I watched the Foodnetwork show Big Restaurant Bet where the winning chef made these faux crab cakes out of Lions Mane Mushrooms. Everyone was raving about how great they were. I couldn’t find the winning chef’s recipe on the internet but I did find this James Beard award wining blog called Forager Chef. I thought that his recipe seemed pretty solid. A few minor things I did change to make the recipe a little more foolproof.

This recipe makes 4 servings

12 oz lions mane mushrooms (Whole Foods sells them in 6oz tubs cheaper than anywhere else I’ve found them ($5.99 a tub))

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

2 Tablespoons water

1/4 cup scallions – minced

1/4 cup red bell pepper – minced

1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs (plus a small amount more ( 1/4 cup) to finish cakes)

1/4 cup high fat mayonnaise

2 Tablespoons cilantro chopped (or tarragon or parsley leaves)

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire

1 teaspoon Old Bay

1 large egg – beaten

sea salt to taste

non stick spray

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

1 shallot minced

1/4 teaspoon prepared horseradish

lemon wedges for serving

optional chives for serving

Directions

Break down the lions mane mushrooms into shreds. Add the mushrooms to a covered fry pan with the water and salt and simmer till the mushrooms are cooked. Take off the heat. When the mushrooms are cool enough to handle squeeze all the water out of them. I put mine in a colander over a tub to catch the liquid.

Now mix up the mix that you mix into the mushrooms.

In a medium bowl combine the scallions, bell pepper, 1/2 cup panko, 1/4 cup mayonnaise, herbs, Worcestershire, Old Bay, egg. Mix well and adjust seasoning if necessary.

When the mushrooms are drained and cool you can mix them into this mixture. Everything needs to chill very well. You need to let this sit in the refrigerator for at least 5 hours or over night.

This is when you might want to make the remoulade. In a small bowl mix together the mayonnaise, vinegar, soy sauce, smoked paprika, dijon, shallot and horseradish. Refrigerate and use when serving.

When you are ready to cook. Set your oven to 350 degrees F. and spray a baking sheet with neutral non stick spray. Make 4 even size patties and dredge them lightly in panko and place on baking sheet. Sprinkle each side lightly with sea salt and pepper.

They go on a middle rack for 20 minutes. Finish them and get them crispy by placing under the broiler a couple minutes on each side.

Look how flaky they come out. They have the texture very similar to crab.

Serve with lemon, remoulade, and chives if you have any.

A Special THANKS!!! To Forager Chef for his amazing recipe so I could come up with what you see here today!

I happened to have some avocados and some herbs to use up. Yesterday I made the crisps……because I was mad when I followed a high end chefs recipe for crisps and they didn’t come out right…..(I KNEW something was wrong with THAT recipe….it sure didn’t sound right)…Anyways This pesto is delicious don’t worry about measurement exactly for the pesto because avocados run different in in size and so to the herb bunches……The crisps here also do come out but that you have to measure exactly. I did a variation on Epicurious Flatbread Recipe…same recipe but I swapped out 3/4 cup of flour for whole wheat graham flour ( Avery tasty sweet nutty tasting flour) because I KNOW THAT RECIPE COMES OUT. I seasoned the flatbreads with fancy salt flakes, fresh crushed black pepper, poppy seeds, and sesame seeds. It is so yummy with the Avocado Walnut Pesto. Either you won’t stop eating it or you can impress people with it. Serving size is hard to say. I don’t know if you want this as an appetizer or a lunch. I’d say it makes 4- 8 servings. I’ll say a conservative 4 servings based on the amount of avocado I used but you really have enough crisps for eight.

Ingredients for at least 4 servings

1 cup AP flour

3/4 cup whole wheat graham flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

flake sea salt for finishing

poppy seeds for finishing

fresh crushed black pepper for finishing

sesame seeds for finishing

2 avocados – just the flesh

1 cup basil leaves – rough chopped

1 cup parsley leaves – rough chopped

5 oz walnuts

1/2 cup grated parmesan

1 garlic clove – ground to paste

1/2 lemon – just the fresh squeezed juice

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

crushed red pepper to taste (I used 4 Calabrian piri piri peppers)

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

a small amount of water to get things blending

Directions

Set oven to 450 F. You need three parchment papers to cover sheet pans.

In a big bowl mix together the flours, baking powder salt, water and oil. Once you’ve got it mixed well make it into three balls. Cover the balls with plastic wrap so they don’t dry out.

You have to cover the dough with plastic wrap and roll each ball out thin with a rolling pin. (make sure the dough is at least as thin as a tortilla.)

Then sprinkle the sea salt flakes, fresh ground black pepper, poppy seeds, sesame seeds and pat them in slightly so they don’t roll off. Remove the plastic wrap and put in the preheated middle rack of a 450 F oven for about ten minutes.

To make the avocado walnut pesto I used a stick blender and blended together the avocado, basil, parsley, walnuts, parmesan, garlic, lemon juice, salt, crushed peppers, olive oil and after it was hard to blend I added a small amount of water that might have been 2 or 3 tablespoons. It’s so delicious with these flatbreads.

A special THANKS!! To Epicurious for a reliable flatbread recipe that we can customize.