"Chicken Of The Woods" Mushroom ~ 3 Ways

Last month I was on the Big Gunpowder Trail at Gunpowder Falls State Park in Baltimore County, Maryland when I spotted this absolutely beautiful cluster of Chicken of the Woods mushroom.

I had just photographed the one side of this tree that was covered in these small mushrooms. It was just on the opposite side of this same tree and when I saw them it was amazing and breathtaking at the same time! I recognized them right away although it was the first time that I've found them and seen them in nature.

We walked just a little farther down the trail to the Pot Rocks area but those Chicken of the Woods mushrooms stayed on my mind.

It was awesome to see them and I've never tasted them so on the way back I decided that I would remove just a couple of shelves to try them. I mean ... when would I have another chance to do so?! So, I took two and a half shelves as one of the shelves had a half-ish one attached to it.

Once home I looked up how to prepare them. Most sites said to just saute in olive oil and garlic so I tried the half-ish piece like that and the other two I decided to prepare them the way I would prepare chicken. They are called Chicken of the Woods after all! Oh yeah! Before I forget never consume Chicken of the Woods without cooking them as it can upset your stomach! I took to the short task of cleaning the mushrooms which was easy because they were pretty clean. The cleaning I did do was with the back of the knife that I was using and I did some trimming as well. Here are before and after cleaning and cutting photos ...

Cooking Method 1
I will tell you this that the smell of the raw mushroom (to me) had a light earthy and very slight citrus smell. First I sauteed which was simple. I put the olive oil, garlic (to taste) and just a little salt and pepper since I planned on adding just a bit more once done. I did find that I should've added the minced garlic a little later in the cooking process as it did burn slightly. I sauteed it for probably ten minutes.

Once done, it looked like I possibly overcooked it but looks were deceiving. It was perfect!

This was the easiest and fastest method and it was delicious. I could see why it is called Chicken of the Woods. It had the texture and did taste a lot like chicken that is thinly sliced. I also think I tasted just the very slightest hint of that citrus that I smelled.

Cooking Method 2
Next, I tried frying it. For this I fried it in vegetable oil like I would when I fry chicken on the stovetop. Also, as I do chicken like this, I whisked the egg in a bowl and dipped each piece and then dredged it with the breading in a separate bowl. I use a chicken breading mix that we like but added some additional black pepper.

I fried it approximately fifteen minutes. The coating came out beautifully on the mushroom.

In this next photo it may appear dry but it was not. It was perfect and perfectly delicious!

Cooking Method 3
The last way I cooked it was by baking it in the oven. This method and the second method is how I do chicken sometimes and I decided to prepare it like this because it is compared to chicken. For this I lined a baking sheet with non-stick foil. Combined 1 cup of Italian style bread crumbs, half cup of grated parmesan cheese, 1 tablespoon Season All seasoned salt and 1 teaspoon black pepper. All seasonings can be modified to taste. I melted the butter and dredged the mushroom in the butter then the coating mix.

I baked in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees for approximately twenty minutes (times may vary).

It came out nicely but this was my least favorite as the coating did not apply well and it was messy with crumbs falling off. Don't get me wrong, it was still yummy but not as much as the other two methods.

Closing Thoughts
My closing thoughts are that Chicken of the Woods has me hooked! I love it and I'm so glad that I decided to harvest a couple of shelves and brought it home to try. I don't know if I'll have the opportunity again but I sure hope so. My favorite method for cooking would be method 2 then method 1. I would try method 3 again but maybe with an egg coating instead of the butter. I would not try it again the way that I did. Honestly though, methods 2 and 1 were so yummy that I would just stick with those methods. I'm sure there are other methods as well so if I do happen upon them again then I am open to trying other ways to prepare them as well. 😋

All photos and text by me @deerjay. All rights reserved.