Chanterelles with Lemon Butter Scallops

Perhaps once or twice a year I splurge on an often-unattainable ingredient. This time I double splurged with chanterelles and scallops. I've never had chanterelles, so they were on my bucket list. Lately scallops have been cost prohibitive and I've passed them by many a time without a thought. I took a trip to the Jasper Farmers Market, (which is an hours drive from my home) to get the chanterelles and low and behold on the way home wally world had some scallops which were a bit over their usual price point, but not as bad as other grocery stores and yes, they were wild caught. 

Since I didn't know how to treat chanterelles, I looked on youtube and other sites to see what I should do. Most folks recommended gently tearing the mushrooms apart rather than cutting them so that's what I did. I whole heartedly recommend this method. They tear easily and this ensures they are all approximately the same size for cooking.

Other experts recommend dry cooking the torn chanterelles and that's just what I did even though I was skeptical. It worked out just fine. The chanterelles release their excess moisture and do not stick or burn at all over medium low heat in a pan without any oil or some such. Once all the moisture released from the chanterelles, I added some butter and chopped shallots and sauteed them till soft.

Once the chanterelles were softened, I set them aside and melted more butter in the pan and added the scallops. I cooked the scallops, but as usual I struggled to get the proper sear on the scallops. After searing, remove scallops, (sear or not, do not overcook scallops). Next add the zest of one lemon and lemon juice and cook for a bit to reduce. Serve the dish with rice topped with the chanterelles, then the scallops topped with the lemon butter sauce drizzled over the top. Who would think a gourmet meal such as this would ever grace our dinner table. There are many certified mushroom gatherers in the state of Georgia. Be sure to purchase mushrooms only from certified mushroom gatherers to be safe.