Chicken of The Woods

As might be clear to some, I’m quite into Mushroom foraging! At the weekend I was out working in central York and happened across a clump of Laetiporus sulphureus (Commonly known as Chicken of The Woods or simply COTW) on an ornamental Plum tree. It took me a few days to gain access as it was behind a tall metal railed fence in the grounds of The Merchant Adventures Hall. But I bagged a decent portion the other day, so we went sort of ‘Buffet style’ last night.

We used the same batter for the Tokneneng (Battered Eggs) and the Chicken of The Woods.

Batter ingredients:-

2 Eggs, whisked
Cornflour
Plain Flour (Gluten free for us)
Turmeric
Hot Chilli Powder
Garlic Salt
Onion Salt
Baking powder
Soda Water

Method:-

(1) Cut the COTW into rough nuggets, scraping off an debris on the upper surface.
(2) Mix Butter Milk, Garlic Salt and the juice of a Lemon and soak the nuggets overnight.
(3) Mix the batter and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
(4) Dredge the nuggets in Cornflour and then dunk in the batter mix.
(5) Fry and drain in small batches.

We served them with a dressed salad, Bacon and Tomato Pin Wheels, micro Pizzas and some DIY dips. Effectively clearing a few stray bit & bots out of the fridge!