Celebrate “culture” in agriculture & share skills like growing, cooking, canning

Awe~Naturale

We most often think of spring as a starting place, a place for birth, re-birth, growth ... but I didn't get here til now, so ... I'll open my blog as I open to you at Homegrown, Sunday, Sept. 9, 2012.

I enjoy nature and it's gifts. Yesterday I had the time to go to a wooded lot (hillside) behind the house to look for Chicken of the Woods mushrooms. I just started looking for fall mushrooms. I'd never harvested any except for morels in the spring. I've been lucky for about two weeks now in finding several of the 'chicken mushrooms'. The trip began, though, with a stop at one of my paw paw trees. It took years of transplanting them from my dad's place till some finally took root and now are bearing nicely.

Then ... on to the woods. The first cluster I found today was on an old broken off tree trunk (oak). These were past their prime (some even molded) so I left them and continued my search.

Next I headed over to an old log which I had picked from earlier in the week. There were more just 'chicks' just hatching so I was pretty confident that there would be some new shrooms for my sack. WOW!

More ..............

Three were even more up and down the log and some on the other side too. I was able to harvest and put up 6 quarts in the freezer for winter. I do have a pic of some stir fry from a few days ago though. Chicken of the Woods mushrooms sauteed in butter, when done, added green onion from my garden. Added two tablespoons of lemon juice, seasoned with salt, black pepper and a little red pepper flake. Also sprinkled just a tiny, tiny pinch of yellow corn meal on just for ... well ... just because I wanted too.

In researching recipes for Chicken of the Woods online I find that they are a pretty good substitute for just about any chicken dish. Vegans should take note... THEY TASTE LIKE CHICKEN!

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Comment by SamR on September 12, 2012 at 1:11am: Dear Shellie;

There is pretty good info on the net if you'd like to research further. The Chicken of the Woods or sulphur shelf is one of the 'friendly four' (Chicken of the Woods, morel, Shaggy Mane and puffball) that are easily identified. Cautions is ALWAYS recommended however. The first time you eat ANY mushroom new to you, you should only have a small portion. Many folks will have an allergic reaction to them so it's best to 'get to know' your mushrooms even if they one of the 'safe' ones. Chicken of the Woods can be boiled first if there is a concern.

Comment by Shellie A. Gades on September 11, 2012 at 7:23pm: Mushrooming is something I have yet to explore... too many variables. But these beauties look easy enough to identify!

Comment by SamR on September 10, 2012 at 1:07am: Thanks for visiting Shellie. It was very good. I think with a little pork rub, these could almost pass for pork chops too. Just leave the 'shelves' unsliced. I think I'll try that next.