Oyster mushrooms (Photo via Getty Images)
MUSHROOM BASICS
Buying: Look for clean, dry mushrooms that are free of dark spots. Mushrooms break down internally as they age, creating slimy liquid that should be avoided.
Cooking: Thoroughly wash and dry mushrooms before cooking. When adding wild mushrooms to most dishes, a simple saute in olive oil, butter and garlic is a good place to start.
WILD AND FREE
Wild mushrooms such as morels, chanterelles, porcini, maitakes, oyster and chicken of the woods proliferate on the forest floor, and intrepid foragers have their preferred spots for scoring them — near the forest edges and dying elm or oak trees.
AROUND RVA
Alewife: Red Kyoto carrots and golden chanterelles cozy up to seared duck breast accented with delicate amaranth greens and red currants.
Heritage: Virginia-raised beef gets an umami blast via truffle dashi, furikake and mushrooms grown and foraged by Haashrooms.
Sammich: This food truck's mushroom melt packs wild and farmed 'shrooms between slices of Billy Bread with Swiss cheese, caramelized onions and garlic aioli.
“Versatile chanterelles have a mild flavor of fresh apricots and sweet earth.” —David Dunlap, chef-owner of Midlothian Chef’s Kitchen
COOK LIKE A LOCAL
Midlothian Chef's Kitchen owners and husband-and-wife team Brittany and David Dunlap (Photo by Eileen Mellon)
Chanterelle Mushroom Tart With Dried and Fresh Apricots, Fourme d’Ambert, Thyme
By David Dunlap, chef-owner of Midlothian Chef’s Kitchen
The woods around Richmond provide fertile ground for foraging wild mushrooms, and chef David Dunlap enjoys trekking out following a big rain to scour the ground for bright orange chanterelles. Thanks to their long growing season, Dunlap says he’s able to build a variety of dishes around them, including this flaky tart, which combines the foraged finds with dried and fresh apricots, thyme and a semihard French blue cheese.
1 sheet high-quality puff pastry
4 ounces fresh chantrelle mushrooms
3 ounces Fourme d'Ambert or your favorite bleu cheese
15 dried apricots
3 fresh apricots, each cut into 8 pieces
8 thyme sprigs, picked and chopped
Place puff pastry on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Arrange everything evenly on the puff pastry and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Finish with thyme.
