TOPIC: Chantrelle ??

Hey Guys... while out checking on my wild sim yesterday morning... I found 4-5 bunches of these mushrooms.

Looking around at other post here and online I would guess these are chantrelle's.

Can you confirm that...

and if so.. how do you think they are best cooked ?

I have only fried morels to this point and loved them that way.

Thanks

TNhunter

Found these in the midst of an old logging road.

Here is what one looks like flipped over... (bottom view).



TNhunter

TN,
YES, Chantrelles for sure. They are great sauteed and added to a white sauce (Like Alfredo) over pasta. Also great sauteed with onion and folded into an omelet. They have a lot of water in them and cook down quite a bit when sauteed. They have a bit of a fruity flavor. Not to good on top of pizza or in a red sauce. The tomato based pasta sauce overshadows them IMHO.

There are a lot of recipes on the internet on how to fix them. But I have only tried the ones I mentioned. Those are nice ones too TN, very fresh. On Fresh Chantrelles, the stalk should snap like chalk and the chantrelle should smell fruity kind of like apricots. If they turn brown and get flimsy, they are not any good.

Yours in the pic look very fresh. Only other poisonous ones that are somewhat close or a look-a-like to some are the Jack-O-Lanterns. They are much bigger, grow in clumps most often and are much more orange in color most of the time. Chantrelles have false gills and are more of a ridge like in your pic. Jack-O-Lanterns have a more pronounced gill. Jacks won't kill you but will make you wish you were dead for about 3 days from what I hear.

Do not wash or rinse your chantrelles. Just cut them at the base when picking them. Brush of any dirt or debris and put them in a brown paper bag and place them in the fridge. They will last up to a week typically in the fridge. When preparing them to eat just cut them the cap and stem in half length ways and saute them.

Nice find TN. Sometimes they are abundant and some years they are not. I think this year with all the rain the heat will bring them out in abundance. They like to grow around Oaks and on the fringe of a trail or old path in the woods or on the woods edge. A woods with some Oaks are the best spot to look IMHO
Latt

Thanks for the details Latt... you are always good to help out on the mushroom questions.

Appreciate it.

I got busy with family stuff and fishing and have not made it back to the woods to harvest any of those.

It has been sunny and warmer the past few days so not sure if those mushrooms are still good to harvest.

How can you tell if a cantrelle is too far gone to harvest ?

Also most of the info I have read on them says you find them late summer and fall... but it is late spring, early summer now and I have found these. If these are showing up now, perhaps I will find more in the same locations this summer and fall ?

Thanks

TNhunter

They will flush for a while. When they get flimsy and kind of brown and bruised looking they are not good. When they look like yours in the pics they are good. Sometimes they will continue to grow and the caps can be 3 to 4 inches across.

I am not an expert. However, I have been hunting mushrooms in the summer, fall and winter for over 5 years now. I still hunt morels in the spring every year too.

Not being an expert helps me give good advise IMHO. I do not like to give advice on edibility of mushrooms. I can assure you all this. If I offer a positive ID on a mushroom it is what I say it is. Chantrelles are very simple to ID and there are no look-a-likes to confuse them with to someone like me that has hunted them for over 5 years.

There are a couple dozen different mushrooms like this that I may be able to help with. On the other hand just like the \"Pink Bottoms\" that I identified that TN posted the other day, I am sure those were \"Pink Bottoms\" but there are too many look-a-likes that are harmful. So that is why I recommended a local expert or hunter ID them before eating.

I have seen others on the internet on various sites miss-identify mushrooms and people need to be careful before consuming mushrooms based on an internet approval.

So I know I am saying don't eat mushrooms based off an internet ID yet I am saying those are Chantrelles so go a head and eat them. Contradictory I know. However, I can assure you I will only ID a handful of mushrooms that are truly edible. The others that I am sure of but have look-a -likes I will not recommend.
Any mushroom I recommend I have already found and eaten myself.

Latt