Last week, I took a trip to Yosemite National Park for the kickoff session of The Ahwahnee's annual Chefs' Holidays. The event ended with a big blowout dinner, but I walked away with tons of tips. Chef Matt Bolton, who runs the kitchen at Pacific's Edge restaurant in Carmel's Highlands Inn, showed the audience how to confit a duck leg to make pâté-like rillette.
But I was most impressed with his other dish, tiny cubes of butternut squash slow-cooked in the style of risotto, and topped with foraged mushrooms. While preparing his dishes, Bolton offered a number of suggestions for cleaning, storing, and cooking with fungi. See them when you read on.