Chanterelles and Cockles

Image courtesy of Jingyu Lin.

When it comes to both taking photos and making food, Jingyu Lin likes to involve the location—from editorials set in Iceland to meals made with seasonal produce. “Cooking is a huge part of my life. I'm all about sourcing local ingredients and produce to really get a feel for the city that I'm in,” Lin tells Family Style. “I don't normally follow recipes, but just cook with what's available.” Examples include farmers’ market chanterelles and cockles (small saltwater molluscs) from a recent trip to France.

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Ingredients

• 1 pound fresh cockles
• 2 handfuls chanterelles
• 1 bouquet garnis pour poissons (for fish)
• 3 anchovies
• ¼ white onion (diced)
• 7 cloves of garlic (minced, I adore garlic!)
• 2 tablespoon of white wine (add more as needed)
• A few dashes of piment d'espelette
• 1 tablespoon nice butter
• A few sprigs of minced chives (for garnish)

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Instructions

1. Soak the cockles in generously salted water for 20-30 minutes. In the meantime, prepare your onion and garlic.
2. Oil the pan on medium heat and melt the anchovies in.
3. Add in diced onion, minced garlic, chanterelles and the bouquet garnis—cook for a minute or two, until slightly softened.
4. Add a dash of salt (not too much) and a generous amount of pepper.
5. Add the white wine and pimente d'espelette. Continue cooking until chanterelles are softened (but not completely done).
6. Drain the cockles in, turn heat to low, and cover for another minute or two.
7. I like to take the cockles out individually and put them in another bowl as soon as the shells pop open (so as to not overcook). It's a bit labor intensive but worth it to preserve the juice and flavor. So keep an eye on them while they are covered and start taking them out as needed.
8. Once all of the cockles are cooked, turn the heat off, put the cockles back into the pan, and add the butter. 
9. Fold all of the ingredients into each other until the butter is melted.
10. Add more pepper and salt as needed.
11. Mince the chives, and garnish upon serving.
12. Eat immediately.

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