September 12, 2017

Chicken of the Woods Mushroom Picatta

Chicken piccata is a dish that I’ve never had before, but in my quest to find traditionally chicken recipes to make with my wild chicken of the woods mushrooms (more about those below), the chicken piccata stood out. It is simple, takes less than 30 minutes to make, and is bathed in a wine-based sauce (my wine appreciation has gone up as of late). Additionally, when I first made this I had all the ingredients I needed already in the house, more or less sealing the deal that vegan chicken piccata would be made. So if zingy, caper filled pasta sauce and perfectly crispy, chicken-like wild mushrooms, done in half an hour, with a glass of white wine sounds like the meal for you, read on!

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Identifying Chicken of the Woods Mushroom

Chicken of the woods is an ingredient that has been on my plate a lot lately- as the fall blooms, dying and decaying trees lend themselves as nutrients for brightly colored mushrooms. They have a distinct, uncanny chicken-like flavor, making them a great substitute for all of your old favorite chicken recipes. Lately almost every time I go out into the woods I find another chicken of the woods sprouting out of the trunk or roots of a dying tree- and my recipes reflect that. Chicken of the woods is one of the most plentiful and easily identifiable species (although technically, it’s actually six different species), with orange tops (sometimes faded into a more peach color) and yellow pores. Always make sure to practice caution and be sure of your identification before eating- consult an expert and be safe. Additionally, for this recipe a young, fresh and clean chicken of the woods is best- you want to cook it in fairly large pieces, so you don’t want to have to be slicing it up to remove leaves and bugs.

Looking for Chicken of the Woods Recipes? Try one of these!

Making Vegan Chicken Piccata

Chicken piccata has a few easy steps- first you cook the mushrooms (“chicken”), Use that same pan to make the sauce and put the mushrooms and the sauce over pasta. The mushrooms are coated lightly in a flour mixture- purists can use just flour and a little salt, but I like to flavor mine a little- a vegan parmesan like this one would be great, or just delicious old nutritional yeast! Cover the mushrooms with flour- if you are having trouble getting the flour to stick to the mushrooms, pressing it in gently should do the trick. Cook the mushrooms in olive oil for four minutes on each side, and keep them warm in the oven while you make the sauce.

The sauce incorporates the leftover oil (most of this should have been used up in the cooking process) and blackened bits of flour that have fallen off. Cook the wine, lemon and capers with the leftovers from frying the mushrooms, and simmer for a few minutes, allowing the sauce to reduce a little and the alcohol in the wine to cook off. Mix with some vegan butter, and you’re ready to serve. Put down the pasta first, followed by the mushrooms and topped with the wine sauce. Garnish with parsley (or lemon slices), and voilà- less than 30 minutes later, and dinner is served.

Chicken of the Woods Mushroom Picatta

Chicken of the Woods Picatta

Ingredients

¾ lb. (or more) chicken of the woods mushrooms
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
¼ cup olive oil (and more, if needed)
¼ cup nutritional yeast or finely grated vegan cheese
½ cup dry white wine
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup of capers
3 TBSP vegan butter
½ lb. spaghetti
Fresh parsley (optional)
Black pepper, freshly ground to taste

Instructions

Clean the chicken of the woods, and slice so they are fairly thin (about ¼-½ inch thick. Depending on your chicken, this might be about the thickness that the petals grew in). Preheat the oven to 230 degrees, and place a metal baking sheet in the preheating oven.
In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and vegan cheese/nutritional yeast (if using). Dip the mushrooms into the flour, pressing slightly so that the mushrooms are lightly coated. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil. Once the oil is hot, cook the chicken of the woods (in batches, if needed) for 4 minutes on each side- as you cook bits of flour might come off and burn, but that will be incorporated into the sauce later. Put the cooked pieces on a baking tray in the warmed oven. Add more oil to cook all pieces, if needed.
Put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. As cook as directed on the box, time so it has finished cooking around when your sauce is complete.
Once all the mushrooms have been cooked, pour the wine, capers and lemon juice directly into the same pan you were cooking with. Use a wooden spoon to scrape down the sides and bottom of the pan, and whisk to incorporate all the remaining oil and browned flour in the pot. Bring to a simmer for 3-4 minutes before adding the vegan butter and whisking together once it has melted. Add the cooked pasta, and toss to coat each noodle.
Plate the pasta first, with the chicken of the woods on top and garnish with parsley, if desired.

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