Sunday, October 07, 2012

From Tree to Table: The Tale of a Hen-of-the-Woods

There once was a little mushroom called Hen-of-the-Woods. It lived on an old dead oak tree in the woods behind Rick and Lynne’s house. It went unnoticed for quite some time until one day last week.

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Rick found it and showed Lynne. She could not believe her eyes. A highly prized edible mushroom growing in their woods? They decided to leave it alone having no plans in the near future for a mushroom meal.

So the Little Hen was safe and breathed a sigh of relief. Safe for now, anyway.

A couple of days ago Lynne went to check on the Little Hen, only to find that Little Hen had practically doubled in size. (And added on a few little admirers I might add that are not edible!) She had turned into Big Hen.

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Lynne told Rick and yesterday he decided to harvest Big Hen. Here she is cut loose from her tree home.

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Glorious, is she not?

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Bella was not as sure as we were that it would be delicious!

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Big Hen at rest in her new home.

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Big Hen after a slimming makeover.

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In the pan and smelling amazing!

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And finally on the plate and into the mouth. Yum. Woody. Earthy. Absolutely delish! And very rich, like eating a beef steak!

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Big Hen was joined by Chicken-in-a Pot, Mashed Potatoes (using our new antique potato ricer we found in an antique store yesterday), and glazed carrots. (If you want to see the Chicken-in-a-Pot recipe broken down follow this link to Rick’s blog. Totally worth checking it out if you enjoy cooking.)

And, yes, I lived to tell this tale today!

PLEASE NOTE:
(We do no eat any mushrooms that are difficult to identify or that we are unsure of. Hen-of-the-Woods have three different varieties that are all edible: there is no mistaking one for something else.)

Next entry: Mushrooms of the inedible kind

Previous entry: Croquet anyone?

About

Welcome, I'm Lynne. You know me better as a 'new' Jersey Girl. But now I've moved once again, this time to North Carolina. Here I write about my thoughts, good food, and of course, dogs.

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