The Perfect Savory Wild Mushroom & Chicken Stew for a Cold Winter Day
With surprising ingredients known to improve your mood, boost focus and increase your iron intake.
Food Magic highlights the physical and spiritual benefits of wholesome everyday ingredients while following me on a journey of cooking through my late father's recipes.
As a paid subscriber, you'll gain access to his treasured recipes, along with special content designed to enrich your culinary experience. For just $8.99 a month, you can embark on this journey with me while gaining culinary wisdom and spiritual nourishment.
The weather has finally turned here in LA, and it put me in the mood to make something warm and savory. I tried a similar recipe a couple of weeks ago from an old paleo cookbook and I recently craved it again. However, this time, I added a few more ingredients that took it outside the “paleo” realm. I threw in some additional herbs and a dash of this new tincture I picked up from the farmer’s market – to boost my magnesium and iron intake.
Before running my errands I allowed myself to have a soft morning. I took a nice walk to one of my favorite coffee shops along the way, Dayglow.
I people-watched as I listened to one of my favorite Spotify playlists made by a dear friend. Then, I made my way over to my local farmers market and picked up some of the ingredients needed to make the stew and tomato soup that I planned on making later in the week. By the time I made my way back home the edible I had slipped in my mouth before my farmer’s market journey fully kicked in, and I was ironically high on life. I became much more observant and stopped to look at almost every tree and said hi to every squirrel on my way back.
Once I made it home, I unpacked my fresh produce and washed it immediately. I like to use a combination of baking soda and vinegar while giving everything a good scrub. After all the produce was cleaned and dried, I began the prepping process, chopped what I could, and threw everything else in my new Ninja Food Processor that my best friend Zachary got me for Christmas.
Before I get into the full list of ingredients, I want to highlight 2 that I think help elevate this dish.
Nettle Leaf - also known as stinging nettle, is a mineral-rich herb and has a ton of healing properties. According to the National Library of Medicine, it has antiproliferative, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, analgesic, anti-infectious, hypotensive, and antiulcer characteristics. Additionally, research has shown that it could be a beneficial treatment for benign prostate enlargement and help with arthritis swelling, kidney problems, and even urinary tract infections. It is high in iron and magnesium and is great in tea.
Spiritually, it is a protective and healing herb. Healers have used it to help cure fevers and alleviate pain.
Lion’s Mane - this mushroom has been proven to improve mood, memory, and focus. Additionally, it helps to regulate blood sugar and reduces blood pressure.
Instead of adding the whole mushroom, I opted to use a tincture I recently got from Fungi Valley. I had no intention of grabbing it, but after looking at all the benefits I took it home. Sometimes, I take a couple of drops in the morning under my tongue, but I’m not too keen on the taste on its own, so I began adding it to certain dishes like my soups, stews, and black-eyed peas.
Ingredients
3 oz oyster mushrooms, shredded
3 oz shitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 medium carrots chopped
½ yellow onion chopped
5 whole garlic cloves - honestly, you could add more. Garlic is the best thing known to man, in my humble opinion
1 celery stalk - chopped
1 whole zucchini - sliced and halved
½ tablespoon of nettle leaf
Coarse sea salt & freshly cracked pepper
1 tbsp of dried dill
8 cups of organic chicken stock
1 cup of Orzo pasta
1 large rotisserie chicken breast - I used leftovers from a rotisserie chicken I picked up from Lassens the day before.
Let’s Get Started
Add some Extra Virgin Olive oil to a pot and set it to low heat.
Next, you want to chop up your garlic and onions – or throw them in your food processor. Add your aromatics to the pot and let them cook until they become translucent.
Then add your celery, carrots, zucchini, and season with salt and pepper, and let the ingredients cook down to a soft texture.
As your veggies are cooking – focus on your mushrooms. Truthfully, I feel that you can substitute the mushrooms with your favorite kind if you aren’t too fond of my choice. I used Shitake and Oyster Mushrooms because I really like the texture of these two mushrooms when marinated in a stew. Also, the woodsy flavor from the shitake mushrooms elevates the broth's flavor.
Shred the oyster mushrooms by pulling them apart so they make long string link pieces (refer to video for extra guidance). Next, thinly slice up your Shitake mushrooms. Before adding the mushrooms to the pot, add the chicken stock first, then add in the mushrooms. Let it simmer for 25 minutes to let the flavor of the mushrooms and vegetables marinate with the chicken broth.
Next, it’s time to add in your shredded chicken, orzo pasta, nettle leaf, and 1ml of the lion’s mane tincture. Add more salt and pepper if necessary and let simmer on low heat for 1 hr. The longer it simmers, the better the flavors blend together.
After the hour has passed, do a taste test and make sure it’s seasoned properly. Next, serve some up in a bowl, add a bit of lemon zest on top with some fresh parsley, and voila — there you have it! A delicious wild mushroom and chicken stew.
You can make this recipe as personal as you’d like and incorporate other seasonings that you think will amplify the dish! If you do, let me know how you did in the comments because I’d love to give it a try next time I make it too!
References
The New Healing Herbs by Michael Castleman
An Herbalist Guide to Formulary by Holly Bellebuono
https://www.healthyeatingandliving.ca/post/how-to-use-nettle-to-increase-your-iron
https://www.forbes.com/health/body/health-benefits-of-lions-mane/