Chicken of the woods...

After last week's delightful find of giant puffballs, this week, I spotted this beauty on a cherry tree in a park. It's a Sulphur Polypore (sounds ugh!), more commonly known as "Chicken of the Woods" (mmm... sounds much more appealing)

The blade on the Leatherman (the knife) is 4" long for scale...

Back at home, I didn't have time to cook this, so I chopped it up for freezing...

You get a lot of flesh off one of these. I could have used more, but the older root of the fungal body gets tough. I just fancied the succulent tender bits. Don't we all?

These really are beautifully fleshy. They have a lovely smell too. Sweet and earthy.

Bagged up, in it goes...

I'll post once I've cooked

Giant puff balls

Look what I found. Giant puffballs.
Actually, these are quite modest compared to how big they can get. The largest is about 10" in circumference.

Found on a beautiful late summer day. As always, deep in fertile soil. These I think are growing on a long-buried dung-heap. Nettles also thrive on fertile soil, so some care in wading to these...

Down amongst the nettles...

Like a sea of nettles...

Back in the kitchen, here are the beauties...

close ups...

For scale, here's an average-size pug...

In the lovely evening setting sun light...

They slice into steaks...

The smell is intense...

I cut these thick...

They have a fluffy marshmallow texture...

I chopped these into cubes and chucked them in a roasting tray...

Some cold-pressed rapeseed oil and garlic...

And a spatchcocked chicken...

more oil and seasoning...

Roasted and basted for about one and a half hours...

Delish...