Ingredientsserves 4
1/2 pound bacon, cubed
1/2 pound fresh chanterelle mushrooms,
brushed clean and halved or quartered
salt and pepper
2 ripe
plums, pitted and cut into wedges
4 cups mixed lettuce leaves (I
prefer arugula)
4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
Dressing:
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2
tablespoons olive oil Chanterelles may be hard to find, but any type of mushroom would do…from sliced, meaty portabello to velvety white button mushrooms.
And of course any type of stone fruit would work in this recipe. Please don’t limit this to just plums but experiment with peaches and nectarines.
After trimming the ends, the smaller ones get halved…and the larger chantrelles are quartered.
Chanterelles are so beautiful that I’d hate to drown them in any type of sauce.
The problem with stone fruit is that there is a pit in the middle. And sometimes it’s a bitch to get out without tearing up the flesh. So here’s how I do it. Listen good, because it involves a highly technical term called plum asscrack. Find the plum’s crack – STOP LAUGHING – and hold your knife parallel to the crack, about a little more than 1/4-inch to the SIDE of the asscrack. See the crack? It’s just to the left of my knife.
Now turn the plum around to the other side and 1/4-inch to side of the plum asscrack, cut again. Now you’ve got two nice, big, plum asscheeks.
Oh but we’re not done yet! That middle section with the seed? Angle your knife and cut around the seed for two more wedges.
Method1. Whisk the dressing ingredients together and set aside. Put the
bacon cubes in a large frying pan or saute pan, and turn the heat to
medium-high. When the bacon starts cooking and crisping up, turn the
heat to medium and continue cooking and stirring until crisp on both
sides. Remove the bacon, reserving 1 tablespoon of the bacon drippings
in the pan (discard the rest of the bacon drippings). Let bacon drain on
a paper towel.
2. In the same pan on medium-high heat, saute the mushrooms for 4
minutes. Push the mushrooms to one side of the frying pan. On the other
side, lay the plum wedges and cook 1 minute each side. By this time, the
mushrooms will have cooked through. Season the mushrooms with salt and
pepper.
3. Assemble salad by combining the bacon, blue cheese, chanterelles,
plums and lettuce. Be light and gentle. Drizzle with the dressing. Serve
immediately.
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