We love to forage for wild food because it’s a way to do food shopping while doing something we love…hiking! When we get home, we then get to take our bounty to the kitchen and get creative! One thing we really enjoy, specifically with Chicken of the Woods Mushrooms, is to incorporate our mushrooms as meat substitutes in classic dishes. A few of our favourites to date are Chicken (of the Woods) Cordon Bleu, Chicken (of the Woods) and Waffles, Chicken (of the Woods) Alfredo, and Chicken (of the Woods) Pot Pie.
For this dish, we decided to build upon the “Chicken Florentine,” which is at its core a chicken and spinach dish. So, we breaded and fried our mushroom, topped it with our spinach component, and served it on a Brioche bun. If you’ve got some of these mushrooms and are in the mood for a really tasty vegetarian sandwich, give this one a try!
*This website can’t be used to identify wild mushrooms or ingredients. Do your own independent research, and consume wild mushrooms or ingredients at your own risk.
Time: 30 Minutes
Ingredients:
- Chicken of the Woods Mushrooms. We ones we Dehydrated from last year’s bounty, but fresh is better if you can.
- Onion
- Spinach
- Dry White Wine
- Heavy Cream or Half and Half
- Parmesan Cheese
- All purpose flour
- Tomato
- Brioche Bun
Method:
- If using Dried Mushrooms, rehydrate them by soaking them for a few hours in warm water. Then, pat those dry with a paper towel to remove excess moisture.
- Working a few mushroom shelves at a time, toss in all purpose flour to coat, and then set aside. Do this until all of your mushrooms are coated in flour.
- Dice your onions, and melt some butter in a large pan. Then, add your onions, and sauté until they become opaque.
- Add a little dry white wine into your onion pan, and bring it to a good simmer.
- As your onions cook, heat some oil in a heavy bottomed (we prefer cast iron) pan. When it is hot, arrange your mushrooms in the pan in a single layer, and begin to fry (you may need to do this in batches). Fry for about 4-5 minutes (until golden brown, and then flip, and cook the rest thoroughly).
- When your wine has cooked down a bit, add in your spinach, and stir to wilt.
- Sprinkle some parmesan cheese over your spinach, and then add in a tablespoon or two of your cream, and allow to thicken.
- As your spinach and mushrooms cook, prep your burger buns and toppings. We just had to slice tomatoes for ours.
- When your mushrooms finish, arrange them on your brioche, and scoop your spinach atop.
- Devour, and enjoy!
