Recipes
Crab Cakes with Lion’s Mane
So many comparisons are made between Lion’s Mane mushrooms and either crab or lobster that when Rebecca suggested we try making crab cakes with Lion’s Mane, I thought “f'***ing brilliant, lets try it”. We decided to try two different versions and make a comparison, one that was half crab, half Lion’s Mane, and one that was all Lion’s Mane . We used a recipe from Tom Douglas’ Seattle Kitchen and used fresh cracked Dungeness crab and our very own home grown Lion’s Mane. We shared our creations with chef Anthony Donatone of Bucatinis Restaurant, and opinions were unanimous, the half crab half Mane was the winner, but both were really really good, and I wouldn’t use two reallies in a row if I wasn’t really really sincere. Here’s the recipe and here’s what we did.
10 slices of supermarket white bread
¾ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 large egg yoke (from our chickens)
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 ½ tsp Tabasco sauce
7 tsp Dijon mustard
½ tsp paprika
½ tsp dried thyme
½ tsp celery seed
¼ tsp black pepper
5 tbs olive oil
7 ounces Dungeness crab with water squeezed out (recipe calls for a pound)
9 ounces of Lion’s Mane (squeezed to remove water and dry fried)
¼ cup chopped onions
¼ seeded and chopped green bell pepper
¼ cup seeded and chopped red bell pepper
About 6 tbs butter
1) The white bread is torn up and pulsed in a food processor to make about 6 cups of fine white crumb. The crumb is moved to a shallow pan and combined with ½ cup of the parley. (Save ¼ of parsley for the crab cake mixture)
2) In a food processor, combine the egg yolk, lemon juice, Worcestershire, Tabasco, mustard, paprika, thyme, celery seeds and black pepper and pulse to combine. With the motor running, slowly add the olive oil through the feed tube in a steady stream until the mixture emulsifies and forms a mayonnaise. Remove from the food processor and refrigerate
3) Place the crab meat (and the Lion’s Mane) in a cheesecloth and squeeze out as much juice as possible. The lion’s mane was placed in a non-stick frying pan and left on low heat for about a half an hour to further remove the water. In a large bowl, combine the onions and bell pepper with the remaining ¼ cup of parsley. We added the chilled mayonnaise and tossed it lightly. For our experiment, we combined about 1/3 of the lion’s mane with the crab and divided the above mixture between the Lion’s Mane and the Lion’s Mane and crab mixtures to achieve a similar consistency. The recipe says to make 8 cakes, but we ended up with 9 total. The patties are rolled in the bread crumb parsley mixture and left on the mixture until they are sautéed
4) Preheat the oven to 425 degrease. Using a non-stick saute pan and butter as needed, panfry the crabcakes until all are golden brown on both sides and place them on a baking sheet. When all are done, put them in the oven for 5 to 8 minutes.
Chestnut Mushroom Crostini
This is online chef Rachel Cook’s recipe that’s not too hard to make and does a nice job of letting the subtle mushroom flavors shine through, which is always a challenge when cooking a recipe that’s supposed to feature mushrooms. We decided to make three versions of this, one that was true to Rachel’s original recipe , one that replaces the goat cheese with mozzarella and one that uses cream and is served without any cheese. In the end we liked the original version the best because the tangy goat cheese gave the recipe some depth. I really liked the creamy recipe as a close second and the mozzarella version was pretty good but not sensational compared to the others.
1 loaf French bread, made into crostini
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 shallot, finely chopped (about 3 tablespoons)
1 pound chestnut mushrooms roughly chopped
½ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon minced garlic (about 2 cloves)
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme
8 oz goat cheese, at room temperature
Fresh chopped parsley for garnish
Few slices of mozzarella
¼ cup heavy cream
!) Slice the bread into ½” slices, coat both sides with olive oil and bake at 450 degrees for approximately 7 minutes (but keep a close eye on them so they don’t get cooked beyond a golden brown).
2) Heat large skillet over medium high heat. Add olive oil and butter. When butter is melted, add chopped shallot, sliced mushrooms, salt, and pepper. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms have browned and liquid has evaporated.
3) Add minced garlic; sauté for 1 minute or until fragrant.
4) Add white wine and fresh thyme, sauté 2 minutes more or until wine has mostly evaporated.
5) Half the mushrooms were removed and the remaining mushrooms were saluted with the cream for version two
5) Remove from heat; cool slightly. Taste, and add more salt and pepper, if desired.
6) Spread goat cheese on some of the crostini, put mozzarella slices on some and leave some crostini without any cheese. pile on the mushrooms and sprinkle with parsley. Serve immediately. The version two mushrooms were served on the crostini without cheese.