Chicken Filets with Cèpes (Porcini) Cream Sauce
In the next two months, gangs of eagle-eyed boletivores will be scouring the hills and dales between the beachland forests and the high Sierra, prodding every earthly mound with pointed sticks and feathery rakes.
by Shea Moss
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Boletus edulis var. grandedulis © Stacie Wolny (CC-BY-NC) (from inaturalist.org, ID 326421075)
Many will be returning to their seasonal shrines, the locations of which are a well-guarded secret. If you happen to pass one of these shrines in the wild, you can easily identify its inhabitants:
When the boletivore is standing up, they typically will tell you you've lost your way and where you want to be going is 600 yards in the opposite direction. If they are down on their knees in the duff, they will typically tell you they are searching for their pet 100-foot long python who is "hiding somewhere around here."
Being a boletivore yourself, you will either nod understandingly, smile your sad sigh, and vacate the area like a gentleman to find your own shrine; or you will grin wolfishly, point at your socks and jump in to find the python first.
After collecting your prizes, you may wish to try the following recipe...
Objective:
Main Course
Total Time:
About 45 minutes
Yield:
2 chicken filets
Suggested Mushrooms:
- Porcini (Boletus edulis, Boletus regineus, Boletus rex-veris)
Ingredients
2 half breasts of chicken, skinned, boned and filleted 1/4 inch each in flour
6 oz white glaze (made from 2 cups chicken stock, greatly reduced)
4 oz marsala wine or sherry
1 Tbs. dried and powdered Boletus edulis
6 thin slices of fresh or rehydrated B. edulis
Chopped parsley (to taste)
Sweet, unsalted butter (for sautéing)
5 oz, of a good dry white wine
1 cup heavy cream
Salt and white pepper (to taste)
Method
Lightly flour each piece of chicken and sauté in butter over moderate heat for 30 seconds on each side.
Remove chicken from pan and set aside.
To the same pan add the glaze and the two wines and reduce by half.
Turn the flame down to simmer, and add in the powdered and sliced Boletes, and gently cook for 3 or 4 minutes.
Turn the flame down to low, add the cream, and let the sauce warm and thicken slightly.
Add back the sautéed chicken breast filets, and add in and correct the seasonings to taste.
When you serve the filets, garnish with freshly chopped parsley, and place one slice of B. edulis on each filet. Eat!