Chicken of the Woods Scotland

What’s better than chicken? chicken with chicken! The wild mushroom "chicken of the woods" should start popping up further down the valley towards Grantown-on-Spey or south to Perth. Chicken of the Woods is one of the best wild mushrooms and easy to spot with its shades of bright orange. You can often find them nestled at the base of an oak tree (henace why you have to go North of Grantwon or toward Perthshire, very few oak in the Cairngorms National Park.

Chicken of the Woods has a great meaty texture. This mushroom is delicious but you need to know how to cook it. I’ve read on many websites and blogs that Chicken of the Woods is just ok… which to me means 2 things.

They didn’t know how to cook it....!
They are MAD mushroom haters!

You do need to harvest Chicken of the Woods when it’s tender, otherwise it can be really tough and awful but if you’re lucky enough to find it in its early stages it’s wonderful.

Here’s how we cooked at Highland Holiday Cottages. What you’ll need:

Chicken of the Woods ....(let me know if you know of a location in the Cairngorms)
Free Range (hopefully killed by yourself) Chicken (cut into pieces) If a veg, leave out! ort add some monk fish or veg.......sweet potatoe.
Garlic....lots and lots of the stuff
Extra virgin olive oil
Chicken broth
Good splash of cream
Splash of white wine
Salt & lots of pepper

Optional.....some chilli.....chilli goes in a lot of my cooking...

Clean your mushroom thoroughly (see previous blogs for this info) and tear the most tender parts into pieces. Add your extra virgin olive oil to your pan with some minced garlic (& chilli). … then add your Chicken of the Woods and let it saute for a few minutes. You’ll notice the brilliant color of the mushroom as it cooks. Pull this to one side to add later. Add your chicken and let it cook until almost completely cooked through. Then add your chicken broth and cooked shrooms, splash of wine and cream, salt and pepper. Serve over anything. ...toast, mash steak rice....

Looking for self-catering accommodation? Why not check out - http://www.highlandholidaycottages.com/ or http://www.cairngormsholidaycottages.com/

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KNOW YOUR SHROOMS, the upcoming documentary by Ron Mann.

From the award-winning director of "Comic Book Confidential," "Grass," "Go Further," and a host of paradigm-shifting films reappraising the backwaters of popular culture, Ron Mann investigates the miraculous, near-secret world of fungi with his newest piece of cinema, "Know Your Mushrooms." see trailer below.......

Inspired by a chance conversation with fellow filmmaker and mushroom buff Jim Jarmusch, Mann set off to the annual Telluride Mushroom Festival in Colorado. It was there he encountered the unique sub-sub-subculture surrounding fungi that includes an unlikely assortment of nerds, nuts, hipsters, tripsters, artists, chefs, musicians, foodies, foragers, and seekers all paying homage to the mighty mushroom."Know Your Mushrooms." follows uber myco visionaries Gary Lincoff and Larry Evans (two of the more expert and unforgettably mercurial characters in the community) as they lead us on a hunt for the wild mushroom and the deeper cultural experiences attached to the mysterious fungi.

Combining material filmed at the Telluride Mushroom Fest with animation and archival footage along with a neo-psychedelic soundtrack by the Flaming Lips, "Know Your Mushrooms" opens the doors to perception, takes the audience on a longer, stranger trip and delivers them to a brave new world where the fungi might well guide humanity to a saner, safer place... with extra cheese...

I can't wait to take Reuel and the guys to the Edinburgh Film Festival to see this.....tee hee

Fungi Tax

Should the Cairngorm National Park issue mushroom licensees?

I have been interested in wild forging and mushroom picking for many years now, so much so I have, as many of my friends will agree, become rather obsessed. This is particular evident in our wild fungi and what’s on blog.

My wife and I are based at Crubenbeg Highland Holiday Cottages, previously owned by the lovely Jenny Graham and Miggi Meier located close to the Falls of Truim a few miles south of Newtonmore in the Cairngorm National Park. From this base, we board and entertain a league of “micophiles” (mushroom enthusiasts) of both foreign and indigenous in nature during late summer and autumn months.

These “microphiles” venture into the highland Caledonian forests, clamber over babbling burns and scrabble through forest floors in the search of the ultimate price; Edible Wild Mushrooms! From the to the gold “Chanterelle” to the Boletus Edius, or otherwise know as the “Porcini” or “Cep”, and my favorite the “hedgehog fungus” with it’s prickly white pointed gills, to name but a few of the edible fungi found in the Strathspey and Badenoch area . They head for secluded spots deep in the ancient forests where they had found tasty fungi before or search using locations marked on a secret fungi map!!!

However, the recent increase of TV chefs has increased the interest in fungi from amateurs and commercial pickers which there are a few of based in the Cairngorm National Park. This interest in wild mushrooms, inspired by chefs such as Hugh Fernley Whittingstall and the cheeky Jamie Oliver, has led to a dramatic increase in the number of foragers both amateur and commercial. These new foragers, with perhaps with a lack of understanding of the fungus important relationship with the forests and wider ecosystems may cause a detrimetaial impact of the forest ecosystem as a whole. So much so that some forest authorities, such as Epping Forest in England have become so alarmed that a licensing/educational schemes have been introduced, educating and controlling the occasional foragers and commercial collectors.

Some fungi enthusiasts are frustrated that if their one day turns out to be dry they may not find any at all. Others believe their right to harvest the fruits of the forest is being eroded.

I don’t think they should control the amount of mushrooms one person should forage, but I do think we “The Cairngorm National Park” should control the commercial pickers. At the moment there is no current license system for mushroom picking.

Fungi for thought! Should we consider some controls of fungi foraging in the cairngorm national park? Please do the survey in the side bar……

Looking for self-catering accommodation? Why not check out - www.HighlandHolidayCottages.com or www.cairngormsholidaycottages.com

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Fresh Salad from the Garden for the first time this year!!

Our first freshly picked salad was served on Sunday here at Crubenbeg Highland Holiday Cottages. We may be a bit later than most but it was well worth the wait!
The salad was a great variety of flavours, all of which came from the garden of Crubenbeg Highland Holiday Cottages. The lettuce was actually from a small box that we have beside the woodshed, and which any gardener could have grown, even if all you have is a window box.

Then radishes, which were fantastic, very spicy! These can be easily sown between rows of carrots or parsnips - because they grow faster and are ready for picking much sooner than the carrot or parsnip.

The salad had three additions that really made it lovely. Firstly, the lettuce had been grown interspersed with parsley, so when cutting the lettuce you can’t but help to cut a little parsley, which added a lovely flavour. Then the Crubenbeg Highland Holiday Cottage secret ingredients which were calendula petals. They are bright yellow and looking a bit like marigold flowers. They tasted slightly spicy too. Then the leaves and flowers of Nasturtium. (The bright red flowers in the picture). They are very peppery. I grew them in a pot at the front door. I have been picking a leaf here and a leaf there for the last two weeks!

I made a fresh vinaigrette dressing with three parts sunflower oil, one part vinegar, some castor sugar and some mustard... (flavour to individual taste!).

Crubenbeg Highland Holiday Cottages are really chuffed with the taste sensation of our first salad served from the garden and will keep you posted on our next vegetables (or flowers for that matter!).

Mushroom Power

The Power of Mushrooms

They may not have magical powers (well, not the kind we’d endorse), but mushrooms do have amazing versatility. Find out more about these “fun guys” (get it?) and how they can keep things interesting in the kitchen.


The Varieties

Mushrooms are commonly mistaken as a vegetable, but they’re really a fungus. A whole mushroom is called a spore and consists of three sections: cap, stem and gills (the underside of the cap). Oyster, brown, portobello, shitake and white (a.k.a. button) are types you likely know, but there are thousands of other varieties available in different sizes, shapes and colors.

A Nutritional Powerhouse

A cup of sliced mushrooms contains around 20 calories and provides a significant amount of nutrients in relation to their total calorie content — top goodies include folate, thiamine, vitamin B-6, iron and zinc.

Mushrooms also contain a powerful antioxidant called L-ergothioneine, which has been linked to kidney and liver protection. Shitake, oyster and king oyster mushrooms have the highest amounts of this antioxidant; crimini, portobello and button mushrooms have lesser amounts but are still considered good sources. L-ergothioneine is found in chicken liver and wheat germ, too.

News on Health Benefits

A newly published study suggests that women who eat plenty of mushrooms may have a lower risk of developing breast cancer. The study looked at more than 2,000 Chinese woman and found that the more dried and fresh mushrooms the women consumed, the lower their risk was.

Old Wives’ Tales

For those with an interest in the more exotic, some wild varieties might be the thing. Popular ones include enoki, cépe, chanterelle and puffball. Going to the forest and picking your own mushrooms may sound appealing, but there are many poisonous (and deadly!) mushrooms out there. Some of my former culinary students used to tell me the tale of the silver coin — if the coin changes color when cooking wild mushrooms, then the mushrooms are poisonous. First, don’t cook your food with coins! Second, this is not true. If you’re a novice mushroom picker, always go with an expert, as this New York Times article explains.

Uses of Mushrooms

Always make sure to brush or gently wash the dirt from the mushrooms before using. Since cooking over high heat for long periods of time destroys vitamins, quick sautéing or stir-frying helps maintain their nutritional value.

Mushrooms add a meaty flavor (called umami) to dishes and can replace part of the meat in recipes (just like in this Turkey-Mushroom Burger). This is helpful for those looking to create heart-healthy meals and lower the saturated fat and cholesterol in their diets. Mushrooms can also replace the meat in dishes, which is a great choice for vegetarians (like our gal Kristine).

There are endless ways to incorporate mushrooms into your meals. Add raw mushrooms to salads or sautéed mushrooms to a bed of greens. Create a mushroom pasta dish, add to a quiche or top a pizza. Mushroom sauces are a light way to flavor your chicken or pork — the possibilities are endless!

Shopping Tip: Choose fresh mushrooms that are firm and evenly colored. Avoid those that are broken, damaged or have soft spots. If all the gills are showing, the mushroom is no longer fresh. Store unwashed mushrooms in the refrigerator in a paper bag for 5 to 6 days.