Chanterelle potato soup

By Caitlin Beer

A world famous wild mushroom, Chanterelles are also known as Girolles in France and the UK, Pfifferling in Germany and Lisichka in Russia and the Ukraine. They have a unique, nutty, buttery flavour that some say has a peppery taste. When fresh, they have an aroma reminiscent of apricots, which I look forward to every year.

In European culture many grow up foraging wild mushrooms with their families or seeing wild mushrooms in local markets.

There are many different varieties of Chanterelles that grow in Canada. Some examples are Cantharellus subalbidus, C. cinnabarinus, C. cibarius, C. formosus, and

Craterellus tubaeformis as well as many others.

You can buy dried Chanterelles online here or learn to forage them for yourself*at your own risk after doing sufficient research and/or mentoring under an experienced forager.

Many people prefer them fresh, but their flavour is greatly concentrated when dried, which I love. Yes, their texture is much different and slightly chewy but still delicious. This is why I prefer to crush them into smaller chunks which means more flavour in each bite! Even if I have fresh chanterelles on hand, I still use dried in this soup, and just add a few freshly sautéed (or pickled) to garnish.

Click on image above to view product

Did you know that mushrooms are technically not a plant at all? They don't

photosynthesize, and some, like Chanterelles, are mycorrhizal which means

they have a symbiotic relationship with certain plants and trees where they give the plants water, minerals and nutrients in exchange for sugars (energy). Chanterelles haven't been successfully grown commercially because of this relationship.

They are a great source of vegan vitamin D, boasting your daily value of vitamin D (400-800 IU) per 100 g of fresh mushrooms (=10 grams dried) which they make in the same way as humans, from sun exposure. Which they only get because they are wild mushrooms! They also are a source of B vitamins, iron and more.

Without further ado...

CREAMY CHANTERELLE POTATO SOUP

5-6 servings

Approximately 286 calories per 1 cup (8 oz.) serving

Recipe makes approximately 1.5 liters of soup

Takes about 25 minutes from start to finish

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups vegetable or chicken broth

• 14 grams dried Wildland Foods Chanterelles** click here to view product

• 3 medium sized yellow or russet potatoes

• 3 Tablespoons butter or sunflower oil

• 1 small onion or half a medium onion

• 2-3 garlic cloves

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon dried Wildland Foods nettle flakes or parsley click here to view product

• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (or spruce tips)

• 1/4 teaspoon celery seed

• 1/2 cup Whipping cream or coconut cream***

• 1 cup Water (mix with cornstarch)

• 3 Tablespoons Cornstarch (optional, can omit and blend half of soup to thicken)

DIRECTIONS

》Add to a medium sized pot and simmer on low

• 2 c. vegetable, chicken or mushroom broth

• 14 grams dried Chanterelles, crushed 1/4"

• 1/4 t. Celery seed (optional)

》While the above simmers, chop and add to broth:

• 3 medium sized potatoes, diced into approximately 3/4" chunks

• 14 grams dried Chanterelles, crushed or ground

》Now heat skillet on medium low and sauté for 10-15 min being careful to watch and stir so it doesn't burn:

• 3 T sunflower oil (or butter)

• 1 small onion diced or 1/2 med onion

• 2-3 cloves garlic

》Check your broth and potatoes and give them a stir, potatoes should be tender in 20 minutes from actively simmering.

》Onions and garlic should be lightly browned or caramelized if you have the patience. Now add onions to broth and potato pot as well as:

• 1/2 t salt

• 1 t dried nettle flakes or parsley*

• 1/2 t dried thyme

• 1/2 c. Whipped cream or coconut cream

• 1 c. Cold water (mix with 3 T cornstarch)

Now you have three options:

Either

A. You add 3 T cornstarch to thicken (mix with cold water before adding to avoid clumps) (medium thickness)

Or

B. You blend half of the soup so the potatoes thicken it. (Thickest option)

C. Just leave it as is (thin broth)

Add more salt if desired

Serve with garlic grilled swiss or mozzarella cheese toast if you'd like, or buns or biscuits!

Pair with Pinot grigio or other white wine, cider, or sparkling apple or pear juice if you so desire.

ADDITIONAL OPTIONS:

• Add 4 slices of bacon, diced when cooking onions

• Garnish with parmesan or nutritional yeast

Have you tried Chanterelles? What's your favourite way to use them? I'd love to hear what you think of my recipe!

Recipe and blog post by Caitlin Beer

NOTES

**Or other dried mushrooms, morels, lobsters or pidpenky work well, but for morels and pidpenky I would rehydrate first and saute with onions and garlic for best flavour and texture. If you use fresh Chanterelles, be sure to dry saute first and brown the mushrooms well. You will need at least 1/4 lb of fresh mushrooms and I would blend or finely chop half or just add as a garnish.

***If you use other non dairy options that are less thick than coconut milk, replace water with that as well, so it will be 1.5 cups of non dairy milk

**** (you can use chopped fresh herbs if you desire)

*All Chanterelles are delicious, though we would not recommend Yellowfoot Chanterelles for this recipe for 2 reasons:

1.) they are tedious to pick much of and very lightweight, practically disappearing when dehydrated.

2.) They rehydrate much better than the others due to their hollow nature, so we would save them for garnishes or perhaps add them to this recipe whole in combination with other crushed Chanterelles.

Above: Pacific Golden Chanterelle (Cantharellus formosus)

Photographed by Caitlin Beer

Chaga

What is Chaga

Chaga* (scientific name: Inonotus obliquus) is a parasitic fungus that grows on birch trees producing a delicious, nutrient rich tea. It has become very popular in the last few years and is available in many stores. You can view our Canadian chaga product by clicking [here] It was scientifically identified in 1801 by German mycologist Christiaan Hendrik Persoon.

DESCRIPTION

It resembles cracking charcoal on the outside, but inside it is orange to yellow with no woodgrain (unlike burls, which have a wooden interior). Chaga is actually not a "mushroom" but mycelium. Mushrooms are just the fruiting bodies of mycelium, like apples are the fruit of trees, but instead of seeds, mushrooms spread spores for reproduction.

Chaga does produce spores, but it's actually under the bark of the tree. The spores are spread to other birch trees and enter via injuries. So chaga is growing long before you see it.

Photo above sourced from here

Click image above to view our chaga product.

HEALTH BENEFITS

Studies are showing Chaga may have some amazing health benefits, and it has been used in traditional Chinese medicine as well as in Russia, the Ukraine and by Indigenous people in North America for centuries.

Chaga contains:

-VITAMINS, MINERALS & NUTRIENTS such as B-complex vitamins, Vit D, zinc, magnesium and more.

-BETULINIC ACID which may boost the immune system, lower cholesterol , Click image above to view our Chaga product

balance blood sugar

-ANTIOXIDANTS Chaga contains the highest level of antioxidants in a food product. Antioxidants are anti-inflammatory, boost immunity, combats free radicals and prevent cellular damage. One of the antioxidants in chaga is superoxide dismutase (SOD) which is being studied for various healing properties.

-TRITERPENES Compounds found in chaga and other mushrooms which may shrink tumors according to some studies.

-POLYSACCHARIDES may boost the immune system and studies have been shown that polysaccharides inhibit the proliferation of tumor cells in vitro

-MELANIN protects chaga from the defence system of the tree. It is a pigment that determines the colour of chaga (and humans/animals) and protects you from burning. It may have anti-aging properties.

-OXALATES Chaga does contain oxalates, just like spinach, almonds, chocolate, green and black tea leaves and many other foods. In fact, the human body produces oxalates as well. Some people recommend avoiding oxalates if you have kidney stone problems. Interestingly there is a common microorganism called Oxalobacter formigenes, that is found in yogurt and kefir and other fermented foods that consumes oxalates as a form of energy and is being studied as a treatment for preventing kidney stone formation.

TO USE:

If you've never had chaga before, you should take in moderation to ensure you don't have an allergy, as with any new food or beverage you introduce into your diet.

TEA

To make chaga tea, simmer 75 grams of chaga chunks in 4-6 cups of water either on medium low on the stove for 15-30 min or in a crock pot after 2-3 hours. You can use less chaga but it may take longer to get a strong brew.

Add cream and sweeten as desired with sugar, maple syrup, honey or hot chocolate mix.

The used chaga chunks can be stored in the freezer reused up to 3x. Another option is to simmer 5-6 hrs until very concentrated and then keep in the fridge or freezer until ready to use and then dilute to preferred strength.

Pictured above: Chaga tea on left sweetened with honey, chaga tea on right with honey and cream, chaga chunks of various sizes.

TINCTURE

Dual extracts are reported to have more potential medicinal benefits than just a hot water extraction.

First do a concentrated hot water extract on the stove for 2-4 hrs on low or in the crockpot for 6-12 hrs on low and then after cooled, strain chunks out (setting aside concentrated tea in freezer for now) and add chunks to vodka and let sit for a week or more, and then strain and combine vodka and previously extracted concentrated chaga tea. The ratio of alcohol to chaga tea should be 1:1 so 50 % chaga and 50% of the alcohol extract.

By Caitlin Beer

Disclaimer:

This is not intended to treat any health conditions, you should always consult your doctor if you are in need of medical treatment, have serious medical conditions or take medication.

Notes: *any font that is grey (or green on mobile) and underlined leads to related links, some of which are where I sourced information to write this post, if you click on them they will lead you to those websites to learn more.

Sources: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/318527#Nine-potential-benefits https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/5305591?reload=true%E2%88%82%3D1 https://synapse.koreamed.org/articles/1051060 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19367670/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inonotus_obliquus

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=65545760 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5969776/#:~:text=SOD%20is%20used%20in%20cosmetics,UV%20rays%2C%20and%20reduces%20other