As I pointed out in my last article, we were a bit late for porcini season this year. But not so late that we didn’t get any at all. We had a couple of beauties! On the first night we didn’t have the time or the materials for a barbecue so we just sautéed the porcini in a little olive oil and shallots and tossed it with some farfalle pasta. I’m a big fan of not doing much to the mushrooms and just enjoying their earthy flavors on their own.

Day two however allowed for a trip to the store to pick up some mesquite for the barbecue. This is my favorite way to enjoy porcini. Once it was cleaned up, we just sliced it, basted it with olive oil and herbs and grilled to perfection. Once off the grill we squeezed a little bit of lemon juice and sprinkled a little bit of salt on them. Heaven!

We went back to one of our spots thinking we’d probably struck out but I stumbled upon two pretty little friends. The caps were destined for the dehydrator but the stalks were gorgeous grillers.

Having exhausted the porcini stash, we still had an insane number of chanterelles to consume. Along with Thanksgiving leftovers, we had chanterelles cooked in butter on toast. I felt a bit Top Chef-like serving chanterelles and bread two ways (on toast and in stuffing). ;-)

Day three — or was it day four — I decided to venture out into the chanterelle territory again. Who knew I missed a whole patch of them!? I had to think of another way to cook them. I thought, “I wonder if they grill well?” Since it’s my favorite way to eat porcini we decided to try it. It is now my favorite way to cook chanterelles too!!

If you have access to any of these lovely golden fungi, you must make this recipe.

Spinach tossed w/ dressing of:
Chopped shallots
Lemon juice
Olive oil
Salt & Pepper

Cook french green lentils in chicken stock w/ a clove of garlic

Slice each chanterelle and half, toss with olive oil and pepper and grill. I used 3 large mushrooms for 2 people.

Chop and cook bacon to make lovely little bacon bits.

Assemble into the most beautiful warm mushroom salad ever created. Spinach first, then lentils, the shroomies, then bacon, then love….love the whole time actually, including with every fabulous bite.