Richard Olney’s Chanterelle Duxelles Pudding

Chanterelle pudding is an old-school mushroom recipe from the one and only Richard Olney, who was one of the defining authors of modern French Cuisine in the era of Julia Child and James Beard.

I used chanterelles, but many different wild mushrooms will work.

In his most well-known book, Simple French Food, Olney shares a recipe for “mushroom pudding”, a sort of side dish or casserole made by mixing a healthy amount of chopped mushrooms with bechamel, eggs and a little parmesan cheese. 

Before the oven. The mixture should be loose, but will firm up as it bakes.

It’s a rich, filling side dish, and a great way to use up mushrooms of any kind that you have. I used chanterelles, but other mushrooms, especially chunky ones like porcini would be great too.

You could also use wild mushroom duxelles or frozen mushrooms. Serve as a side dish along with a green salad dressed with olive oil and lemon or wilted greens. 

Mushrooms to use 

I used chanterelle mushrooms because they were what I had at the time, but this is the kind of wild mushroom recipe where many different types will work. Here’s a few that’ll be good, with some tips. 

• Black trumpets, mixed half and half with mushrooms that are more firm, like chanterelles. 
• Chicken of the woods, with a few scrapes of lemon zest added to the batter. 
• Lobster mushrooms, cooked with a generous pinch of paprika and a knife-tip of cayenne. 

Variations 

There’s lots of ways you can switch this up and tweak the flavor. 

• Mushrooms love dairy, so after I made this according to Olney’s instructions, I used a bechamel where half of the mushrooms were cooked in the sauce to flavor it, mixing in the other half at the end like the original recipe. 
• Parmesan is fine here, and understated, but a melting cheese like gruyere would be great too. 
• If you add the egg yolks to the bechamel, then beat the whites to peaks and fold them in it will give the dish more of a fallen souffle feel.

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Richard Olney's Chanterelle Mushroom Pudding

A rich side dish made from chanterelles, bechamel, and parmesan inspired by Richard Olney. This makes an entire 9 inch pan full, so feel free to cut it in half. Serves 6-8

Prep Time30 mins

Cook Time30 mins

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: French

Keyword: Chanterelles, Richard Olney

Servings: 8

Ingredients

Chanterelles

• 20 oz wild mushrooms especially chanterelles
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter or oil
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt plus more to taste
• ¼ cup dry white wine

Bechamel

• ¼ cup minced shallots
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup half and half
• 3 Tablespoons all purpose flour or equivalent
• Fresh grated nutmeg to taste
• 2 large eggs
• 2 oz good parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

• Wash and dry the chanterelles, then chop medium-fine. Heat the chanterelles and salt in a 10 inch skillet, covered, cooking until their liquid has evaporated.
• Add 1 tablespoon of butter and stir, scraping up any browned bits.
• Add the wine, stir, and turn the pan off.
• Meanwhile, sweat the shallots in the 3 tablespoons of butter, then add the flour, stir, and gradually add the cold half and half, heat, stirring aggressively with a spoon or spatula until thickened.
• Preheat the oven to 400.
• Season the bechamel with nutmeg and pepper, then mix in the chanterelles and cheese. Let the mixture cool for 5 minutes, then beat in the cheese, thyme and parsley.
• Taste the mixture and consider it if needs additional seasoning. Adjust the seasoning until it tastes good to you, then beat in the eggs.
• Liberally butter a pie dish, then place in a larger pan, put in the oven, and, using a pitcher, pour warm water into the pan in the oven to come up 2/3 of the pie dish. Bake for 30 minutes or until just set.