Last Chanterelles of the season picked last weekend. Actually, the photo is from last weekend too, because there is another downside of foraging your own mushrooms (in addition to that you shouldn’t do it unless you know what you are doing!) and that is that foraging involves walking in areas that you share with other “things” — you know, other mammals not enthusiastic about your presence, creepy-crawly-slimy things like snakes and then run in that I had with a tick carrying the borrelia burgdorferi bacteria, that bit me and now I am battling lyme disease. It’s not been a fun week and I have spent most of it sleeping. I’ve described the illness as is triple mono with a side of cellulitis and a helping of meningitis. Wednesday, I slept for 22 hours. Moral of the story: wear long pants and gaiters, literally applied with permethrin. If it’s not one thing, it another with me this year, right? Thanks for sticking around and listening.
But on to more fun stuff: The chanterelles did make a lovely Savory French Toast with Chanterelles. I know that most people think of French Toast being a sweet thing, but add a bit of mustard, salt, pepper and herbs and you have a majestic savory version. Even if you don’t add the mushrooms, you could have a great version with ratatouille.
I am a big fan of plums — all kinds really, but if I can find Mirabelle plums (the little yellow, or pinkish one, not much larger than a cherry), I am in plum heavy. I found some of them the other day, organic ones no less, so I made this Mirabelle Plum Crumble Tart, with a Pâte Sucrée. What’s a Pâte Sucrée? It’s a pie crust that is more like shortbread, one that you don’t have to roll out, you just “pat” it into the pan. Lovely cake, just tart enough to make your mouth tingle a bit and just sweet enough to make you smile.
It’s wild Maine blueberry season so I decided to whip up this coffee cake, verbatim from the King Arthur recipe. Very much like blueberry muffins (very similar recipe in fact), but just in cake form. Stick with the wild sort of blueberry, not the cultivated type, as they are smaller and distribute better throughout the batter.
I decided to make this little Almond Red Currant Bundt Cake as a thank you present for a friend. I don’t make many things gluten free, but do know that my friend is wheat intolerant, so I gave it a go. Now, bundt cakes don’t need a whole lot of structure (that gluten provides) and I did give it some extra lift by whipping the egg whites separately (in addition to baking powder). Recipe is for one big bundt cake or two little ones (which I did). Substitute fresh or frozen blueberries if you don’t have red currant.