CHANTERELLE BUTTER

One of my signature treats to serve at foraging events, keep in the freezer for special occasions, and whip out for special meals like steak, garlic bread, gravies, and to top mashed potatoes. Please note: you need to know your stuff when you are bringing fungi home to put in your food. Make sure you have a 100% positive ID on the fungi before making any plans to eat it!

FORAGING & PREP TIPS

  • The first sign of a novice forager is not cleaning as you go. Not only are you spreading dirt throughout your whole basket, but as the fungi dries, the harder they are to clean.

  • Foraging knives often have brushes attached to them. I use a simple stippling brush from the Dollar Store and I often prefer scissors to knives.

  • A rule of thumb for all fungi, but especially for making butter: the less water content, the better. Do not wash or submerge your mushrooms into water whenever you can avoid it. If the chanterelles are wet / moist from weather conditions, I like to dry them in a basket over night after cleaning before I make the butter.

RECIPE FOR CHANTERELLE BUTTER

TIP: This recipe is extremely good with garlic scapes. I put my scapes through a food processor when they are in season, sometimes with fresh herbs, and freeze / dehydrate them. It will still be delicious without them. Shallots are a great replacement because you do not need a lot and they are small. You can also use regular white onion.

  1. Chop chanterelles, garlic and onion very finely, and separately. If using garlic scapes, have those ready and chopped in your food processor. If thyme is fresh, also have this finely chopped with stems picked away.

  2. Dry fry chanterelles until you see water content releasing, then add the onion. A little onion goes a long way - a quarter of quantity of mushroom you have.

  3. Add garlic and thyme and watch that these delicate pieces don’t burn. If using garlic scapes, add them in last just as the garlic becomes fragrant. You don’t want to cook or even brown these much - just releasing some moisture.

  4. Let the mixture cool off the pan in a large bowl. Add room temperature butter to the bowl and mix well.

  5. Take mixture and make a rectangular like blob on parchment paper, then roll that paper tightly, compacting it into a log as best you can.

  6. Refrigerate or freeze. I recommend cutting a chunk off and then freezing the rest, especially for months when chanterelles are no longer available!

You can also follow a similar process to make pretty much any kind of compound butter. I have made a really lovely one for scones or to put on biscuits for strawberry shortcake with roses and unsalted butter. A bit of sugar, fresh petals, and vanilla infused honey. ENJOY!!

Jay Rawding