It's Time To Let Them Go

To be perfectly honest with you, I still have the chanterelle mushrooms. When it came time to slice and saute them...I just could not do it. They were so beautiful I just couldn't say good bye. So I wrapped them up in paper towels, and gently placed them on a clean tea towel in the veggie bin. During the evening while we made the pizza, I would go and sneek a peek at them..say Hi to them, tell them it was just not their time yet. They were too special, too precious.They were gold.

So the pizza was missing the chanterelles...we put on olives instead. But it was good.

Today the rain hit hard..and so did the thunderstorms. Which is really unusual for around here.Poor little Dande made a break for the upstairs closet. She is still there. I'll just let her be.

With a dark rainy day looming, I knew I wanted to stay home. And deep down in my heart of hearts I knew it was also probably time to let the chanterelles go.It was time to say good bye. I know they won't last forever and I might as well enjoy them before they go bad. Actually, I like the idea of making a mushroom pasta sauce more than putting them on the pizza.

So this morning I decided to get out the pasta machine and crank out some fresh pasta.

The recipe is the one I will do tonight. You can use any mushrooms for this..unless you know Zipper...

Chanterelle Mushroom Pasta From The Hills Of Big Sur

Put on a large pot of water to boil. Make sure it has a fare amount of salt.

The mushroom sauce:

Saute a couple of shallots in butter and olive oil till soft.

Add diced carrot and a diced celery stalk to the shallot and cook till soft.

Add sliced mushrooms, about 2 cups.

Add about 2 cups chicken stock and cook till reduced to about 1/2 cup, 20 to 30 minutes.

Add 1 cup heavy cream and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer till sauce
is thick enough to coat a spoon,about 15 minutes. The sauce should be on the thick side.

Cook the pasta..Enough for 2.... till done, drain and add it to the mushroom sauce pan.Set aside about a cup of the pasta cooking water to add to the sauce if it becomes to thick after adding the pasta.

Coat the pasta with the sauce, add salt and pepper to taste, sprinkle the pasta with chopped fresh italian parsley and chives. Can add about 1/4 toasted pine nuts, if desired.
Top with grated parmesan cheese.