It’s time to make authentic City Chicken Recipe. It’s simple to make and yields a super tender meat that you can cut with a fork. But, despite its name this is not actually a chicken dish. It’s a local dish that is made of pork sirloin chunks or a combo of veal and pork curves that are passed through skewers, browned and then braised slowly.

I have fond memories of eating city chicken as a kid and  I never questioned why it was named that way as it doesn’t contain any chicken.

Where Can You Find Pork For City Chicken Recipe?

If you live in the Midwest state zone, you may likely find pork sirloin that is already cubed specially packaged kebals for city chicken in your local food stores.

How To Prepare City Chicken in the oven

• To make this delicious city chicken recipe, begin by passing the pork cubes through the wooden skewers, making sure they are tight and dense for best cooking results. Next, coat them in breading in 3 steps.
• Here you’ll have to toss the pork in the seasoned flour, then the beaten eggs/wash and finally the Italian breadcrumbs.
• You may also add a hint of paprika or salt and pepper to the breadcrumb mixture to boost its flavor.
• The next step is to brown the meat in the oil over medium to high heat, making sure not to overload the skillet. The pork doesn’t have to cook all the way at this point, just browned on the sides.  This is a quite fast step
• Note: the meat cubes will turn brown on the outside but raw inside.
• The city chicken is then roasted in the oven at 325F for 1 ½ to 2 hours or until you can rip it apart with a fork (check after 1 ½ hours to see doneness).

Ingredients

• 1 lbs pork sirloin, cubed (with skewers)
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour, with salt and pepper to taste
• ¼ cup egg beats or two eggs beaten with one tablespoon water
• 3 tbsp olive or vegetable oil
• ½ cup Italian breadcrumbs
• ½ cup chicken stock
• 1 can or pack of gravy (mushroom or pork), heated
• ¼ tsp smoked paprika

Instructions

• Preheat your oven at 325F and coat a pyrex dish (around 9X13”) with cooking spray. If you are only cooking 4 kebabs you can use a smaller dish.
• Prepare your breading area with the seasoned flour, the egg wash and the breadcrumbs separately. Add the smoked paprika optionally to the breadcrumb mix. Pass 4 meat cubes onto each skewer and dust with the flour, shaking off any excess. Coat each skewer in the egg wash, then toss in the breadcrumbs. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a skillet over medium to high heat. Brown the pork on each side (it doesn’t have to be cooked all the way through).
• Once you brown the pork, place in a prepared baking dish, leaving a bit of distance between each skewer. Add the chicken broth to the bottom of the pan and close tightly with the foil. Bake at 325F for 1 ½-2 hours or until you can pull the pork with a fork. Serve with gravy on the side.

Are you looking to venture into our Chicken of the Woods recipe? Well, if you enjoy delicious wild mushrooms that have a similar texture and taste to chicken, then this is a recipe worth digging your teeth into during the coming week!

Chicken of the Woods is commonly a meat substitute due to the similarities it bears with chicken. They are a highly versatile mushroom that you can saute naked in a pan, fry and steam them, bread them – the possibilities are endless when it comes to creating a beautifully tasty dish that is both succulent and pleasing to look at.

No matter what time of year you cook Chicken of the Woods, the mushroom harmonizes with most seasonal savory treats and can be a gorgeous dinner no matter the weather.

Does A Chicken of the Woods Really Taste Like Chicken?

Often in the case of frog, opossum, and squirrel, the phrase ‘’tastes like chicken’ is loosely thrown about as an unfortunately dishonest descriptor of their flavor, to try and make the dish seem more palpable to even the pickiest of eaters. Yet, this mushroom truly tastes like chicken.

Boasting a meaty, stringy texture that absorbs moisture and retains the succulent flavors of the mushroom  – this is the closest faux chicken substitute you’ll likely ever find.

What more could you want than a healthy option that tastes great?

Identifying Chicken of the Woods

Out of all mushrooms you can forage, Chicken of the Woods tends to be a relatively easy mushroom to categorize due to its unique characteristics.

Because of the bright orange mass-like quality of the mushroom that tends to encompass tree trunks or the base of hardwood trees – this is a mushroom you can spot from far away. The mushroom tends to grow in shelves ranging from bright orange or yellow at the base that fades into a pale whitish color towards the outer edge.

With the underside lined generously with tiny pores, this polypore mushroom releases its spores from small tube structures instead of gills – pretty cool right?

Health and Safety for Chicken of the Woods

• Don’t eat Chicken of the Woods raw: Like most wild mushrooms, eating them raw can cause stomach upset – so cook them thoroughly before consuming to be on the safe side!
• Can cause sickness: If eaten in large quantities, some people can experience gastrointestinal distress. So if you’ve never tried Chicken of the Woods, sample a small amount and observe how it reacts with your body.
• Avoid conifer or eucalyptus trees: It is crucial that you avoid Chicken of the Woods, which is growing on the base of conifer or eucalyptus trees, as these trees permeate the mushrooms with toxins that are absorbed into the flesh.

Cleaning Chicken of the Woods

It’s essential to clean your Chicken of the Woods thoroughly, so start by separating the shelves carefully to access every aspect so that this cleaning process is simple and quick.

Use a gentle mushroom brush to remove any large dirt particles, and then quickly wipe your mushrooms over with a damp paper towel or cloth to ensure that they are squeaky clean and ready for use!

However, if you’re mushrooms are filthy (like mine tend to be!), start off by soaking the mushrooms briefly to remove any dirt or cheeky creepy crawlies that might be lurking inside. Just be careful you don’t soak them too long in case they become waterlogged and lose that gorgeous flavor!

How to Make Sautéed Chicken of the Woods

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil.
• 1 pound tender Chicken of the Woods cleaned (sliced into 1/2′ strips).
• 2 shallots (sliced).
• 3 cloves garlic (sliced).
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped

Instructions

• After your mushroom has been gently scrubbed and dried, slice or tear it into one-inch pieces.
• Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat before starting to introduce your mushroom slices in a single layer.
• Gently fry the mushrooms for about 5 minutes as they turn a deep golden brown.
• Next, slice some shallots and garlic and throw them into the mix alongside some salt and pepper.
• Cook for a further 5 minutes until the shallots appear soft to the touch, then follow this by pouring a generous ½ cup of dry white wine into the mix.
• Now simmer until the mushrooms absorb a majority of the dry wine.
• Now stir in some fresh parsley and lemon juice to fully bring out the gorgeous flavors of the Chicken of the Woods.

Fried Chicken of the Woods

Ingredients

• 4 x 2 oz pieces of young chicken of the woods, the size of a small fist.
• All purpose flour, as needed for breading, roughly 1 cup
• kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
• 1 generous pinch of sweet paprika
• 1 small pinch of cayenne pepper
• 3 eggs for breading
• A few sprigs of fresh thyme optional
• Small clove of garlic crushed lightly with the back of a knife optional
• Lemon wedges for serving

Instructions

1. Gather your Chicken of the Woods mushrooms and trim off the stem and the tough parts of the mushroom from where it previously was attached to the tree.
2. Gently scrub and dry the mushrooms to help the later absorption of seasoning (following the guidelines we suggested before!).
3. Season the flour with salt, pepper, paprika, and cayenne to give the flour some color and some taste! Just go easy on the cayenne – unless you like things on the spicier side of life.
4. Liberally coat the mushrooms in flour, then egg, and coat in flour once again.**
5. Heat a skillet with ¼ cup of cooking oil, followed by a generous 2tbsp of unsalted butter, before adding your breaded chicken mushrooms, crushed garlic clove, and thyme.
6. Cook the Chicken of the Woods until they are golden brown on either side, so for approximately 4-5 minutes per side. Ensure you add extra oil if the pan dries and carefully blot the mushrooms following frying to catch the excess oil.
7. Sprinkle with some salt or red-eye gravy and salad before serving immediately.

Notes

**If your Chicken of the Woods have been in the fridge for a day too many, they may have grown dry – which will make them troublesome to coat! So consider steaming them and patting them dry prior to coating if they appeared to have dried out so that they can be thoroughly coated/

Like your typical chicken fried steak, these would be fine with some red-eye gravy, or just a few lemon slices and a green salad for a lighter touch.

Hey People!!! Today I’m here with another exciting recipe on how to cook Mahi Mahi perfectly suitable for the chilly winters. Mahi-Mahi is a widely famous fish found in tropical, subtropical, and temperate off-shore waters worldwide.

Its name, “Mahi-Mahi,” comes from the Hawaiian language and means “Very Strong.” The ray-finned fish is also known as common dolphinfish but don’t confuse it with the real dolphin. It’s also widely known as Dorado (its Spanish name). This golden-skinned lean fish is commonly found in the waters around Hawaii, Costa Rica, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Indian Ocean.

This fish has a strong texture and can be baked, fried, grilled, broiled, or seared. Whatever cooking method you use, this fish is perfect for all. This is a great, low-priced, fantastic fish that tastes just remarkable and gives a beautiful brownish texture.

 Buy the best mahi-mahi

Many factors determine the freshness and firmness of mahi-mahi. The most important of which is how the fish is caught. The fish selection guided by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch divided the fish into three basic categories depending upon their quality, firmness, and freshness.

According to this website:

• Best – The best mahi-mahi is caught in the U.S. Northwest and Western Central Atlantic Oceans with hand lines and trolling lines.
• Second-best – The second-best mahi-mahi is caught by the U.S Ecuadorian and Panamanian fleets or in the Eastern and Western Central Pacific oceans in the unassociated purse seine fishery. These fishes are ranked second-best because some issues are linked to overfished or at-risk species in these areas.
• Avoid – It is recommended to avoid all other mahi-mahi imported from the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans other than the specified areas for best mahi-mahi.

Note: Whenever you go to the market to buy mahi-mahi, keep the criteria mentioned above in mind and avoid imported mahi-mahi, as most of the mahi-mahi available in the US is imported.

Well, that was some necessary information about the name of this amazing fish. Now let’s get to our amazing recipe that is super easy and gets ready in no time. Once you try this recipe, you will surely add it to your signature recipes for your family dinners and special events.

How to serve Mahi-Mahi?

This recipe of mahi-mahi is so amazing. It will give you the most delicious fish fillets ever. These mahi-mahi fillets are so delicious that you can eat them without any serving options. However, if you like, you can have it with rice, mashed potatoes, or golden bread toast.

They would be great serving partners. You can also pair it up with some green vegetables like asparagus, brussel sprouts, green beans, broccoli, and more of your choice. A salad is always the best option. To make the recipe even more Hawaiian, serve it in a pineapple bowl. Just make a pineapple boat with some coconut rice and wonderful salsa. 

Mahi-Mahi Easy Recipe

Ok, it’s time to jump into the recipe for this delicious Mahi-Mahi. Just follow the instructions, and I promise you’ll make the best Mahi-Mahi ever. 🙂

Ingredients

• 4 Mahi-Mahi Fillets(4 to 6-ounce)
• 1 Lemon (Medium)
• 1 clove of fresh Garlic (finely chopped)
• 1¼ tsp. of Kosher Salt, plus more as needed
• ¼ tsp. of Black Pepper (Crushed)
• 2 tbsps. of Olive Oil
• 4 tbsps. of cold Unsalted Butter (cut into 4 pieces)
• 1 tbsp. of fresh Parsley (Chopped)

Instructions

• Take a medium-sized lemon and cut it into two halves. Squeeze the juice of the first half. The total lemon juice should be 1 ½ tbsp.
• Cut the other half of the lemon into thin slices and set them aside.
• Now pat dry the mahi-mahi fillets with paper towels.
• Season the fillets with 1 tsp of kosher salt and ground black pepper.
• Now take a pan and add extra-virgin olive oil to it. Heat the pan on medium-high flame until it gets hot, and the oil gets a bit smoky.
• Add seasoned mahi-mahi fillets into this oil and sear them until it gets fully seared from the bottom side. Remember! Do not touch or disturb the fillets until their side gets a beautiful brownish texture. It takes about 4 minutes on medium-high flame.
• Flip the side of the fillets and keep searing all the remaining sides until the whole of the fillets are well-cooked and get the same brownish texture.
• Now transfer these fillets to the serving platter.
• Now in the same pan, add lemon juice and crushed garlic. Keep the flame medium-low.
• Add a pinch or ¼ tsp. of kosher salt to the pan. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Mix all the ingredients in the pan well. Scrape up any bits of the fish fillets sickened at the bottom of the pan using a wooden spatula.
• Now add lemon slices to the pan. And add butter pieces one by one, i.e., add a piece of butter and wait until it melts completely, and then add the next piece of butter, and so on.
• Turn off the flame and add chopped parsley to the lemon sauce. Stir the parsley well into the sauce. The lemon sauce is ready.
• Pour this sauce over the mahi-mahi fillets.
• Serve it hot and enjoy.

Tips for the best Mahi-Mahi:

1. If you want to make your mahi-mahi fillets a bit spicier, you can adjust the quantity of salt and black pepper as per your choice.
2. Using a cast-iron pan or non-stick pan to sear the mahi-mahi fillets is recommended because the fish doesn’t stick much into these pans.
3. The cooking time per each side of the fillet depends upon the thickness of the fillets. The average cooking time varies from 2 – 4 minutes per side. But you can adjust the time as per thickness. Thicker fillets will take more time to sear.
4. Always remember! The fish must be dry. And the oil must be hot. A dried fish gets a beautiful crunchy texture. It will also get beautiful brown color.