Thanks to an unexpected break in the weather a few days ago, I took the dogs into the woods to search for mushrooms. It is quite late in the season, which usually runs from late September into October, but the chanterelles I gathered with Marshall recently were so tasty that I figured it was worth a try.
We left the cabin and walked north on the Truck Trail for less than half a mile, then crossed the creek on the east side of the Trail and began climbing into the woods. The conditions in this second-growth of hemlock and fir seemed very good for mushrooms but after half an hour I came up completely empty-handed.
After working my way down a small hill to the B__ Mountain logging road, we continued up the road to a point very close to Johnson Creek. We went back into the woods there, crossing the creek in a small ravine. Chico watched Cuca and me cross the stream but then balked. He’d never crossed a creek before and was quite upset at being stranded across from us. I was video-ing his predicament when Cuca surprised me by trying to lend a hand.
Once we were back in the second-growth I almost immediately began to find chanterelles. At first just a few scattered here and there, then even more, until it seemed that there were mushrooms in almost every direction. Hoping to keep them as clean as possible, I’d brought a small filet knife, a plastic bag and two plastic boxes in a small daypack. It wasn’t long before both of the boxes were stuffed with mushrooms. At that point I started getting choosey, gathering only those that still seemed firm and more or less undamaged. (Cuca and Chico helped me pass over several mushrooms by standing on them.)
I doubt that I’d gone more than 50 yards before both of my boxes and the plastic bag were full. At that point I told Cuca to take us home… and she very cleverly led us through quite a long stretch of forest to the Truck Trail, just north of the junction with the logging road.
As soon as we got home, Lorena began cleaning the mushrooms with a toothbrush, brushing off fir needles and bits of moss and soil. She also weighed our catch — five pounds! Since I’d already decided to make a vegetable stew, it seemed logical to also throw in a couple of pounds of chanterelles. 
My recipe for this Sasquatch Stew varies considerably according to whatever we find in the refrigerator and garden. The most consistent ingredients are the onion, garlic, potato, carrots and tofu and hopefully, celery and sweet peppers. Quantities of each vary considerably, depending, of course, on what we find in our larder.
Before you begin cooking, trim and dice all of your ingredients. Add the trimmings to a stock pot and get it cooking as soon as possible. You’ll need plenty of stock — probably close to a gallon if your stew expands as fast as mine.
Once the stock is on the stove, heat butter and olive oil in a large heavy stew pot. As I said, this thing is going to grow, so don’t work yourself into a bind by using a normal sized sauce pan.
Over the many years I’ve made this particular stew, I’ve learned that as long as I brown the onions and gravy mixture success is all but guaranteed.
Gravy mixture in this batch: whole wheat flour, garbanzo flour, red chili flakes and a healthy dose of Lorena’s signature popcorn spice blend– brewer’s yeast, finely ground parmesan, garlic powder, cheddar cheese powder and smoked paprika.
Cut a pound or more of extra firm tofu into bite-sized pieces, then dredge it through your gravy/flour mix. When the oil is hot, brown the tofu and onions, along with any leftover gravy mix. This may make a gummy mess in the pan, which is fine as long as you stir often enough to prevent scorching.
When I’m reasonably confident that the flour is cooked, I add the stock. The “proper” way to do this is probably bit by bit, to avoid creating lumps in the gravy. I’ve found, however, that it works just fine if I position a colander over the stew pot and then pour directly from the stock pot. The stew pot should be no more than half-full of tofu, onions and stock before I unceremoniously dump in the rest of the ingredients. This isn’t exactly Top Chef style but long experience proves that it works. (I used to go to great pains to flour-and-brown all the ingredients but in the end it didn’t taste any better and was much more work.)
Slowly bring the stew to a simmering boil. If your gravy is too thick, add more stock. If you ignored my warning and used a rather small pot, however, you might have to divide the stew into a second pot in order to thin the gravy.
Gravy too thin? Find a skillet and make a separate batch of gravy. Never add uncooked flour or gravy mix to the stew — it will make an awful gluey mess instead of gravy.
I like to simmer the stew for half an hour or so, then adjust it “to taste”. I’ll almost always add a splash or two of Worchestershire sauce and perhaps a sweetener such as honey or maple syrup, along with yellow mustard, soy sauce, and tomato (paste, puree, etc.). Go very easy on these extras — add a bit and then wait ten minutes or more before tasting the stew again.
The chanterelles I added to our stew were a resounding success. The stew was especially rich the day-after and went down quite easily when served with a toasted and well-buttered homemade bagel.