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Award-winning chef, author and forager Alan Bergo. Food is all around you.

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Hen Of The Woods-Leek Gratin

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hen of the woods gratin recipe, maitake mushroom gratin recipe Here’s an awesome, easy way to enjoy those hen of the woods.

Story goes that I was at my girlfriends place getting ready to make some Sunday dinner, we pulled some pork chops out of the freezer, but were a little light on the vegetable front. Thankfully there’s a giant garden around-the stuff dreams are made of.

The season was getting on, so there wasn’t a ton of variety from the garden, but there was a basket of beautiful leeks, and some fresh hen of the woods that I had grabbed the day before for my tv demo on Kare-11. I set to work with nothing more than the leeks and the hen of the woods, I was so surprised at how good it turned out I decided to share it.

Since there’s not a lot of ingredients here, it’s really important to pay attention to the details, the most important thing is browning the hen of the woods. If the hens aren’t browned, it won’ be the same at all. Fresh herbs and good butter are a must too.

There’s something almost magical that happens when the browned hens cook with the leeks in a covered dish for a while, the juice that comes out of them marries with everything else, perfuming the whole thing.hen of the woods recipe with leeks

With only hens, leeks, stock, butter, herbs and breadcrumbs, this is a perfect example of the old less is more philosophy. If the stuff you’re using is top notch, and you’re thoughtful in how you prepare it, you really don’t have to do much.

When I made this the first time I didn’t even use the breadcrumbs, since I needed to keep it gluten free. I’m usually a crispy-crunchy sort of guy, but I’ll tell you: I prefer this without breadcrumbs, they soak up the delicious hen-leek juice a bit, which is really the best part.

Either way, this is a great dish, and an example of how good food doesn’t have to be complicated.

hen of the woods recipe with leeks

hen of the woods recipe with leeks
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Hen of the Woods-Leek Gratin

Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time45 mins
Course: Appetizer, Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine: French
Keyword: Gratin, Hen of the woods mushroom, Leeks
Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • Hen of the woods mushrooms
  • Leeks trimmed to yield 1/2 lb, cut into 1/2 inch rounds
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter for the top of the gratin
  • Kosher salt and pepper to taste
  • ½ cup meat or vegetable stock preferably homemade
  • Cooking oil or lard
  • 1 tbsp fresh thyme
  • ¼ cup panko breadcrumbs optional

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • Place the leeks in a wide baking dish. Cover the leeks with the stock, season lightly with the salt, pepper and thyme.
  • Heat some oil in a large saute pan and brown the hen of the woods lightly, you don’t need to cook them through, just make sure that they have some nice color on them. Season the hen of the woods with salt and pepper, then distribute them evenly over the leeks.
  • Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake, covered for 45 minutes to an hour, or until the leeks are very tender.
  • When the leeks are tender, remove the aluminum foil sprinkle on the breadcrumbs if using and dot evenly with the butter.
  • Increase the heat on the oven to 450 and brown for a few minutes, then serve immediately.

Notes

This can be made with or without the breadcrumbs. If you make it without the crumbs, you should still add the butter, it helps the top brown and adds great flavor.

More 

Hen of the Woods or Maitake Mushroom

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Previous Post: « Swordfish With Lobster Mushroom Stuffing
Next Post: Matsutake Ramen »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. TJ

    November 25, 2014 at 3:24 pm

    Seriously, you have a gift. Thank you for sharing.

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      November 25, 2014 at 4:45 pm

      Hey TJ, thanks. My favorite part of this one is the opening shot with the hen and the leeks, I remembered a trick one of my photography mentors used when we were shooting the Heartland Cookbook-using some black foam core to provide natural vignetting, without any artificial editing. Thanks for the thought.

      Reply
  2. Dan Farmer

    November 25, 2014 at 11:44 pm

    Suitable for a hot date? Got a couple of Red Wattle pork chops, some sunchokes, and some romanesco. Should I maybe ditch one of those for this gratin?

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      November 26, 2014 at 10:00 am

      Hi Dan, I’m skeptical if frozen hens would have the same effect. I’d go with the romanesco and chokes. I like to peel the sunchokes before I cook them too, and brown them in plenty of butter.

      Reply
  3. pete hautman

    September 8, 2015 at 10:20 am

    Alan, I made this gratin last night, and it was a real crowd pleaser in a family full of avid cooks. I now have a new go-to side dish for hen-of-the-woods season.

    BTW, I used your “mushroom crouton” idea using a bunch of pickled hen from last year. Just pressed some of the moisture out of them, floured ’em, and hit the fat. The were great. This year I plan to pickle a bunch of hen just for that purpose.

    Thank you for your ideas, and for taking the time to share them on your website.

    Reply

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Alan Bergo
Morels: the only wild mushroom I count by the each Morels: the only wild mushroom I count by the each instead of the pound. 

Good day today, although my Twin Cities spots seem a full two weeks behind from the late spring. 2 hours south they were almost all mature. 

76 for me and 152 for the group. Check your spots, and good luck! 

#morels #murkels #mollymoochers #drylandfish #spongemushroom #theprecious
The first time I’ve seen fungal guttation-a natu The first time I’ve seen fungal guttation-a natural secretion of water I typically see with plants. 

I understand it as an indicator that the mushrooms are growing rapidly, and a byproduct of their metabolism speeding up. If you have some clarifications, chime in. 

Most people know it from Hydnellum 
peckii-another polypore. I’ve never seen it on pheasant backs before.

Morels are coming soon too. Mine were 1 inch tall yesterday in the Twin Cities. 

#guttation #mushroomhunting #cerioporussquamosus #pheasantback #naturesbeauty
Rain and heat turned the flood plain forest into a Rain and heat turned the flood plain forest into a grocery store. 

#groceryshopping #sochan #rudbeckialaciniata #foraging
Italian wild food traditions are some of my favori Italian wild food traditions are some of my favorite. 

Case in point: preboggion, a mixture of wild plants, that, depending on the reference, should be made with 5-23 individual plants. 

Here’s a few mixtures I’ve made this spring, along with a reference from the Oxford companion to Italian food. 

The mixture should include some bitter greens (typically assorted asters) but the most important plant is probably borage. 

Making your own version is a good excercise. Here they’re wilted with garlic and oil, but there’s a bunch of traditional recipes the mixture is used in. 

Can you believe this got cut from my book?!

#preboggion #preboggiun #foraging #traditionalfoods
Oh the things I get in the mail. This is my kind Oh the things I get in the mail. 

This is my kind of tip though: a handmade buckskin bag with a note and a handful of bleached snapping turtle claws. 😁😂 

Sent in by Leslie, a reader. 

Smells like woodsmoke and the cat quickly claimed it as her new bed. 

#buckskin #mailsurprise #turtleclaws #thisimylife #cathouse
Bluebell season. Destined for a Ligurian ravioli Bluebell season. 

Destined for a Ligurian ravioli as a replacement for the traditional borage greens. 

#mertensiavirginica #virginiabluebells #spring #foraging
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