TGRWT #12 Roundup

Not a huge response to this one but some beautiful dishes nonetheless. Apparently the main ingredients I chose, which are readily available to me right now, are not so easily available in some places at this time of year. Maybe a revisit to this one next fall would be a good idea? Still, there were a few brave souls who were willing to work around the difficulties and produce some really nice dishes. So, on with the show...


Chanterelle & Roasted Chestnut Daquoise with Apricot Chestnut Oil Pudding and Apricot Chantilly
from Rob at The Curious Blogquat
My star taster, and crack employee, John (former long-time resident of France; serious foodie; world traveller; heart surgeon instructor; downright nice guy) absolutely loved it. He said, "I first had the earthy taste from the mushrooms, which was followed with the sweet fruitiness of the apricot, and a lingering finish of the earthiness again." "A real winner!"



Apricots, Chanterelles, with Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin
from David at Eat Foo
The chanterelles and apricots definitely go well together, and they are an excellent pairing for pork (and I mean the real pork, not the grocery store pork). I would definitely use this pairing again. In fact, I already have (with some duck).



Oven-roasted lamb shoulder and creamed chanterelles with apricots
from Erik at Fooducation.org
The creamed chanterelles/apricots (chanterots, maybe?) were good, but by no means exceptional. I realise that my lack of formal food education might play a role here, combined with my lack of experience with cooking mushrooms in general. The creamed chanterelles were based on a recipe, but felt somewhat insipid and lacked some sort of freshness. It was almost like chanterelles and apricots were too similar (doubly insipid, in a way).



Lamb Neck Roulade with Dried Chanterelle-Apricot Sauce and Mustard Oil
from Peter at Cookblog
The inspiration for this combination came from Khymos, where this month's "They Go Really Well Together" is chanterelle and apricot; they share a similar flavor compound and the idea lodged in my head until the lamb neck came along. They do go really well together, and with lamb neck. To complete the orgy of awesomeness, I puréed some of our raw mustard greens with garlic and oil, then strained it to make a bright green mustard oil.



Chanterelle Pie with Apricots
from Martin at Khymos.org
The pie came out very nice with subtle flavors, slightly sweet from the apricots and with a nice bite from the ginger. The main contribution from the chanterelles was their characteristic texture, more than aroma. But even so, I had to have another serving and yet another serving… And only in my dreams can I imagine what it would have tasted like if the chanterelles had been fresh and hand picked from the forest. And yes - I would like to make this pie again some time!


Apricot Chanterelle Delice
This is my entry, the post is here.