I knew this fungus as Polyporous sulphureus. The picture above does not show the vivid orange color. Recent study has altered the former designation. Now these are in the Laetiporus family and the common name "Chicken of the Woods" is split into 6 species. Laetiporus sulphureus is the most commonly found in eastern US. However, all the reference books describe this as having a yellow pore surface (underside). My find here has a white pore surface. Also, this specimen is found on the forest floor where you would not normally find L sulphureus. So this must be L cincinnatus which does have the white pore surface and is found on the ground by the host tree as well on the trunk of the host tree. Otherwise there is very little difference.
I cut the outer margins of the layers to cook. They were soft but a bit on the fibrous side, so I didn't know if they'd be the best examples to eat. Insects had made their way into the pore surface as well. I tried sauteing them in butter and oil but they proved too tough. So I finished cooking in chicken broth. I think a better choice would have been a sauce. I thought the taste was rather bland, not the real meaty flavor I remembered.
I found these as well so I did get a tasty meal out of the forage.
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