This week’s recipe for French Fridays with Dorie is actually for chanterelles with napa and nuts. Until last September, I’d never eaten chanterelle mushrooms. When I went to Seattle for IFBC last year, I visited with an old friend the day before the conference started. For dinner, her husband treated us to risotto made with chanterelles that he had foraged himself! I also sampled chanterelles during a couple of restaurant meals I had in Seattle that week.

Chanterelles foraged by Rich

That was mid-September, so in the last week of August, I suspect the season is not quite upon us yet, which is why I had trouble finding them. I had some sourcing challenges with the mushrooms. I went to 4 different stores, and the best I could come up with was a package of “gourmet medley mushrooms”, which consisted of sliced shiitake, oyster, and cremini mushrooms.

Also, I had half of a pedestrian green cabbage in the crisper drawer waiting to be used up, so I used it instead of buying a giant head of Napa cabbage. The recipe only uses a third of a cup, and this avoided also having to figure out how to use up the rest of that cabbage too.

(BTW, if you are looking for ideas for your Napa cabbage, check out this page. This summer, I’m leading the charge on the weekly CSA newsletter for my local community farm, and, together with another volunteer, we collect recipe links for each week’s featured vegetable. Pop up one level to see all the vegetables. It’s been a fun summer project. We’re in week 12 of 20.)

Regardless of which species I used, this was a delicious way to prepare mushrooms. It starts with sautéing shallots (and I added half of a garlic clove because I was making something else at the same time that used the other half, and who doesn’t love garlic with mushrooms). Then the mushrooms are added. Some beef bouillon spiked with soy sauce provides the cooking liquid and some deeper flavors. Finally, finely shredded cabbage is stirred in. Once the cabbage wilts, the mushrooms are tossed with fresh chopped parsley and toasted hazelnuts. Voila! (It looks like I was so excited about the mushrooms that I forgot to take a picture of the finished dish…)

The recipe was meant as an appetizer, but I served it as a side along with the caramelized carrots I made for the Cottage Cooking Club and Gerard’s mustard tart made with tomatoes. The mushrooms were a hit at my house, and I will definitely make them again, whether I ever find chanterelles or not.

Gerard’s Mustard Tart with Tomatoes

We don’t post the recipes, but you can find it in Dorie Greenspan’s book Around My French Table. To see what other Doristas thought of this recipe, check out their posts here.

For my U.S. and Canadian friends, I hope you have an excellent long weekend! See you next week.