Chanterelle Crostini with Chèvre and Chives
A five-minute appetizer built around wild mushrooms from Jalama Canyon Ranch
Some of the best appetizers come from clearing a shelf. This one starts with a jar — our wild-harvested chanterelles, preserved in Figure Ate Persimmon Vinegar with olive oil, chili flakes, and marjoram — and ends with something that looks like it came from a restaurant and takes about five minutes to assemble. Toasted bread, soft chèvre, mushrooms straight from the jar, fresh chives. That's it.
Recipe: Chanterelle crostini with chèvre and chives
Makes 12–16 pieces · No cooking required beyond toasting bread
Ingredients
1 jar Wild Harvested & Preserved Chanterelle Mushrooms
1 baguette or sourdough, sliced ½ inch thick
4–6 oz fresh chèvre (see options below)
Small bunch fresh chives, finely chopped
Olive oil, for brushing bread
Flaky salt, to finish (optional)
Directions
Brush bread slices lightly with olive oil. Toast in a 400°F oven for 8–10 minutes until golden and crisp, or press in a grill pan until charred at the edges.
While still warm, spread each slice generously with chèvre.
Spoon chanterelles over the cheese. Don't skip the oil in the jar — it's seasoned with the same vinegar and spices as the mushrooms, and a little drizzle over the top is everything.
Scatter fresh chives over each piece. Finish with a pinch of flaky salt if you'd like. Serve immediately.
Chèvre options — and why it works so well here
The creaminess of soft goat cheese is a natural counterpart to the acidity in the preserved mushrooms. But the choice of cheese can shift the whole character of the dish. Here are a few directions worth exploring:
Classic fresh chèvre
Tangy, creamy, mild. The default — works with everything.
Herbed chèvre
Rosemary or thyme varieties echo the marjoram in the mushrooms.
Whipped ricotta
Milder and fluffier. Good if serving guests who find goat cheese assertive.
Fromage blanc
Very mild, slightly grassy. Lets the chanterelles fully lead.
Crème fraîche
Buttery tang, looser texture. Spoon it on rather than spread.
About the mushrooms
These chanterelles were wild-harvested during the wet season at Jalama Canyon Ranch, our Center for Regenerative Agriculture on the Central California coast. Chanterelle's fruit fast and vanish faster — they're tied to rainfall, temperature, and the particular chemistry of the soil where they grow. You can't cultivate them the same way you'd grow a button mushroom. They appear when conditions are right, and that's that.
We partnered with duo catering to preserve this harvest while it was at its best. The mushrooms are packed in Figure Ate Persimmon Vinegar alongside California Ranch olive oil, salt, pepper, chili flakes, and marjoram. The result is a jar that's ready to use straight off the shelf — earthy, a little herbaceous, with the soft fruit-forward acidity that persimmon vinegar is known for.
About Figure Ate Persimmon Vinegar
Persimmon vinegar has been a staple across East Asia for centuries — as common there as apple cider vinegar is here. Figure Ate's version started with a happy accident. Jesse & Ana Smith, of White Buffalo Land Trust, were managing orchards with a surplus of persimmons and a background in fermentation from running a small creamery. After partnering with Ventura Spirits to make persimmon brandy, a forgotten fermentation bucket transformed on its own into something unexpected: a naturally fermented vinegar with a mellow, fruit-forward acidity unlike anything either of them had tasted.
Every fall, ripe persimmons are harvested from our regenerative farm partners, crushed, and transferred to barrels where natural yeasts convert the fruit sugars first into alcohol, then — through a second fermentation — into vinegar. The process is slow and traditional. What makes it distinctive is the fruit itself: persimmons produce a vinegar that's gentler and rounder than most wine or apple cider vinegars. It adds brightness without sharpness, which is exactly why it works so well as a preservation medium for the chanterelles.
Figure Ate Persimmon Vinegar is endlessly versatile — use it anywhere you'd reach for apple cider vinegar and then some. Every bottle supports the work of White Buffalo Land Trust directly. — Shop Figure Ate
Where to get our chanterelle mushrooms
These are only available for purchase at the ranch during our public events — not online. Each year, if conditions are right, the harvest is jarred and ready by mid-spring. Sign up for our newsletter to stay in the know about upcoming events and opportunities to visit the ranch and pick up a jar in person.
Once this harvest is gone, we wait for the mushrooms to come back.
