Portland Mushrooms — Website -- Liz Crain

Food Lover's Guide to Portland Blog...

began as a collection of some of the research, recipes, images and culinary adventures that went into the making of Food Lover’s Guide to Portland. The first edition came out in 2010 and I started the blog in February 2009 as a companion piece to it and to help organize my thoughts while researching and writing it. The second edition came out in September 2014 from Hawthorne Books. The blog is now home to all different food, drink and beyond things I want to show and tell.

I didn’t think I’d like blogging when I first started this, but it turns out I really do, mostly because I get to shout out people and things that I love.

I'm really sorry that it's been so long since I've written anything here but I've been crazy busy finishing up two book projects and now I'm shutting down the mind machine a bit for some much needed summer fun. I plan to work as little as possible this summer. I've already been on a trip to Missoula and now I'm off for a week in Maine. After burning the candle on both ends for the past year I have absolutely no guilt about telling my usually very strong work ethic to fuck off.

Even though the Toro Bravo cookbook (you can pre-order it now!) is pretty much out of my hands now and soon to be on press for its fall release I've still been cooking from it. (I'll put together another cooking from the book post again soon too.) I've cooked and eaten a lot of other tasty things lately as well now that the garden is just about in full swing. Lately I've been eating a lot of arugula and greens, sugar snap peas and various herbs and berries from it. I harvested the garlic and it's curing in the utility room. Next up: tomatoes, cukes, chiles, green beans and more. I love summer.

Here's some of what I've cooked and eaten lately...

This is what went into the sauce above the night before -- morels, lemons, garlic, homemade plum wine and cream.

With sorrel from the garden and Edelwiess sausages over toast. Yum!

Homemade kimchi rice, egg and cheese never gets old.

Baguette sandwich with Freybe salame, tapenade and pickled peppers.

Some of the best deviled eggs I've ever made with fish sauce, kimchi, chives, sprinkled with togarashi

Used these spring onions in a bunch of things...

Arugula hazelnut preserved lemon pesto and my little friend.

This fall was a record mushroom harvesting season here in the Pacific Northwest -- chanterelles especially. I'd never been chanterelle picking until this year but I've gone on a lot of other mushroom hunts and I love it. I love being out in the woods without a trail to follow and that combined with the magic and mossy hunt of golden chanterelles makes for a perfect rainy weekend day with friends.

And rain, and even hail, it did a few weeks ago when went chanterelle picking. We got dumped on but warmed up in the car afterward with dark rum spiked hot apple cider and homemade bacon apricot cornbread muffins with maple buttercream frosting that our friend Teresa brought. She spoiled us. And as if that wasn't enough we chased our snack with an early dinner at Tad's Chicken 'n Dumplings a.k.a. the chic dump.

I did a quick sort and clean of my mushrooms once I got home because even though I used scissors to harvest, leaving the mycelium intact and also leaving the muddy base behind, there was still (as there always is) a lot of dirt and needles to get rid of. After I cleaned the chanterelles I put them on a pan and warmed them dry in the oven.

We got a good amount from our spots but it wasn't a huge haul. I think we each got 3-4 pounds. That's what it felt like. I made two things with mine -- a really good risotto and a penne pasta with chanterelle cream sauce. Both were delicious.

Here's some more tasty chanterelle posts from local and afar food folks that I love:

The Portland Pickle Good Stuff NW Hunter Angler Gardener Cook

Chanterelle risotto with crispy fried sage leaves and bacony brussels sprouts.

Penne with chanterelle cream sauce and toasted hazelnuts.

Food Lover's Guide to Portland Blog...

Featured posts:

Yard Fresh Pt. 27

Chanterelle Foraging