Like Gold Nuggets - Chanterelle Potato Gratin

In this week’s newspapers they were guessing the date of the first snowfall. Seriously? Calm down, everyone. It's fall. FALL! Let’s not freak out, okay? So no talking about snow, snowstorms, ice, or ice cold winds from the North Pole. Thank you. I appreciate it.

They sit on my kitchen countertop like gold nuggets. Fragile and beautiful. Only hours before they were hiding in the woods, living with their best friends, the birch trees. It's called symbiosis.

For me the chanterelle is the queen of mushrooms. They don't even need a crown - they are the crown.

I decided to make a chanterelle potato gratin. A fall favorite. I think it’s at its best as a side for a Sunday roast beef. But feel free to enjoy it at any day of the week. You won't be disappointed.

As cheese I used another royal - Västerbotten cheese. It's one of Sweden’s oldest and best-known brands. A very flavorful and versatile hard cheese.

Feel free to use any other wild mushroom or flavorful cheese variety.

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Chanterelle Potato Gratin

Adapted from Leilas guldkant på vardagen by Leila Lindholm, p. 55
Serves 4-6

1 kg (2 pounds 3.5 oz) potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced {use a mandolin if you have one}
¼ (about 140 g; 5 oz) celeriac, peeled and thinly sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic gloves, thinly sliced
4 dl (1.7 cups) light cream
1 tbsp chopped thyme
½ tbsp fine sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

200 g (7 oz) chanterelles, cleaned and halved/quartered {depending on the size}
butter
60 g (2 oz; 1 dl) grated cheese {I used Västerbotten cheese but a Swiss-type cheese like Emmentaler would be great too}
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper


Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Butter a 28-by-24-cm (11-by-9-inch) baking dish and set aside.

In a medium-sized pot, combine the cream, thyme, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil. Add the sliced potatoes, celeriac, onion, and garlic. Simmer for 15 minutes.

In a frying pan, sauté the chanterelles in butter. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the mushrooms and cheese to the potato mixture. Pour into the buttered baking dish.

Bake on the middle rack for 25-30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.

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Last Day(s) of Summer - Salt Roasted New Potatoes with Dill

I'm a summer girl. No denying that. I love the blue skies and the warm summer breeze. I love how life is lived outside. I love having a barbecue night with family and friends. I love drinking my morning coffee from a paper mug at the farmers market {which I do way too seldom!}. But most of all I love the light. Oh that light! The one that can't be found anywhere else in the world. When the sun never really goes down, I think to myself "Life doesn't get better than this".

I wanted to celebrate the last day(s) of summer with the last new potatoes of the season. New potatoes are best bought at the farmers market where they most likely have seen the sunlight for the first time only a few hours before. How do you know if your new potatoes are fresh? The skin should come off easily when you rub it with your fingers. I firmly believe that the smaller the potato, the better the taste so I always dig for the tiny ones... Oh and select the dirty ones - the dirt protects them from harm. In this case dirty is beautiful.

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Salt Roasted New Potatoes with Dill
serves 2-3

500 g (1 lb) new potatoes {the smaller the better}
zest of 1 lemon
2 tsp fine sea salt
1 tbsp dill, chopped {I like to simply cut it with my kitchen scissors}
olive oil

Preheat oven to 225°C (435°F).

Wash (but don't peel) potatoes and put into a roasting pan. Toss potatoes with lemon zest, sea salt and dill as well as just enough olive oil to coat the potatoes evenly.

Roast on the middle rack for 30 minutes, or until potatoes are tender and golden brown. If the salt crust is too thick for your liking, just remove any excess salt.

Serve as a side dish for any grilled meat or fish. I enjoyed mine with a piece of warm smoked salmon and a green salad.

Note: You can of course use regular potatoes for this dish. Just try to get small ones or you will need to adjust the roasting time or even pre-boil your potatoes before roasting.

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