Laetiporus and elk

I went out for maitakes again last week, but unfortunately had some trouble locating oak trees, where they tend to grow, and came back empty-handed with respect to Grifola frondosa.  Luckily the excursion was not a total failure, as I found the prettiest, juiciest chicken mushroom that I've ever seen.  I think the window to get them in this condition must be no more than 24 hours.  The color was bright, the flesh was tender.  Beautiful.  It's hard to tell without something for scale but that is a big tree, and that is a big chicken mushroom.  It was about eight pounds total, all prime.

I still had hen of the woods that needed to get used, and I didn't think I would have the time to prep it all, so I only kept about a pound.  I traded the rest to the Bristol.  I'm looking forward to checking the place out.

Here's some of the chicken on the cutting board.  It got the same treatment as the elk - marinated in soy sauce, oil and ginger, and grilled.

 Here's the elk, after a brief marinade.

Here's the maitake from last week.  Sauteed with shallots and later, some brandy.

Some veggies boiling - artichokes and parsnips.  Some artichokes were blanched then grilled, some were just boiled.  The parsnips went into a parsnip mash which I won't claim was my finest moment.

Here's the grilled elk.  It was really fantastic.  The meat has no marbling; it's extremely lean.  Yet it was tender and full of flavor, with just a hint of gaminess.  It's closer to beef than to venison, and all delicious.  You can also see some grilled chicken mushroom to the left.  That also came out great.  I was afraid it would dry out and turn to cardboard, but the texture held up and it stayed juicy.

You can see more grilled Laetiporus here, nestled among grilled artichokes.  I love artichokes, even though these were past their prime and really needed to get used.

And the whole spread, with mushrooms and melted butter for good measure.

Oh yeah, there was roasted butternut squash and mashed parsnips too.