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Award-winning chef, author and forager Alan Bergo. Food is all around you.

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Braised Lobster Mushrooms with Tomato and Leek

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Braised lobster mushroom with tomato and leek recipe

A quick stew of lobster mushrooms with tomato, leek, and fresh mint.

Way back, a long time ago, I wrote a recipe for braising a lobster mushroom whole, and, while it was an ok way to cook them, as the years past, the recipe has been on my list to update, so here you go.

The original recipe was a simple stewed mushroom cooked whole, and while I liked the dramatic plating it gave me when I would serve it occasionally for vegans and vegetarians in my restaurant days, serving lobsters whole can be tricky if they’re dirty, and cutting the lobster mushrooms into larger chunks makes it easier for seasoning to penetrate them.

That being said, you could still do the same large chunk of the original recipe, but maybe keep the hunks of lobster to 2-3 ounces, and serve 2-3 at a time instead of just one.

Braised lobster mushroom with tomato and leek recipe

You’ll want a wide, high-sided pan for this.

Braising (or boiling) lobster mushrooms is a common technique used in South America, especially in the Mihoacan where they’re commonly hunted.

Instead of par boiling them here, I brown them in fat, add some alliums (garlic and leek) some wine, and, the magic ingredient: tomato concasse, or peeled, seeded, chopped tomatoes that eventually break down and make a rich sauce that would be good with just about anything.

Besides helping to thicken the sauce, the tomato also helps absorb a good glob of butter at the end, which is one of the secrets to making a simple ragu of wild mushrooms that are generally pretty mild taste so good.

Using other mushrooms 

There’s a lot of different wild mushrooms you could use in this recipe. Here’s a few good ones. 

  • Aborted Entoloma / Shrimp of the Woods 
  • Chicken of the Woods 
  • Hen of the Woods 
Braised lobster mushroom with tomato and leek recipe

Serve with polenta or crusty bread.

Braised lobster mushroom with tomato and leek recipe
Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Braised Lobster Mushrooms with Tomato and Leek

Braised lobster mushrooms in a rich tomato-leek sauce. Serves 2-4
Prep Time30 mins
Cook Time40 mins
Course: Appetizer, Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Lobster Mushroms
Servings: 2

Ingredients

  • 4 oz bacon or make it vegetarian and use cooking oil
  • 1 lb lobster mushrooms washed, cleaned, and cut into 1.5-2 inch pieces
  • 3 oz 1 heaping cup leek, diced 1 inch
  • 2 large cloves garlic thinly slices
  • Pinch dried chili
  • 1.5 cups chicken or mushroom stock
  • ¼ cup dry white wine
  • 1.5 cups tomatoes blanched, seeded, and diced into 1 inch pieces, juice reserved (see note)
  • 2 tablespoons dried ground lobster mushrooms optional
  • 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 2 tablespoons sliced or torn fresh mint or basil
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt plus more to taste
  • Fresh ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

  • In a wide 12 inch or similar sized pan, render the bacon and reserve, leaving the fat in the pan. Brown the lobster mushrooms in the bacon fat on medium high for 10-15 minutes, seasoning with the salt and pepper along the way.
  • Push the mushrooms to the side of the pan and add the garlic, along with a little extra oil if needed. Cook the garlic until it’s light brown and aromatic, then add the leeks and ground mushrooms if using and cook for 2 minutes more. Add the chili.
  • Deglaze the pan with the wine, cook down by half, then add the stock and bring to a rapid boil. Add the tomatoes and their reserved juice along with the rendered bacon and cook on medium-high for 15-20 minutes or until slightly thickened.
  • Double check the seasoning for salt, adjust as needed, then add torn mint to taste, and serve with a vehicle for the juices, like soft polenta or crusty bread.

Notes

If you haven't concassed tomatoes, here's the process: take a large tomato and core it, then score the bottom with an X. Plunge the tomato into boiling water for 30 seconds, then remove and cool. Peel the tomatoes, discard the skin, then cut into 1/4's, squeeze the seeds and juice into a strainer over a bowl. Cut the tomato 1/4's into 1 inch pieces and reserve them and the juice separately. 

More lobster mushrooms 

Braised lobster mushroom with tomato and leek recipe

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Judy

    October 20, 2020 at 3:48 pm

    5 stars
    This recipe resulted in a fabulous meal! It was such fun to make with my neighbors freshly foraged lobster mushrooms. I used olive oil instead of bacon and served it on fresh pasta with a mild herbed chicken sausage. Definitely a keeper. Thanks so much!

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      October 20, 2020 at 5:58 pm

      Judy, Glad it worked for you.

      Reply

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Morels: the only wild mushroom I count by the each Morels: the only wild mushroom I count by the each instead of the pound. 

Good day today, although my Twin Cities spots seem a full two weeks behind from the late spring. 2 hours south they were almost all mature. 

76 for me and 152 for the group. Check your spots, and good luck! 

#morels #murkels #mollymoochers #drylandfish #spongemushroom #theprecious
The first time I’ve seen fungal guttation-a natu The first time I’ve seen fungal guttation-a natural secretion of water I typically see with plants. 

I understand it as an indicator that the mushrooms are growing rapidly, and a byproduct of their metabolism speeding up. If you have some clarifications, chime in. 

Most people know it from Hydnellum 
peckii-another polypore. I’ve never seen it on pheasant backs before.

Morels are coming soon too. Mine were 1 inch tall yesterday in the Twin Cities. 

#guttation #mushroomhunting #cerioporussquamosus #pheasantback #naturesbeauty
Rain and heat turned the flood plain forest into a Rain and heat turned the flood plain forest into a grocery store. 

#groceryshopping #sochan #rudbeckialaciniata #foraging
Italian wild food traditions are some of my favori Italian wild food traditions are some of my favorite. 

Case in point: preboggion, a mixture of wild plants, that, depending on the reference, should be made with 5-23 individual plants. 

Here’s a few mixtures I’ve made this spring, along with a reference from the Oxford companion to Italian food. 

The mixture should include some bitter greens (typically assorted asters) but the most important plant is probably borage. 

Making your own version is a good excercise. Here they’re wilted with garlic and oil, but there’s a bunch of traditional recipes the mixture is used in. 

Can you believe this got cut from my book?!

#preboggion #preboggiun #foraging #traditionalfoods
Oh the things I get in the mail. This is my kind Oh the things I get in the mail. 

This is my kind of tip though: a handmade buckskin bag with a note and a handful of bleached snapping turtle claws. 😁😂 

Sent in by Leslie, a reader. 

Smells like woodsmoke and the cat quickly claimed it as her new bed. 

#buckskin #mailsurprise #turtleclaws #thisimylife #cathouse
Bluebell season. Destined for a Ligurian ravioli Bluebell season. 

Destined for a Ligurian ravioli as a replacement for the traditional borage greens. 

#mertensiavirginica #virginiabluebells #spring #foraging
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