Foodstuff: Foraging fun

After years of fixating on foraging and cooking every kind of mushroom in every kind of dish imaginable, I recently received a baller birthday gift: a pass to the 2025 Telluride Mushroom Festival. Now in its 45^th year, I knew the fest has quite a culinary bent in addition to their more widely-recognized elements focused on psychedelics and was excited to learn more from the fungi-focused foodies at the helm.

Regular programming features an exhaustive lineup of lectures, forays, and performances, and there are a few ticketed culinary programs, specifically chef-driven mushroom dinners and experiences in the wilds of the San Juans.

“The Telluride Mushroom Festival Wild Foraged Feast is a delicious culinary adventure embodying the wild landscape,” shared Katrina Blair, founder of Turtle Lake Refuge in Durango, Colorado, and author of “The Wild Wisdom of Weeds: 13 Essential Plants for Human Survival.” Blair is also the host of the “Wild Foods A Foraged Dinner” at the festival and well-known for her trek, on foot, from Durango to Telluride, foraging along the way.

For her hosted dinner, each menu is different and depends on what is seasonal and abundant that year. Years past have included a wild green juice cocktail, appetizer of mushroom pate, salad, soup, and entrée highlighting available edible mushrooms along with wild plants from the surrounding mountains and a local fruit dessert.

2025 promises the same delicious variety with this event by Blair, a “Wild Mushroom Dinner and Wine Pairing” with Graham Steinruck, John SirJesse, and John Sutcliffe; a “Trout Lake Dinner” with Chad Hyatt; and “Terps ‘n Truffles: An Aromatic Exploration” with William Padilla Brown. These require a ticket purchase separate from the General Admission pass; prices range from $125-300 and go on sale May 15.

Passholders can enjoy the “Trailhead Tasting” with Chris Starkus included with your GA purchase. Starkus says he “crafted five appetizers based entirely on what is foraged from the land, transforming wild ingredients into unforgettable bites that showcase the flavors of Colorado’s backcountry,” for previous “Trailhead Tastings.”

“It’s an experience that’s as much about the connection to the land as it is about the unforgettable flavors we’re able to craft from nature’s bounty,” he added.

Apps included a lobster mushroom and Olathe corn chowder, Salisbury buffalo steak sliders with porcini gravy, and a foraged wild mushroom and truffle risotto. Fingers crossed some of these make a return this year.

And not to fret if you’ve spent all your cash on the more metaphysical mushrooms and didn’t leave enough to eat! Bargains can be foraged for food-focused fare as the festival will host free cooking demonstrations in Elks Park throughout the weekend.

This recipe, provided by TMF Executive Director Britt Bunyard, is featured in “Fantastic Fungi Community Cookbook” written by Eugenia Bone and should whet your whistle as you shop festival passes online.

CREAMY CHICKEN THIGHS WITH MORELS

Butter

1 bottle sweet sherry

1 bottle semi-dry sherry

Chicken thighs, skin on

Dried morels

Shallot

Heavy cream

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Notice that none of the ingredients are given measured amounts. Measure by how many guests you are serving; one thigh per guest plus a couple left over.

Use a deep pan that can hold the chicken thighs in a single layer.

Sauté a finely diced shallot or two in butter. Once it’s translucent, remove to a plate.

Add a couple more tablespoons of butter to the pan, and sauté all the chicken thighs, skin side down, in a single layer, for several minutes until the skin is very brown. Turn the chicken pieces, and continue cooking for several more minutes until the juices are running clear. Turn the heat down to medium low, and sprinkle the cooked shallot over the top of the chicken.

Throw in a handful or two of dried morels (“the amount is determined by how much you love your guests”). Add equal amounts of the two sherries until the chicken is submerged. Cover and cook for 10–15 minutes or until almost all the liquid is absorbed. You cannot overcook as long as there is still liquid in the pan.

Once cooked down, add cream until you get the sauce to the consistency that is desired. If you add too much, let it cook down.

Add salt and pepper, and serve over pasta. Accompany with a tossed salad of fresh lettuce and shaved fennel bulb, and “enjoy a meal you will never forget”.

And to really get you in the mushroom mood, readers of this column will enjoy 10% off General Admission passes with the code ASPENFOODIE when purchasing online at tellurideinstitute.org/passes-telluride-mushroom-festival.

Katherine Roberts is a mid-Valley based writer and marketing professional who is already stressed out about what to wear for the TMF parade. She can be reached via her marketing and communications firm, Carington Creative, at katherine@caringtoncreative.com.