Cornish Game Hens with Cauliflower Mushroom

If there’s one thing you can say about Sparassis crispa, it’s that it can tolerate a long, slow simmer and still maintain its wonderful chewiness. I created this dish after stumbling upon a 9-pound specimen during a rainstorm on the Northern California coast. Like an iceberg revealing only its tip, the mushroom was mostly buried. It was a lot of work to clean that specimen, but worth the effort! You can prepare this dish in an electric slow cooker or in a Dutch oven.