For the past few months I've isolated myself from politics and news in general. It feels great and I don't plan to stop. The mushroom season, at least up until the rains stopped a few weeks ago, has been fantastic. I found 190 lbs of chanterelles-- 60 in WI, 130 in NY. I've also made friends with the owner of a local Chinese market that gets the best lobsters I've ever had outside of Maine-- big hard-shelled ones packed with meat, tammany and (in females) coral. He sells me, at a deep discount, the old ones out of the tank when a new shipment comes in. Last week I got 3 1.5 lb lobsters for $15; on Friday I got a beautiful 3 lb female for $8.

In short, I've been leading a life low in stress and rich in delicacies (I've also treated myself to some bottles of really good scotch) and consequently have been doing a lot of cooking, and came up with the following recipe. I wrote the recipe first and have been following it, after making a mushroom-only version earlier in the summer. Right now I'm at step 4, and plan to finish it up tonight. I'll report back.

Ingredients:
5-10 lbs fresh golden chanterelles
1 oz dried golden chanterelles
a few grams of dried black trumpets
shells from 4 small or 2 large lobsters (stomachs removed)
tammany and coral from one large female lobster
1 bottle medium dry white wine
1 cup medium dry Amontillado or other sherry
1 medium onion
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
heavy cream
2 bay leaves
2 cloves
a few sprigs of fresh thyme
a few sprigs of fresh marjoram
whole black peppercorns
1 tsp kosher salt

1. Crush dried mushrooms. Combine them with the sherry in a sealed container and set aside.

2. Put fresh chanterelles in a large pot. Add thyme, marjoram, a dozen or so peppercorns, and the bottle of wine. Sprinkle mushrooms salt. Cover pot and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes, after which there should be a generous amount of broth on the bottom of the pot. Pour off one quart of this broth for use in the rest of the recipe (The remaining broth and mushrooms can be packed into jars with a squeeze of lemon and topped with extra virgin olive oil to make delicious marinaded chanterelles that will keep for several months if refrigerated).

3. Put lobster shells in a large pot and cover with water. Add onion (unpeeled), cloves and bay leaves. Cover and cook for 1 hour. Strain the broth and return it to the pot, discarding the shells, bay leaves and cloves. Add tammany and coral, and reduce broth to 1 quart.

4. Combine the lobster broth and the chanterelle broth.

5. Melt butter over medium heat in a 3-5 quart saucepan. Add flour and stir until it is completely mixed with the butter. Cook, stirring continuously, for 3 minutes. Do not allow the mixture to brown.

6. Turn heat under the saucepan to high and immediately begin adding mixed broth, a little bit at a time, until it mixes easily as additional broth is added. Add remaining broth. Cover and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes.

7. Add mushroom/sherry mixture. Simmer for 5 more minutes.

8. Ladle soup into bowls, swirl a few tablespoons of heavy cream into each, and serve.

Note: Be careful, it's really easy to oversalt this recipe. Do not add any salt to the lobster broth, as the shells will release a considerable amount on their own.


Golden chanterelles in the wild

48 lbs of fresh chanterelles:


Three kinds of fresh chanterelles, golden, cinnabar red and black:

I've just finished the bisque and it tastes about like I expected, which is wonderful. My son, a soup connaisseur, is on his second bowl.

I did modify the recipe somewhat. The chanterelle broth/lobster broth ratio is better at 3:2 or 2:1 than 1:1, as the chanterelles have a more delicate flavor than lobster. The sherry needs to cook longer to get rid of the slight bitterness it leaves in the back of the throat, and the dried mushrooms need to be much more finely crushed than I crushed them. I used a stick blender to chop them up and blend them in nicely. This soup is creamy but not really thick. People who prefer thicker soups could double the butter and flour.

Chanterelle-Lobster Bisque (version 1.1)

5-10 lbs fresh golden chanterelles
1 oz dried golden chanterelles
a few grams of dried black trumpets
shells from 2 small or 1 large lobster* (stomachs removed)
tammany and coral from one large female lobster*
1 bottle medium dry white wine
3/4 cup medium dry Amontillado or other sherry
1 medium onion
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup flour
heavy cream
2 bay leaves
2 cloves
a few sprigs of fresh thyme
a few sprigs of fresh marjoram
whole black peppercorns
1 tsp kosher salt
nutmeg

1. Finely crush dried mushrooms. Combine them with the sherry in a sealed container and set aside.

2. Put fresh chanterelles in a large pot. Add thyme, marjoram, a dozen or so peppercorns, and the bottle of wine. Sprinkle mushrooms salt. Cover pot and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes, after which there should be a generous amount of broth on the bottom of the pot. Pour off one quart of this broth for use in the rest of the recipe (The remaining broth and mushrooms can be packed into jars with a squeeze of lemon and topped with extra virgin olive oil to make delicious marinaded chanterelles that will keep for several months if refrigerated).

3. Put lobster shells in a large pot and cover with water. Add onion (unpeeled), cloves and bay leaves. Cover and cook for 1 hour. Strain the broth and return it to the pot, discarding the shells, bay leaves and cloves. Add tammany and coral, and reduce broth to about one pint.

4. Combine the lobster broth and the chanterelle broth.

5. Melt butter over medium heat in a 2-4 quart saucepan. Add flour and stir until it is completely mixed with the butter. Cook, stirring continuously, for 3 minutes. Do not allow the mixture to brown.

6. Turn heat under the saucepan to high and immediately begin adding mixed broth, a little bit at a time, until it mixes easily as additional broth is added. Add remaining broth.

7. Add mushroom/sherry mixture.

8. Stir continuously until the soup is boiling. Turn down heat to a simmer, and cook for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

9. Ladle soup into bowls, swirl a few tablespoons of heavy cream and a scrape of nutmeg into each, and serve.

Note: Be careful, it's really easy to oversalt this recipe. Do not add any salt to the lobster broth, as the shells will release a considerable amount on their own.

*Real lobster, not spiny "lobster" or anything called a lobster that is not Homarus sp.