Chanterelles Everywhere!

About a month ago my husband brought home a bag of chanterelles that he had won in the raffle at the North Florida Brewers League meeting.  I knew that some of the home brewers were foodies and locavores and I was really excited about this special treat (maybe even more excited than my husband was about winning all the beer that came with it).  So I set about looking up information on chanterelles and how to cook them.  We ate them with chopped onions in a creamy sauce served with orzo pasta.

About a week later I was so excited when we found these in the yard:

They looked just like the ones my husband brought home.  But I had to be sure and look them up.  There are two species that are very similar.  One is the Jack-o-lantern (Omphalotus sp.) and the other is the false chanterelle (Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca).  I needed to make sure that the ones I had found were true chanterelles.  This website was really helpful.  I think the fact that I am a biologist also helps me with identification.  It is definitely important to make sure you know what you are doing before collecting and eating wild mushrooms. 

Pretty soon it became apparent that chanterelles are everywhere in Tallahassee right now.  Two of my facebook friends mentioned finding them in their yards.  I started seeing them all over the neighborhood.  They were in neighbors yards though so I wasn't about to trespass and steal their gourmet mushrooms.

However, we also have lots of woodsy green space in this neighborhood.  Look what I found this morning while on a walk!

This time we ate them with chicken and rice.  I read that they should be paired with a dry red wine (such as Pinot Noir) but all we had was a semi-sweet Noble from Dakotah Winery and we liked that pairing.

Chanterelles are in season in the east from July through September.  Patches of mushrooms can be reharvested about every three weeks during this time, if you are careful not to disturb the soil too much.  I look forward to trying more chanterelle recipes.