Maple, Candy Cap Chanterelle Mushroom Recipe

This is my original recipe and probably my favorite way to eat these orange chanterelles.  It uses maple syrup and candy cap mushrooms to overdrive the already present, subtle maple flavor of saut'eed chanterelles.

Clean the mushrooms, but try not to saturate them with water.  Slice to consistent thickness, under 1/4 inch.  Saute in butter slowly enough not to burn the butter badly until the water cooks out and evaporates, and they brown lightly on both sides.  They should be cooked enough to be lightly browned on both sides and have lost enough moisture to be somewhat firmed up.  If you have candy cap mushrooms, add a small amount of crushed dried candy cap during the saute to infuse the mushrooms with maple flavor.

Remove the mushrooms from the pan, add maple syrup to the hot pan and cook until the sugar in the syrup caramelizes very lightly.  Add more butter and syrup to make enough glaze or syrup.  You can add water back after caramelizing to make it more syrupy if desired. Add the mushrooms back and toss to coat them with the glaze.

Toasted walnuts are a nice addition. I'm sure pecans would be even better.  Good with traditional American breakfast stuff, bacon, ham, breakfast sausage, pancakes and waffles.  I just eat it the way it is most of the time.

Roasting Bay Nuts in a Popcorn Popper

roast bay nuts header

By Steven Edholm

NOTE:  Bay nuts must be properly roasted to be edible to humans.  In spite of our best efforts to the contrary, we still commonly encounter people who are not roasting their bay nuts properly.  Most commonly, the nuts are not dried before roasting.  The second most common problem is roasting too cool.  The toxicity of unroasted bay nuts is unknown, but they are probably not good for you.  A tickling irritation in the back of the throat, almost like a burning sensation, is indicative of inadequate roasting.  Please read and follow directions.)

Bay nut season is early this year.  I usually find myself harvesting them around thanksgiving, but they’re dropping all over the place and have been for a while.  Roasting bay nuts in an oven is tricky.  They require very frequent stirring and because it is only practical to stir the nuts every 2 to 3 minutes, they often roast unevenly.  It has always been my feeling that the nuts should be kept in more or less continuous motion in order to roast more evenly, just as when roasting coffee.  I’ve even thought about approaching a coffee roasting company to see if I could try using their equipment, or maybe  building some type of makeshift roaster that would keep the beans moving constantly.

Last year we acquired a popcorn popper here at Turkeysong for roasting coffee beans.  This is the type with a crank handle on top and a wire inside that stirs the popcorn.  They work really great for popcorn and roasting coffee beans.  I’ve used it a number of times now to roast bay nuts, and it seems to work really well.  At this point I'm fairly well convinced that it works better than the oven.  A reader also contacted us recently saying that he has been using one too and liked the results, so I think we’re all on to something.

Here are some thoughts and observations on using the popper.  Don't forget to roast dried nuts only (that means the nut inside the shell is dry and somewhat hard, not rubbery or flexible).

*Stir the nuts constantly.  The burners on my small stove are weak, but it still seems to get extremely hot in the popper.  I think it's good to tone it down a little as the roasting progresses.  I start on high, (which is not that high on my stove) then turn them down to medium, or medium low at around 6 to 7 minutes when they are really starting to roast and smoke.  They should still roast hot for the finish, and should still be smoking lightly to moderately the whole time .  With my set up, roasting a pint in the popper takes about 13 to 15 minutes.  Don't use that as strict guideline, but you see what I'm getting at.  It is important not to roast too cool.  Our observation so far is that a high temperature really seems to help in driving off the volatile constituents that make bay nuts inedible when raw.  If it takes under 12 minutes, you're probably running a little hotter than you need to.  If it takes over 15 minutes, you're probably running a little cool.

*Once the nuts are nearly done, they finish roasting (or burning) extremely fast!  The difference between roasted and burnt, may be less than a minute.  This is one reason I like to turn down the heat a bit, in order to have a longer window for deciding when they are done.  Either way, check the nuts very frequently by cracking one open to observe the color, and remove to cool in a basket as soon as they are done and not a second longer.  Color can range from light brown, like coffee with a little cream, to dark brown.  If not roasted enough, they the volatile oils will tickle and irritate the back of your throat.

*How many nuts to roast at once?  I’m still testing out this factor, but for now I’m sticking with about a double layer maximum.  In a big popper, that’s actually a lot of nuts.  For personal use, less than a full layer is still going to be a lot of nuts.

*The poppers vary a great deal in build quality.  The one we have at Turkeysong now is a stainless steel unit called... are you ready?  The Sweet and Easy Snack Machine.  The build quality is very good.  It is heavy gauge stainless.  The lid can be a bit of a pain to take on and off, but otherwise, I’m fairly happy with it.  If you want a quality popper to use for popcorn and coffee too, I guess I’d recommend it, but with some reservations.  If you read reviews on amazon, not everyone is happy with this unit.  Most of them are aluminum, which is not very suitable for direct contact with food like popcorn and coffee beans scraping around in the bottom.  But, if you have a cheap aluminum one already, or can score one at a thrift store or yard sale, I’ll bet it’ll work just fine for bay nuts in the shell.

sweet n easy snack

*The process makes a ton of smoke!  Turn on the vent if you have one.

*Remember to observe some basic rules of roasting bay nuts.

>Dry the nuts first!

>Roast in the Shell

>Roast pretty hot, should be smoking a fair amount

>Test frequently

>Roast small quantities to use soon, and keep the roasted nuts sealed in a jar to prevent staleness.

roast baynut macro

For more on baynuts see Baynutting.  Follow us on facebook to stay informed.

Baynutting: Tips for Harvesting, Storing and Using California Bay Nuts

NOTE:  Bay nuts must be properly roasted to be edible to humans.  In spite of our best efforts to the contrary, we still commonly encounter people who are not roasting their bay nuts properly.  Most commonly, the nuts are not dried before roasting.  The second most common problem is roasting too cool.  The toxicity of unroasted bay nuts is unknown, but they are probably not good for you.  A tickling irritation in the back of the throat, almost like a burning sensation, is indicative of inadequate roasting.  Please read and follow directions.)

Bay nut season is starting here in Northern California and it appears to be a good year. They should be raining down from trees up and down the coast for the next month or more.  The season varies year to year.  Sometimes it will extend into late November or even later.  Ripening times also vary among individual trees with some dropping early and some later on.  Here are some tips to increase your success and enjoyment with baynuts this year and for years to come!  See this article on the Paleotechnics website for a more in-depth treatment of bay nuts and Bay trees.  And, look for a definitive book on bay trees and baynuts from paleotechnics by fall 2014!  Follow us onfacebook to stay informed.)

*Harvest the nuts in a timely fashion.  You don’t want them to either mold, or to start undergoing the physiological changes that happen when they begin sprouting.  It’s best to harvest the nuts before the husks are very dried or very rotten.  It is easiest to husk them when the outer coating is soft, but not mushy.  They are ripe when they begin to drop naturally from the tree.  If the husks are too firm and difficult to remove, let them sit around and ripen for a day or three.

* don't put off Husking the nuts:  When they are soft enough, husk them.

* Rinse the nuts in several changes of water briefly before drying.

* Dry soon after harvesting.  The nuts are easy to dry and may do fine in a warm well ventilated room.  If possible though, keep them near a heat source like a heater or woodstove.  If the sun is out, put them on the dash board of a car with the windows just cracked or simply out in the sun on trays during the day, bringing them in at night.  When fully dry, the nut inside the shell will be somewhat hard and brittle, not rubbery or flexible.

* Store dry nuts in the shells.

* Always dry the nuts before roasting!  Roasting the green nuts is a common mistake, it doesn’t work.

* Roast the nuts in the shells.  They can be roasted out of the shell, but our experience is that they roast more evenly in the shell.

* Roast quickly, stirring often: Roast at 425 to 475 degrees Fahrenheit.  Stir the nuts every 2 to 3 minutes without fail for about 20 minutes so that they roast evenly.  Set a timer so that you don’t forget.  If the oven heat is at all uneven, as many ovens are, turn the pan 180 degrees a few times during roasting.  (Edit:  We've been using a popcorn popper to roast lately.  Seems to be working very well.  See this post.)

* Don’t roast more than you can use soon, and keep the roasted nuts sealed in a small jar or a plastic bag until consumed.  They go stale quickly and are best eaten immediately after roasting when they are at their tastiest.   Traditional use seems to have been mostly roasted in hot ashes around the fire for fairly immediate consumption.

* Roast them how you like them.  As long as they are roasted enough to get rid of the strongly flavored volatile oils that tickle and irritate the throat, you can roast the nuts as dark or light as you like.  The color can range from a light brown (the color of coffee with a little cream) to very dark brown.  Take some nuts out early and leave others in the oven a little longer to figure out what your  preference is.

* Don’t eat too many at once!  while tolerance varies, bay nuts do contain a stimulant and can totally wig some people out!

A few additional points:

* Bay nuts are one of the few foods that are high in the rare fat lauric acid, also found in coconut oil and ascribed numerous health benefits.

* The flesh of bay nut husks are edible when ripe.  The upper (stem) end of the nut is the best part.  The flesh is similar to avocado, to which they are related.  It is more of a nibble than a significant food though.

* The fat in bay nuts is very stable being almost completely saturated, so the un-roasted nuts can keep for years.

* Roasted bay nuts make awesome bait for trapping mice and packrats, who can smell them from a long way off and seem to find them irresistible.

Related post:  Roasting Bay Nuts in a Popcorn Popper