Chicken Of The Woods Recipe

Chicken fried chicken of the woods mushrooms are one of the best things I've ever made with a wild mushroom. This is my original chicken fried chicken of the woods recipe, back from before I even ran my own restaurant.

One week we got a big delivery of chicken of the woods or sulfphur shelf mushrooms at the restaurant I was cooking at. I grabbed them all to make a vegetarian mushroom entree: golden brown and chicken fried.

A beautiful white pored chicken of the woods, as cooked in this post. These are the best for this recipe, but a yellow-pored sulphureus will do if it's young.

Best Chicken Of The Woods Recipes

Our classic chicken fried steak is typically not made with chicken, but beef. The recipe is a Southern thing, and some serious stick-to-your-ribs kind of food when served with the requisite red eye gravy, a sort of pan sauce that can include everything from smoked pork to coffee.

For the tasting menu dish these were originally destined for, I served them with a little pan sauce garnished with some chive flowers, and wilted greens on the side.

For the purposes of this post, I think it's easier to just illustrate a simple method you can use to bread the mushrooms, and let you take the dish from there.

Cream Of Chicken Of The Woods Mushroom Soup

You want young mushrooms here. Pictured is a white pored chicken of the woods-Laetiporus cincinnatus. I like to cut the mushrooms into ¼-1/2 inch thick slices for this.

Since chicken of the woods definitely have a texture when cooked similar to chicken, they're a shoe-in substitute for meat. You can saute them naked in a pan, especially if they're young, but make sure to keep a bit of wine or stock nearby in case the pan dries out.

The genius of chicken frying is that encasing the mushrooms in a little breading lets the mushrooms steam, keeping them moist and juicy while the outside gets crisp and delicious.

Best Chicken Of The Woods Mushrooms Recipe

At its heart, this is just a simple recipe for breading chicken of the woods--switch the accompaniments up however you like depending on what's in season.

Those needed no pre-cooking to be succulent and juicy, but depending on the age (and species) of your chicken mushroom, you may want to blanch them and dry before breading and cooking.

The chicken of the woods here are breaded by dipping into flour-egg-flour here. It might not seem that important, but part of what makes this so addictive is the crust, as well as your mushroom being in a good stage for eating in a thick slice.

How To Cook Chicken Of The Woods Mushrooms

Using flour, egg and breadcrumbs can make things overly heavy, soggy, and oily. Sometimes it's nice, and I want that rock hard breadcrumb crust, sometimes I don't, and here, I don't.

By the same token using batter requires more oil, and can get messy with drips. The big takeaway here, is that the flour-egg-flour breading is a good trick to know, and it will work with more mushrooms than just good old sulphur shelves. Here's a few examples

This recipe is fantastic as it is, but once you try it, you might be wondering if you can use it to make other things. You can, and it's great. Here's a few that would be good:

Chicken Of The Woods

After breading, put a slice of fresh mozzarella on top, then tomato sauce, then parmesan. Bake at 450-475F or broil just until the cheese is golden and the mushrooms are hot throughout.

Gently toss the breaded mushrooms in Franks Red Hot that you've warmed and whisked with a knob of butter in a small saucepan. Eat it on a bed of fresh greens with blue cheese sauce on the side.

*If your chickens have been in the fridge for a day or two they might be a bit dry, and could have trouble allowing the coating to adhere if they are, or if they're old, consider steaming them and patting dry to ensure the coating adheres.

Chicken Of The Woods Mushrooms

Like your typical chicken fried steak, these would be fine with some red-eye gravy, or just a few lemon slices and a green salad for a lighter touch.If you're new to everyone's favorite mushroom that tastes like chicken, or a veteran, everyone should know a simple recipe for sauteed chicken of the woods. It isn't quite as simple as just tossing mushrooms in a pan. In this post I'll explain all the details you need to know to have a good meal whether you're over a campfire, or at home in the kitchen.

One of the most important things to keep in mind is that sulphur shelf mushrooms must be thoroughly cooked to avoid reactions from individual mushroom allergies and undercooking. No matter how you prepare chicken of the woods, I like to cook them for at least ten minutes to be safe.

Common symptoms range from mild to intense. Tingling or numbness in the lips is the most mild symptom, but nausea, vomiting and diarrhea are common if the person has an allergy to the mushroom.

Everything You Need To Know About Chicken Of The Woods Mushrooms

Another very important thing to keep in mind is the tree the mushroom is growing on. You need to be particularly careful harvesting chickens from conifer trees, but allergic reactions are common regardless of what tree they were growing on.

Chicken mushrooms are always wild and can't be cultivated, and that introduces a number of variables that affect how they can be cooked.

If it's rained recently or the mushrooms are very fresh, they can be filled with water. If that's the case, the mushrooms can be cooked in the dry saute I mention below.

Chicken Of The Woods Mushroom Look Alikes & Identification

If it's been dry or your chickens are older they won't contain much water and would burn if cooked in a pan. For the best result, they'll need to be simmered in liquid until it evaporates before fat is added, which is called the wet saute.

First the mushrooms are trimmed and cleaned. Any tough portions are cut off from the bottom. If the mushrooms look dirty, they should be rinsed or dipped in water and dried on towels. Next the mushrooms are cut into thick pieces about ½ inch.

Next you add some garlic to the pan, along with a pinch of salt. Then sliced shallots and fresh thyme are added.

What To Do With Chicken Of The Woods Mushrooms?

One of my favorite things to do is to add sliced bell pepper and onions, and cooking the mixture down to serve like fajitas. Add a splash of tomato sauce, fresh ground cumin, and hot chili pepper to taste. Serve with warm corn tortillas and your favorite condiments.

If your chicken mushrooms are very fresh, harvested after a rain, or give off yellow juice when cut it can mean they contain a lot of natural water. These are often the finest mushrooms to eat, and are extra soft and tender.

To dry saute them, cut the mushrooms into pieces and heat them in a non-stick pan until the water releases. After the water has evaporated, you season the mushrooms with salt and add your fat to the pan. This method is great for making sure the mushrooms don't turn out oily since they won't absorb as much fat cooked this way.

Michigan Mushrooms: Chicken Of The Woods

Simple sauteed chicken of the woods mushrooms with garlic and shallot, a simple, delicious recipe for a wild mushroom that tastes like chicken. Serves 2 as a side dish

Sauteed chicken of the woods with onions and peppers A simple variation on the basic recipe. I like to serve this as I would fajitas. 

Follow the recipe as above, adding 1 thinly sliced and seeded bell pepper along with the shallot. You can also add a small yellow onion instead of the shallot. Cook the mixture on medium heat until the peppers are just tender.

Chicken Of The Woods Tacos

I like to add a splash of tomato puree or sauce to help keep it juicy, along with fresh ground cumin, crushed red pepper, and chopped cilantro to taste. 

Serving: 2.5 oz | Calories: 86 kcal | Carbohydrates: 4 g | Protein: 2 g | Fat: 7 g | Saturated Fat: 1 g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2 g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4 g | Trans Fat: 0.03 g | Sodium: 17 mg | Potassium: 297 mg | Fiber: 2 g | Sugar: 0.4 g | Vitamin A: 0.1 IU | Vitamin C: 0.5 mg | Calcium: 34 mg | Iron: 9 mgChicken piccata is a dish that I’ve never had before, but in my quest to find traditionally chicken recipes to make with my wild chicken of the woods mushrooms (more about those below), the chicken piccata stood out. It is simple, takes less than 30 minutes to make, and is bathed in a wine-based sauce (my wine appreciation has gone up as of late). Additionally, when I first made this I had all the ingredients I needed already in the house, more or less sealing the deal that vegan chicken piccata would be made. So if zingy, caper filled pasta sauce and perfectly crispy, chicken-like wild mushrooms, done in half an hour, with a glass of white wine sounds like the meal for you, read on!

Chicken of the woods is an ingredient that has been on my plate a lot lately- as the fall blooms,

Chicken Of The Woods, An Easy To Id Meat Substitute