Driving home from Bungay I caught sight of something unusual in the hedge, pulling in to the next layby I walked back to find a huge yellow bracket fungi growing from the dead heartwood of an oak tree.
Chicken of the woods (Laetiporus sulphurous), so called because when cooked it looks and tastes like chicken, is good to eat when young and tender – and easy to identify*. This one was in perfect condition and I could see that a few people had already careful cut away chunks – I did the same and cooked it for dinner, turns out it goes extremely well with our quinoa!
Chicken of the woods
Here’s my recipe.
Quinoa pilaf with chicken of the woods ragoût and lemon courgettes
Serves 3 to 4
You could substitute chicken of the woods for real chicken or a use vegetarian alternative – butternut squash or sweet potato would work well.
Ingredients
For the ragoût
Butter and/or olive oil
1 clove of garlic
1 red onion
1 small glass of red wine
Sprig of sage
2 or 3 bay leaves
400g chicken of the woods
½ tin of chopped tomatoes
½ tin tomato tin of water
Teaspoon of bouillon powder
Salt and pepper
For the quinoa
200g dry quinoa
4 or 5 runner beans
½ red pepper
A handful of spinach
For the courgettes
Butter and/or olive oil
Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
2 or 3 medium sized courgettes
1 bunch fresh coriander
Method
Finely chop the onion and cook in a heavy casserole until translucent, add the garlic. Chop the mushroom into chunks and add it with the herbs, add to the pot and cook for a 5 minutes. Stir in the wine, cook for a few minutes. Add the tomatoes, water and bouillon, simmer for a few minutes, put on the lid and cook in the oven for 45 minutes at 180C.
Rinse the quinoa, finely chop the pepper and runner beans, put them all in a saucepan and cover with twice the volume of water. Bring to the boil then simmer until the quinoa is cooked – 10 or 15 minutes. Off the heat stir in the spinach to wilt, serve while hot (my preference) or chilled.
Slice the courgette diagonally or length-ways, brown in a frying pan with a little oil or butter and just before they’re cooked through add the lemon zest. Off the heat stir in half the coriander and squeeze over the lemon juice.
Serve with a wedge of lemon and a sprinkling of coriander.
Quinoa pilaf with chicken of the woods ragoût and lemon courgettes
*As always it’s important to be absolutely sure about what you’ve found before you eat it, moreover some people (very few) find Chicken of the Woods upsets their stomachs – if it’s your first time try a little bit just to be sure (and never eat it raw).
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