Finnish Chanterelle and Dill Toasts with Farmers-Market Garlic and Sour Cream

Clean the chanterelles with a dry brush or barely damp cloth — never soak them, or they will steam instead of brown. Tear any large ones lengthwise into bite-sized strips.

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 1 lb (450 g) fresh chanterelle mushrooms, or mixed wild mushrooms
• 4 tablespoons (55 g) unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon neutral oil
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/3 cup (80 ml) heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 6 thick slices dark rye or sourdough bread
• 3/4 cup (180 ml) full-fat sour cream
• 1/2 cup (15 g) fresh dill, roughly chopped
• Flaky sea salt and coarsely cracked black pepper

Instructions

1. Clean the chanterelles with a dry brush or barely damp cloth — never soak them, or they will steam instead of brown. Tear any large ones lengthwise into bite-sized strips.
2. Heat a large dry skillet over medium-high and add the mushrooms with no fat at all. Cook 4 to 6 minutes, stirring, until they release their water and the pan goes dry again. This dry-frying step is the Finnish way and it concentrates the flavor enormously.
3. Add the butter and oil to the now-dry pan along with the onion. Cook 5 minutes, until the onion softens and the mushrooms turn deep gold at the edges.
4. Stir in the garlic and cook 1 minute more, until fragrant.
5. Pour in the cream and simmer 2 to 3 minutes, until it thickens and coats the mushrooms.
6. Add the lemon juice, season generously with salt and pepper, and stir through half the dill. Taste and adjust.
7. Toast the bread until well browned and firm — the mushrooms are wet, and a limp slice collapses under them.
8. Spoon the creamed chanterelles over the hot toasts, top each with a spoonful of cold sour cream, and finish with the remaining dill, flaky salt, and plenty of cracked pepper. Serve at once.
9. Late summer is high season for chanterelles across Finland, where everymans-right foraging laws mean the forest floor is genuinely open to all, and August weekends are spent filling baskets with kanttarelli. The classic preparation is kanttarellikeitto or a simple creamed pan of them on bread, and the technique that matters most is the dry fry: wild mushrooms are mostly water, and cooking that out before any fat goes in is the difference between golden and gray. If chanterelles are beyond reach, a mix of oyster and cremini mushrooms treated the same way comes surprisingly close.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 340 kcal
• Protein: 9g
• Fat: 22g
• Carbohydrates: 28g
• Fiber: 4g
• Sugar: 5g
• Sodium: 420mg