Thoughts on a Chanterelle

I am planning a dinner and intend to include a mushroom dish (chanterelles, morels) in a tarragon cream sauce made with some stock and madeira or sherry, and thickened, served in a pastry shell.

In thinking about what wine would work best with it, it is hard to come to a conclusion as both white and red wines seem to work with that sort of dish very, very well.

I can opt for a Burg or Beaujolais, but I am currently pondering opening a Macon-Vergisson white I thought it would be interesting to ask what people here liked with that sort of dish.

I might pick a white. It should have good acidity to joust with the cream. If you had an earthier mushroom in there then I'd lean towards the Burgundy.

Yes, if I was using all morels for instance, a Pinot might be a good choice, I think. Ditto for maitakes.

I always think of chanterelles as having an almost fruity taste (apricots?) and I'll be using mostly them, some cremini and some oyster and shiitake mushrooms. The white Burg should hopefully play well with them and the tarragon.

[Jenise]

I'm with Jeff on the white choice. A little diced fresh tomato would add pops of fruitiness to further seal the marriage.

I was actually thinking about adding a small amount of capers to the dish to step up the saltiness a tad and introduce some umami - what do you think?

[Jenise]

I would not. I love capers but personally I don't think salty/briny would up the game for creamy/mushrooms/sherry. It's a contrast, sure, but not what I'd call umami in this context.

I also would not choose capers because I don't want the sour taste of the vinegar. Perhaps a few pistachios? They'd bring salt, a bit of crunch, and a bit of oil (and are not so intense as to compete with the fruity shroom).

I tend to agree with both of you on the capers. although I would have soaked them to reduce acidity. Will leave them out and do my tinkering another time.

There are other ways to play about with mushrooms in cream sauce - add some nuts or perhaps some rice. I think I will use madeira reduction for flavour and will leave well enough alone. And I have decided to opt for a white Burg. Thanks for letting me bounce it off you guys.

Now about the previous course - a butternut squash soup with a dollop of Greek yogurt garnished with za'atar.....thinking that a Vouvray might be perfect but still pondering whether to try a Sec or Demi-sec. Probably the Sec....

Yes, if I was using all morels for instance, a Pinot might be a good choice, I think. Ditto for maitakes.

And porcini.

Now about the previous course - a butternut squash soup with a dollop of Greek yogurt garnished with za'atar.....thinking that a Vouvray might be perfect but still pondering whether to try a Sec or Demi-sec. Probably the Sec....

Well, as much as I love the Demi-sec I think you're right on this one, too, because you really have pulled the dish way away from a sweet-ish match (i.e., yogurt is soured, za'atar contains heft doses of sumac). I bet the Sec will show sweetly, esp. if you have wine from a solar year.

[Jenise]

Bill, a good component to add to your mushrooms that would be earthy and equally as compatible with tarragon, sherry and cream but provide a pop of color and texture, quite literally, would be a small handful of petite pois.

Good suggestions, both!

Now if I can figure out how to serve braised oxtail stew with a bone bowl on the side without marking my new tablecloth.....

Now if I can figure out how to serve braised oxtail stew with a bone bowl on the side without marking my new tablecloth.....

The secret is to buy a tablecloth that is braised oxtail stew colored in the first place.

Well I did consult my dining fashion consultant (Jenise) and she advised a Burgundy colour which turned out really well. The whole room is darker colours - mahogany furniture and red oriental carpet etc.

I doubt that a black tablecloth would work well (but it wouldn't show the food marks). Over to my consultant......

(Psst - Jenise - not dark green, please - it would only work at Christmas!)

When I moved into the first apartment that I owned -- well, me and the bank -- the previous person had left behind their blinds and their carpets. The carpets were kind of a long-pile berber and I decided to leave it until I knew better what I wanted. Well, that carpeting was terrific... it's a random mix of light and dark browns with a bit of white thrown in, so nothing showed! Light lint? Gone. Dark lint? Gone. Unwanted guests? Still there, but you know what I mean.

I think I do know what you mean regarding unwanted guests. When I first got my second cat from the animal shelter I gave him the provisional name Mats Flealander after the state of his fur. We got that all straightened out (he was rechristened Growltiger), but not before the carpet had been colonized by fleas. I tried liberally dusting the carpet with flea powder but that just drove them under the heating baseboards, as I discovered one morning when one morning I looked out the window with my bare feet under the baseboard and had the eaten alive by dozens of ravenous fleas. In the end I had to flea-bomb the whole condo twice to get rid of the infestation.

-Paul W.