Pickled Chanterelles Recipe

To be absolutely honest with you folks, a lot of people post photos of their pickled mushrooms online or express how excited they are about having jars upon jars of oysters pickled in their cabinets, and I am not persuaded. Many years ago, I once had pickled button mushrooms and I thought it was among one of the most vile things I’d eaten. The key  to pickled mushrooms is pickling the right ones! Chanterelles are among the most conducive for pickling because of the way the white wine vinegar is able to complement the fruity notes of a chanterelle. It also just so happens that drying chanterelles is a failure. It allows much of those delicate fruit and nut aromas to completely dissipate, so that is not a great way to preserve them. And preserve them you must because it is very easy to find hundreds of chanterelles in only a few hours and it’s difficult to eat that many before they’ve gone bad.

Toss these suckers in between bread with some meat and cheese, they go great on a charcuterie plate, or tossed in a salad for some brighter notes. Hell, elevate a frozen pizza by covering it with pickled chanterelles and you will be very glad you did. These mushrooms are an essential addition to any refrigerator.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 to 2 lbs of chanterelles (or hedgehogs, lobsters or other wild mushrooms)

1.5 c white wine vinegar (5% acidity)

4 to 5 sprigs of fresh thyme

2 tbsp kosher salt

2 tbsp sugar

¼ c honey

Bay Leaves, whole Allspice seeds and black peppercorns

1. Clean mushrooms well by running cold water over them while brushing them off.

2. Turn on burner to medium heat. If mushrooms are very wet, dry saute the chanterelles in pan on high with no lipid. If mushrooms are dry when starting, put a small amount of olive oil in pan. As you saute, they will release their moisture. Be sure to stir consistently and turn the heat down if the chanterelles start to brown.

3. Once they have begun to release their water, sprinkle the salt over the mushrooms and flake two of the sprigs of thyme leaves into the pan and stir.

4. As you saute the salted chanterelles in the moisture in the pan, it will begin to evaporate. Do not let all the moisture evaporate. Instead add a 3/4 c of water. Then add vinegar, sugar and honey and stir. Turn heat down to a simmer and let cook for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

5. Prepare sterilized mason jars to receive the mushrooms. Probably need about 32 oz total, maybe less.

6. Scoop the mushrooms into the jars, sliding a sprig of thyme and a bay leaf down the side of the jar. Once the jar is half full, toss a few all-spice berries in there and a half dozen black peppercorns. Top with mushrooms and a quarter of the remaining vinegar brine. Top with additional vinegar to fill the brine above the mushrooms. 

7. Let sit in fridge for a week, before eating. Then store in fridge for up to three months. You could also can the jars so that they are shelf stable.