Lobster Mushroom Cakes
Yield: 4-6 latkes, enough to serve 2-4 people as an appetizer or component of an entree
Ingredients
- ½ lb fresh lobster mushrooms trimmed, cleaned, and washed if necessary
- ½ teaspoon salt plus more to taste if needed
- ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- ¼ cup green onion trimmed and diced ¼ inch
- 1 tablespoon fresh sliced chives
- 1 teaspoon fresh chopped thyme
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon all purpose flour or more as needed to form the cakes
- 1 whole large egg plus one egg yolk
- Clarified butter animal lard, oil, or a combination, as needed for sauteing the cakes
Instructions
- Shred the lobster mushrooms on a box grater or through the shredding attachment on a food processor. Mix the shredded mushrooms thoroughly with the salt, then allow to sit for 10 minutes so the salt can draw out their water. Squeeze the shredded mushrooms to remove as much water as possible, then mix with the remaining ingredients except the cooking fat.
- In a nonstick or seasoned cast iron pan, heat a tablespoon or two of the fat until hot and shimmering. Form a small test cake and fry it on both sides until golden, then cool, taste, and judge the seasoning and texture. If the cakes seem difficult for you to form, add another pinch of flour. If you think they need more seasoning, add a pinch of salt, more herbs, etc and repeat the process until you like the taste.
- Working in batches, take a couple heaping tablespoons of the mushroom mixture and form into cakes, then fry a few minutes on each side slowly, and gently, until golden brown, flip and repeat, then serve immediately.
- If you're making a large batch, finished cakes can be held in a warm oven on a cookie rack until the others are done.
Video
Notes
You can vary these any number of ways, like using a blend of big mushrooms like firm boletes or polypores, and the herbs can be tweaked to use what you have on hand, adding a little grated parmesan or ground, dried lobster mushrooms wouldn't hurt either. The proportions in the basic recipe are solid though, and won't let you down.
They're excellent served with eggs, a little reduced tomato sauce, flavored mayonnaise, a lemon wedge, your favorite condiment, or just straight out of the pan.