Chicken-of-the-woods

On a hike across Kachemak Bay on a sunny Friday afternoon in early July, I happened upon a spruce tree right on the trail with gorgeous fresh chicken-of-the-woods.

It is amazing how this bright orange mushroom with neon yellow undersides calls out to you in the woods.

"LOOK AT ME!" It screams. 

I was thrilled to find such a delicious mushroom. My friend, Mina, whom I was hiking with, fondly remembered when I made a chicken-of-the-woods pot pie for her and her parents a few years back, and we immediately hatched a plan to recreate that amazing dinner. 

Two days later, Mina, her husband James, and our friend Sarah, who was also on the hike came over for dinner at my house, and I pulled the most beautiful pie out of the oven to share with them. 

And now I share the recipe with you! 

Chicken-of-the-woods is a shelf mushroom that grows on spruce trees here in Alaska. It has a thick, meaty texture that is similar to chicken. You could use it in place of chicken in just about any recipe. 

This recipe is super adaptable. You could use any combination of vegetables. 

Chicken of the Woods Pot Pie

Pie Dough

• 3.5 cups flour
• 1.5 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup cold butter
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• about 1/4 cup water

Mix together flour and salt in a medium bowl. Cut in butter and then olive oil. Add water until it comes together into a ball. Do not over-mix. You should still see chunks of butter and the dough will not be smooth. Divide into two balls, one slightly larger than the other and set aside to rest while you make the filling. 

Filling

• 2 tablespoons butter
• One large onion, diced (I used 4-5 walking onions from my garden)
• 3-4 stalks of celery, diced
• 3-4 carrots, about 1 cup, diced
• 1 cup diced rutabaga (optional)
• 1.5 teaspoons salt
• 2 cloves garlic (I used 1 teaspoon garlic powder)
• A generous amount of chicken-of-the-woods, about 2 pounds sliced
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cups veggie or chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon super greens powder (optional)
• 1 tablespoon dried liver powder (optional) I left this out for my vegetarian friend
• 1 bunch cooking greens, chopped (I used kale and lambs quarters. Can also use dandelion greens, chard, beet greens, etc)
• 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
• 1 egg

Directions:

Preheat large skillet on medium and melt butter. Add onion, celery, carrots, rutabaga, and 1 teaspoon salt. Toss to coat and cook down for a few minutes to soften onion. Throw in the garlic and the mushrooms, thyme, and the last half teaspoon of salt. Cook about 5-7 minutes longer until the mushrooms are soft. Sprinkle on flour and blend in, cooking several minutes until you don't see any dry flour. Then add stock, greens powder, and liver powder if using, stirring well to blend. Turn heat to low and simmer 10 minutes until mixture thickens. Add cooking greens, cooking two minutes. 

Cut the heat and roll out the larger dough ball on a floured surface to fit in a 9" pie plate. Fold the parsley and all but 1 Tablespoon of the egg into the filling and scrape into the pie plate. Roll out the second, smaller dough ball and place on top, crimping the top and the bottom together. Brush the top with remaining egg and cut three generous slashed in the top to let steam escape. 

Bake 45-60 minutes at 350° until the crust is golden brown. Serve with a fresh garden salad!