Have you ever cooked with fresh picked Chantrelle  Mushrooms?  This was a first for me....merciful heavens.  If you ever get the opportunity to cook with fresh Chantrelle Mushrooms, grab them, run for your lives to the kitchen, and cook them immediately....you will not regret it.... so delicious!
My daughter arrived home the other day from work, with this package.  She said "mom, my friend Brianne went Mushroom picking up Island, and she gave me some Chantelles".
What????  I said do you mean "Chantrelles"?  "Oh yeah, that is what they are called"....I thought you might like to cook something with them".  Ohhh yeahhh, does the sun shine, and the moon rise?  I know, I know, I do get a wee bit excited from time to time when it comes to good food.
I have had these mushrooms, in a dehydrated mushroom mixture before, but never fresh.  These fresh mushrooms have a sweet, subtle nutty flavor - amazing.
This sauce would be lovely with chicken, pork or even better - steak. (this recipe also calls for rendered bacon fat...oh yeah...with this flavor? go all the way with these babies!)  We had this sauce with good quality sausages....I will never want another mushroom ever again...I have been totally spoiled.  Sigh....the Chantrelle Mushroom Season is now almost over, and I just had my first taste, dang!  I want more now.
Each Wednesday, the grocery store flyers come out with our local town paper.  Luckily, I can still buy Chantrelles for a short time only -  at $12.00 - $15.00 a pound, yikes!  I might just have to indulge....and try these wonders with a good steak.
I told my daughter I would beg, borrow and steal, to go mushroom picking next year with her friend, if she taught me how to identify these earthly wonders.  She looked at me like she thought I was crazed....I think I was...despite that, I give a huge shout out, a very big thank you, to Brianne, these mushrooms were heavenly, divine, exquisite...
p.s. Brianne - how about a trade?  You take me mushroom picking next year, and I will cook you a fabulous meal, with all the fixins, including dessert?
Recipe:
2 large Shallots - sliced
1 large minced garlic clove
1 Tblsp. rendered bacon fat
1 Tblsp. butter
10-12 Fresh Chantrelle Mushrooms - sliced
1 cup Chicken or Beef Stock
splash of red wine
1 Bay Leaf
4-5 finely minced fresh Sage Leaves
Salt and pepper
Corn starch and enough stock to make a slurry
Heat up a frying pan on medium heat with the rendered bacon fat, and butter.  Add the sliced shallots, sauteing about 8 minutes, until they start to turn golden.
Meanwhile, slice up those beautiful Chantrelles:
Add in the sliced Chantrelles, and saute until golden - about 4-5 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper, then add the minced garlic, and fresh Sage, sauteing until fragrant.
Remove to a bowl and set aside.  Cook your meat - beef, pork, chicken, or sausages, once cooked, remove from the pan.
Add the stock to the pan, and the splash of red wine, scraping up any brown bits.  Add the bay leaf and simmer for 5 minutes, season with salt and pepper.  Meanwhile, make a cornstarch slurry, slowly adding to the pan, whisking until thickened lightly.  Return the mushroom/shallot mixture to the pan and lightly simmer 2-3 minutes.  Serve with your choice of cooked meat and any side dishes.  Heaven, we were in Heaven...so delicious!