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Provenance of Dish
Sometimes when you come back with baskets brimming with freshly foraged chanterelles, you have to come up with ways to process the bounty. Fully processed pickles and canned goods are great but every now and then that old fashioned ice box quick pickle helps you out of a jam. And I don't mean jam like jelly but a jam like what you're going to do with the eighty pounds of chanterelles you just hauled out of the woods, knowing damn well you left more than a hundred pounds in the spot you just raided to maintain that level of sustainable living you always brag about. For me the ice box pickle has come to the rescue on more than one occasion, hopefully you enjoy this bread and butter quick pickle recipe as much as I have over the years.
Recipe
Ingredients
1½ lb wild foraged chanterelles (#1 buttons, broken down into the size of a quarter)
1½ cups rice wine vinegar
1 cup cider vinegar
½ cups water
½ cup organic cane sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
½ tbsp jacobsen sea salt
2 tsp whole black peppercorns
1½ tbsp dry mustard seeds
1 tsp celery seeds
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tbsp dry garlic bits
3 tbsp dry onion bits
1 tbsp coriander seeds
(things to add to each jar*)
¼ tsp coriander seeds
¼ tsp dry onion bits
¼ tsp mustard seeds
¼ tsp whole black peppercorns
Instructions
prepare each empty jar by filling them with additionally listed dry spices.
over medium high heat dry sauté all the mushroom pieces until they give up their liquid, about 10 to 15 minutes.
this step is crucial when pickling chanterelles.
once they've given up most of their liquid, sauté them for 4 more minutes to dry them out.
add the remaining ingredients to the pan with the mushrooms and bring to a boil.
reduce the heat and simmer 10 minutes, turn off the heat. let rest another 15 minutes.
fish the mushrooms out of the liquid with a slotted spoon, pack them into each jar, leaving a minimum of a half an inch of headspace.
ladle the remaining liquid into each jar making sure it covers the mushrooms.
wipe the rims of each jar, place the lids on and seal finger tight.
let the full jars cool to room temperature for several hours, then tighten the lids and place them in the refrigerator.
refrigerate up to two days or at least overnight before you indulge.