There’s something so primal about a big hen of the woods and breaking off giant clusters to cook whole like a piece of meat, there a great entry level mushroom too, easy to identify, big in size, typically worm-free, delicious. I don’t know any cooking technique more raw than cooking over burning wood, so…
Polypore Mushrooms
A prime white-pored chicken of the woods.
Polypores like chicken and hen of the woods are mostly tree parasites, and are some of the largest-fruiting mushroom bounties I've come across. There's a number of species, and you'll find recipes and information here for a number of them.
The Black Staining Polypore
A number of years ago I got an envelope in the mail, ground dried powder of Meripilus sumstinei, the black staining polypore or rooster of the woods. it the first time someone sent me mushrooms in the mail I’d never met, which, is now a pretty regular occurrence (currently I’m waiting on honey truffles to…
Meatballs with Ischnoderma Gravy
Everyone likes meatballs in gravy, and there’s nothing crazy or out of the ordinary here, except that I’m using Ischnoderma resinosum (resinous polypore) instead of more commonly used mushrooms, and some nice ground whitetail that I helped my friend butcher. The Ischnoderma is really the focal point here-the meatballs could be whatever you want. I…
Ischnoderma Kimchi
Ischnoderma resinosum is a great all-around mushroom, and I managed to snag a few at the end of the season before it got too cold. I’d made a note to ferment some up to see how I liked them. Sure, There’s plenty of mushrooms you could ferment like this, but some are better than others….
White Risotto with Cauliflower Mushroom Ragu
I love cauliflower mushrooms / Sparassis, but, honestly I think I like the texture more than the flavor. Don’t get me wrong, they taste excellent, but, it’s hard to find another mushroom with a similar texture. They’re just so unique. With that in mind, when I have access to some fresh cauliflower fungus, I cook…
Hen of the Woods Roast with Leeks and Black Walnuts
Since hen of the woods can have such a large size, I love swapping them out for meat in recipes. With the maitake coming up in earnest in late September/October right now, I’ve had more than my share of them hanging out in the fridge queue waiting to get cooked, so big ol’chunk of hen…
Simple Roasted Hen of the Woods
Mushrooms are one of the most perfect ingredients for minimalist, less is more cooking, and these simple roasted hen of the woods / maitake are a great example. Sure, you can make them into pasta sauce, jerky, and all kinds of things, but probably the simplest, and one of the most delicious things to make,…
Beefsteak Mushrooms with Sorrel
Here’s a study in how a dish can be completely different in a short time after it’s been composed. I was thinking about how to eat a beefsteak mushroom / oxtongue fungus (Fistulina hepatica) I had the other week, those shelf fungus that give red juice when cut, have a slightly tart taste, and, that…
Beefsteak Mushroom Relish
Cutting up my first beefsteak mushroom (Fistulina hepatica) was a mess. My cutting board looked like a murder scene, my hands were tacky and red, there was sticky trim scraped off of the knife in little piles around the board. In the end though, I did get a nice pile of dice from it to…
Chicken of the Woods Piccata
I went to one of my favorite places a few days ago: a wayside rest on the way up to Northern Minnesota. Well, the wayside rest isn’t my favorite, but there’s a tree I know of, that *is* my favorite. The tree in question is a red oak that typically bears chickens early in June,…
Dryad Saddle Pickles with Jalapeno & Dill
I have a few friends in particular that go out every year for morels and consistently can’t grab enough for a meal. But, one thing they can usually count on are a few dryad saddles / pheasant backs (Cerioporus squamosus). The flavor is strong, and some people don’t care for it, but, however you feel…
Grilled Hen of the Woods Duxelles
We’ve all been there, you came upon your hen tree, or maybe you just stumbled on a new one, and it’s packed with pounds and pounds of clean, fresh hens. Finding them was the easy part. Now comes the work of bringing them home, along with hours of cleaning, cooking and processing. With mushrooms so…
Hen of the Woods Fritters
If you hunt hen of the woods, you’ve probably had the problem of not knowing what to do with large-sized hens that pop up during the season. Hens are the best young, but it’s easier said than done to get them at that perfect, tender, button stage. Thankfully, and in some ways unfortunately, they stay…