
And do not forget to cook the pasta in the meantime!
To serve arrange the pasta with the chanterelles and beef sauce and sprinkle the balsamic sauce around.
| Suggestions for Starters |
|---|
